Why are we willing to spend more on sports?

[CliffFletcher]

On the CBC broadcast of the first Jets home game of the playoffs, they showed a ticket from the last playoff game the Jets played in Winnipeg. It's face value was $30. In 2015 dollars, that's $43. Playoff tickets this year were going for over $200, face value.

If you look at broadcasts of the Sea of Red in the 80s, very few people wore Flames jerseys. Now, 90 per cent of the people in the stands have them. Jerseys typically run $100 to $200.

It seems clear that fans today are willing to spend more money - a lot more money - on sports than they were 20 or 30 years ago. Why?

Some possible explanations:

• Sports are increasingly an entertainment choice of the affluent, where they used to attract a broader range of fans.
  
• Sports are increasingly patronized by business and corporate customers, who are more willing now to invest in sports as a business perk or investment than in the past.
  
• The kinds of people who are into sports (typically males of a certain age who work in construction and business) make better money than their counterparts in the past did and have more money to spend on their hobbies.
  
• People in the past were able to afford much higher priced sport events, but it was not socially acceptable to do so (they were frugal compared to today, jerseys were regarded as something for kids, etc.).

Any other explanations?

[Resolute 14]

The most probable answer is that we always were willing, but the owners hadn't realized how far they could push it yet.

[Kavvy]

It may not account for the entire change, but population has increase, and quantity of seats has remained constant.

Assuming all other factors remain constant, your supply and demand equation just bent towards increased prices.

[troutman]

Taking the family skiing (or to the movies) is not cheap. Golf. Concerts.

[Table 5]

Perhaps I'm in the minority, but I'm not willing to pay $200 bucks for a playoff ticket. My limit would probably be around $100-120. Anything more than that, and the value proposition is not really there for me (especially since I always end up spending more at the game on food/drinks/50/50 etc). I'm happy to watch it at home or in a bar.

[Gaudfather]

Culture change around professional sports (maybe driven by social media) has occurred. If you look at an NHL playoff game in the 80's very few fans wore team jerseys - now very few do not.

[Southside]

Originally Posted by Table 5

Perhaps I'm in the minority, but I'm not willing to pay $200 bucks for a playoff ticket. My limit would probably be around $100-120. Anything more than that, and the value proposition is not really there for me (especially since I always end up spending more at the game on food/drinks/50/50 etc). I'm happy to watch it at home or in a bar.

$200 doesn't go far in the bar anymore either.

[Cleveland Steam Whistle]

I think this isn't a sports question, I think it's an everything question. Since (and beginning in the 80"s) the marketing and merechandising engines that work in sports, but also all other entertainment and quite frankly other industries have gone into hyper drive, creating more products and drumming up demand for said products. I think it's really just that, and I don't think it's limited to sports. I think these days, whatever your passion or hobby is, you likely spend a lot more on it than your say your parents or grandparents did on their hobbies or passions back in the day.

Also, as for the lack of jersey's in the 80's in the C of Red. People also need to remember that this team only arrived in 81, and like it or not, it takes time to build a true fan base. Many Flames fans in the 80's were Habs or Leafs fan's first, because that's who they grew up cheering for, it takes time to weed that out of a market.

[Otto-matic]

Originally Posted by Southside

$200 doesn't go far in the bar anymore either.

For an individual?

I think that would be plenty for me + a cab ride home.

That's almost 20 Pints at 8.50$!

[The Swedish Flame]

I wonder what tickets in Chicago would go for in the next round if the Flames make it there. I have a feeling that my wallet would weep.

[Buff]

Originally Posted by Table 5

Perhaps I'm in the minority, but I'm not willing to pay $200 bucks for a playoff ticket. My limit would probably be around $100-120. Anything more than that, and the value proposition is not really there for me (especially since I always end up spending more at the game on food/drinks/50/50 etc). I'm happy to watch it at home or in a bar.

I was thinking the same as you until I bit the bullet and bought tickets to Game 3 against Vancouver this year. I loved the atmosphere. It helped that the Flames won too. I would totally do it again. I can't wait for my next opportunity.

However, I won't buy the over-inflated re-sellers ticket prices. I'll just hope to get lucky and have my name drawn to buy direct from ticketmaster.

[Coach]

I think it's because sports is one of the few things were we can literally be a part of the action. We can cheer and jeer and (maybe superficially) actually affect the game. No other experience lets you scream your face off, hate people purely because they cheer for someone else, and witness people live out childhood dreams LIVE.

Also because sports can't be replayed. Of course you can tape it/watch highlights, but nothing replaces being there. And if something amazing happens, you can say "I was there". Where as pretty much any other entertainment can be repeated or postponed to be seen later.

You can't get that from movies or even plays.

[Cube Inmate]

Also, 24-hour-a-day multimedia exposure upping the hype level. If you spend dollars to go to a game, you don't just get to enjoy the 3 hours of the game itself, but you can watch the highlights over and over again, and discuss the outcome with your fellow fans. And after the game you can stroll down 17th Avenue to high-five another 20,000 people who weren't even at the game.

Teams in every league have long argued that putting a game on TV lessens the chances of people buying tickets, but I wonder if the effect is not the opposite, at least for exciting, high-stakes games.

[The Yen Man]

I think prices for some things have gone down, while things for other things have gone up. I remember my dad buying a super VHS for $1,100 back in 1985. Electronics like TVs, CD players, Walkmans, and video games were way more expensive in the 80s than they are now (comparatively). You also have people spending a ton of money on music and movie mediums (cassettes, CDs, tapes, etc).

Nowadays, you have consumable media that is way is way cheaper (and free if you pirate off the internet). The money people use for entertainment has shifted from one form of medium to another, and hence why more people are willing to pay higher prices for things like sports, concerts, and shows.

That's what I think anyways. I don't have any scientific data to back it up.

[The Yen Man]

Edit: Oops, double post

[Gaudreau]

Another perspective is the increase in immigration and the creation of a new generation of hockey fans in minority groups throughout the city. Often times these minorities have high-paying jobs as well so that helps as far as affordability goes.

Case in point, the rise of Punjabi commentary for hockey games on a multicultural channel on basic cable like OMNI.

[Textcritic]

Originally Posted by Cleveland Steam Whistle

I think this isn't a sports question, I think it's an everything question. Since (and beginning in the 80"s) the marketing and merechandising engines that work in sports, but also all other entertainment and quite frankly other industries have gone into hyper drive, creating more products and drumming up demand for said products. I think it's really just that, and I don't think it's limited to sports...

Yeah, this is my thinking as well. I believe that people just spend more of their disposable income and credit than they used to, and on all sorts of things not limited to sports.

[Macho0978]

Salary Cap plays a part in it too. More likely that we can compete long term and have guys like Monahan, Gaudreau, Brodie, Bennett for their entire careers has created more excitement towards hockey

[Northendzone]

i think that today more people are willing (and perhaps able) to pay more money for the experience of being there live.

i would say my personal limit would be $250 for a seat if i have to pay for more than one ticket - $300 if i am just buying a ticket for myself and it was something like a clinching game.

[getbak]

As far as the jersey thing is concerned, I don't know if it's as much a money thing as a general change in society. 30-40 years ago, it was usually only children who wore jerseys to games, and adults still dressed up to go to games.

Also, the quality of the jerseys you can buy are much better than they were 20+ years ago.