Blogger complaining about flex pricing

[EWT]

First off I am baffled that people are dumb enough to wait in line at the box office unless thats the only way to purchase tickets. Use the internet you stupidsonofabiotch!

Second, he waited in line for 15 hours to sit in the last row? Ok so you are trying to pimp on a budget and spend less than $30, cool. Why blow your wad on opening night when you could go to 3 lower tier games? He answers his own question really, he made the choice to use his expendable income on tickets and chose to go to opening night rather than "being here" for the team 3 nights. Either that or go wrangle up some beer cans from the garbage to buy a few more games, really it's $9.

Regardless the opponent doesn't even matter half the time either. Last year he could have watched us get torched by New Orleans or worked on the pick and roll by Dallas for the same price to watch Roy beat the Knicks at the buzzer. It's not the team's fault people are willing to pay more to see better teams. If anything, him purchasing tickets to opening night for $22 instead of $9 completely defeats the purpose of his argument since he bought into it, right?

The hardest hit came once the box office finally opened, as the flex pricing caught everyone by surprise. The model was well understood, but the amount was staggering - my opening night tickets, in the very last row, were 150% MORE than base price ($22 instead of $9). That is a big jump. I talked with some other folks in line; Laker game seats were going for $35 in the Tan section. Nearly 4x base price!

To top it all off, the flex pricing wasn't a surprise, it was announced well before tickets went on sale, maybe he should be more passionate about his team and quit his complaining!

http://www.blazersedge.com/2009/9/29/1060017/fan-review-of-blazers-flex-pricing

 

[Nikolokolus]

So you are complaining about somebody else complaining. Nice.

 

[EWT]

So you are complaining about somebody else complaining. Nice.

That's what makes the world go round baby!

 

[BenDavis503]

So you are complaining about somebody else complaining. Nice.

That's what makes the world go round baby!

LOL Awesome thread!!!!!1

 

[BrianFromWA]

This makes me feel pretty good. I'm on a business trip opening night. If face value of my tickets is 3x normal, maybe it'll be a good day!

 

[THE HCP]

So does this mean when the T-Wolves come to town, the tix are free?

 

[Boob-No-More]

So does this mean when the T-Wolves come to town, the tix are free?

And, when the Grizzlies come to town, they pay us to attend.

BNM

 

[hasoos]

Does this guy also believe that a Kia should cost the same as a BMW?

 

[Nikolokolus]

And, when the Grizzlies come to town, they pay us to attend.

BNM

Oh, hell no. I'll pay good money to see that!

 

[THE HCP]

The Grizz will actually be fun to watch this year.

 

[andalusian]

The Grizz will actually be fun to watch this year.

In a Jerry Springer kind of way, maybe.

 

[Tince]

Some people don't understand supply and demand.

 

[THE HCP]

In a Jerry Springer kind of way, maybe.

I'm talkin ON the court. Teams are going to have to outscore them. You can't stop AI, Mayo,Gay and ZBO.

 

[Nikolokolus]

The Grizz will actually be fun to watch this year.

Exactly. Just think of the arguments two super black holes like Z-bo and AI will get into. I'm seriously curious if the fabric of space and time can handle them on the same court and same team at the same time.

 

[THE HCP]

Exactly. Just think of the arguments two super black holes like Z-bo and AI will get into. I'm seriously curious if the fabric of space and time can handle them on the same court and same team at the same time.

That's a great idea for a comic book...... Super Black Hoz!

 

[BoBoBREWSKI]

This blogger is a moron.

The Trail Blazers arent the only team doing it and I'm sure more and more teams will do the same soon.

SF Giants
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/18/sports/baseball/18pricing.html?_r=1

Dallas Stars
http://sports.yahoo.com/nhl/blog/pu...-scalpers-ready-for-dynamic-ti?urn=nhl,189394

 

[oldmangrouch]

So you are complaining about somebody else complaining. Nice.

Complaints? That's next door. This is abuse - you vacuous, maloderous pervert!

 

[LittleAlex]

I'm talkin ON the court. Teams are going to have to outscore them. You can't stop AI, Mayo,Gay and ZBO.

My bold prediction is that this team sets the record low for assists per game and in a season.

They are going to jack up a huge number of shots one on one, but that doesn't typically equal high scoring.

I also believe this team will lead the league in losses by over 10 points. The Grizz are going to be epically bad.

 

[The_Lillard_King]

So does this mean when the T-Wolves come to town, the tix are free?

Considering I have to pay full price for pre-season games, I'm guessing the answer is no.

 

[Boob-No-More]

While I do feel a bit sorry for this guy (he is a fellow Blazer fan after all), he totally went about this all wrong. Waiting in line for 15 hours was just plain nuts.

I just bought a bunch of tickets yesterday, on the phone, on my lunch hour. The wait was less than 5 minutes.

Guess what, if you buy at least 12 tickets (in any combination - can be one ticket each to 12 games, 12 tickets to one game, or anything in between) at a time, you get special group pricing rates. And, here's the kicker. The Blazes have set aside some of the $10 tan section tickets for the games against the "elite" teams just for those that qualify for group ticket prices. If you buy at least 10 other tickets, to any games, any price level, you are also eligible to purchase two tan section tickets tickets to one of the "elite team" games at the special group rate of $9 per ticket. Since I purchased a total of 38 tickets, I was able to get two tan section tickets to the Lakers, Cavs and Celtics games for $9 a seat.

And, I didn' have to wait in line for 15 hours.

BNM

 

[The_Lillard_King]

While I do feel a bit sorry for this guy (he is a fellow Blazer fan after all), he totally went about this all wrong. Waiting in line for 15 hours was just plain nuts.

I just bought a bunch of tickets yesterday, on the phone, on my lunch hour. The wait was less than 5 minutes.

Guess what, if you buy at least 12 tickets (in any combination - can be one ticket each to 12 games, 12 tickets to one game, or anything in between) at a time, you get special group pricing rates. And, here's the kicker. The Blazes have set aside some of the $10 tan section tickets for the games against the "elite" teams just for those that qualify for group ticket prices. If you buy at least 10 other tickets, to any games, any price level, you are also eligible to purchase two tan section tickets tickets to one of the "elite team" games at the special group rate of $9 per ticket. Since I purchased a total of 38 tickets, I was able to get two tan section tickets to the Lakers, Cavs and Celtics games for $9 a seat.

And, I didn' have to wait in line for 15 hours.

BNM

38 tickets, sweet . . . I'm guessing you are pretty pumped for this year.

 

[Boob-No-More]

38 tickets, sweet . . . I'm guessing you are pretty pumped for this year.

That's actually less than I bought last season. Last year, I bought 4 of the quarter season weekend packs. This year, I waited too long on that (they were all sold out). The problem is one, or more, of my kids often ended up with a conflict at the last minute (they are all in school, all play sports, etc.) and we scrambled to try to find a friend (or two) to bring so the extra ticket wouldn't go to waste. In addition to the 10 regular season games and 1 preseason game that was part of the weekend pack, we also went to two more games that the kids got free tickets to by completing the summer reading program sponsored by the Blazers (the kids tickets were free, with additional tickets at $10 each - great program). So, I think that comes to 52 total tickets (13 games x 4 tickets per game) last season.

This year, I just bought individual game tickets. I tried to get 4 tickets to as many Sunday games as possible, and also ended up with a few games with 3 tickets each on Fridays and Saturdays. For weeknight games, I just bought two tickets and the kids will take turns. Weeknights are always tough because of school and sports practices. I'll still end up going to just as many games (2 preseason and 12 regular season), but will only have all three kids about a third of the time, two kids another third and just one kid in tow the other third.

Also, we will have different seats for every game (unlike last season) and the quality of our seats varries from the yellow section to the tan nosebleed seats. All in all, our average ticket price is about $10 less than last season (our 1/4 season tickets were in the orange section last season - pretty good seats for upper bowl), but other than a couple games with yellow and green seats, our seat locations will be worse than what we are used to. Still, with fewer tickets and a lower per ticket average price, the total I spent on tickets this year (so far) is only a little over 1/2 what we spent last year. And, although the seats aren't always the greatest, we will at least be in the building for some great games.

BNM

 

[BlazerWookee]

So you are complaining about somebody else complaining. Nice.

So you are complaining about somebody else complaining about somebody else complaining. Nice.

 

[BlazerWookee]

BTW, my season tickets went down a dollar per game from last season.

Neener.

 

[The Sebastian Express]

The Blazers despite being 3rd in overall attendance last year had one of the lowest profits from ticket sales, IIRC. Or at least only middle of the pack. I have no problem with them introducing flex pricing at all if it helps them get further into the black line and assists up with resigning talented players and putting a winning product on the floor.

 

[Ed O]

It seems to me that flex pricing allows the team to capture some of the profit that is normally generated for the scalpers. I have no problems with that.

Ed O.

 

[Charcoal Filtered]

It seems to me that flex pricing allows the team to capture some of the profit that is normally generated for the scalpers. I have no problems with that.

Ed O.

Exactly. The flex pricing put my season seats (blue) with nearly the same average face value price, but increased season ticket price. Not complaining since they are still worth quite a bit more.

The four games that they increased the most (LA Lakers X2, Boston, and Cleveland) are not going to have any trouble selling out. Most are at about what the prices were last year, with 14 now quite a bit cheaper. Having full price on preseason and teams that do not draw make little sense selling at the same price as one of the above mentioned teams.

 

[Blazer_Hippie]

hmmm...I didn't encounter this flex pricing issue at all on my dirt cheap tickets...very weird...

I'm broke, so I was buying $9 seats and got them for opening night, Lakers, Cavs, Nuggets, Celtics...including fees they were $12 each...I bought them online with hardly any wait at all.

It's sure not like the bad old days when I could always get free tix or at the very most pay 50% face value...but I still normally see as many games as I want without paying over face which is a better deal than paying the box office fees.

 

[PapaG]

Does this guy also believe that a Kia should cost the same as a BMW?

What if LBJ gets injured and the Cavs tank before making their trip to Portland? Does that mean that the BMW you purchased has turned into a Kia?

Seems like a risky move, at least in terms of PR, by the Blazers. I understand it, but if the above scenario happens, there will be some ticked off fans.

 

[LOTBfan]

maybe flex pricing will allow them to do some promos other than one stinking poster like they did last year... my STH guaranteed promo item benefit sure didn't get put to much use last season


i want a martel webster bobble foot doll