[News] Flames pushing season tickets

[Cali Panthers Fan]

Since we are likely getting season tickets to the Panthers, who are arguably going to be in the same boat the Flames are this year, I thought I would compare pricing. It's cheaper for sure, but not that far off.

https://oss.ticketmaster.com/aps/pan...etails/13FSF41

[burnitdown]

I find it shocking there are season seats available. Sure it'll be a bad team and the costs are high...but it's still hockey in a Canadian market. Is there any other Canadian team that has open availability for season tickets?? I'd be shocked if this was happening anywhere else...except for maybe Vancouver! But their fans are the definition of bandwagon fans!!

[the2bears]

Originally Posted by dino7c

$5100 per seat when the team has no top end talent is a pretty tough sell...the fact that they dropped 14M in salary and raised ticket prices also rubs me the wrong way

Yeah, you're pretty obsessed with spending to the cap. I guess it doesn't matter what the end goal is?

[Fire]

Originally Posted by Neeper

Bleeds are $52. I bought some today. Face value for my blacks are $38.

Oh, it must only be the first 3 rows that are $63+.

[dino7c]

Originally Posted by the2bears

Yeah, you're pretty obsessed with spending to the cap. I guess it doesn't matter what the end goal is?

I have never said spend to the cap...don't cut payroll by 14M and and have the nerve to raise ticket prices

you are pretty obsessed with me not having an opinion

[dino7c]

Originally Posted by nfotiu

It really seems like the savvy thing to do would have been to call it a rebuild, acklowledge the lower salaries and offer a one year discount of 20% to returning season ticket holders to make sure they kept their base, and kept up the appearance that tickets are scarce.

exactly, at the very least don't raise prices when the whole world knows you have dropped so much salary

[dino7c]

and that is correct about the revenue sharing..our money going to tampa so people can pay $20 for seat to watch a team with star players we could only dream of

[iggy_oi]

I think some people are blowing this small availability of tickets out of proportion. It's not as if there is no waiting list anymore, there is probably less then 10 pairs in each price level available. These are most likely due to people who missed payments and had their tickets revoked.

Also for the bandwagoners who are complaining about the on ice product, did you really think if you got season tickets the flames would never have a bad season ever again? I've had season tickets for the last 3 years and even though they haven't been the greatest seasons from a flames fan's perspective, it still gives me the opportunity to see the best players in the league and be guaranteed tickets to the games that are very difficult to get tickets to(leafs/habs/pens) regardless of how the flames are doing.

Seems to me that most people are disappointed that they might not be able to sell off all their tickets for a big profit, if that's the only reason you want season tickets you are buying them for the wrong reason and would probably be wiser to invest that kind of money in other ways.

[dino7c]

Originally Posted by iggy_oi

I think some people are blowing this small availability of tickets out of proportion. It's not as if there is no waiting list anymore, there is probably less then 10 pairs in each price level available. These are most likely due to people who missed payments and had their tickets revoked.

Also for the bandwagoners who are complaining about the on ice product, did you really think if you got season tickets the flames would never have a bad season ever again? I've had season tickets for the last 3 years and even though they haven't been the greatest seasons from a flames fan's perspective, it still gives me the opportunity to see the best players in the league and be guaranteed tickets to the games that are very difficult to get tickets to(leafs/habs/pens) regardless of how the flames are doing.

Seems to me that most people are disappointed that they might not be able to sell off all their tickets for a big profit, if that's the only reason you want season tickets you are buying them for the wrong reason and would probably be wiser to invest that kind of money in other ways.

bad season is fine...its the raising prices that gets me in this situation

I have cheered for the Flames my whole life and will continue to do so

[the2bears]

Originally Posted by dino7c

I have never said spend to the cap...don't cut payroll by 14M and and have the nerve to raise ticket prices

I don't think payroll is fixed at its present amount. Still plenty of time. Will it go back up 14M? Hard to imagine, but it could rise somewhat. But if you don't like the increased cost of tickets, don't buy them. If the team is making a mistake raising them it'll show in the market.

Originally Posted by dino7c

you are pretty obsessed with me not having an opinion

Huh? I have never said you do not have an opinion.

[Oil Stain]

Originally Posted by Sec218

Time for people on the Hot House list to put up or shut up! Isn't that why you are on the list, to get season tickets? You should be excited that they have come available. No?

Meh. They will probably be available for the next 2-3 seasons as well.

As someone who owned season tickets through the Oilers rebuild, if I had to do it over again I would have dropped my tickets and just bought Gold/100 level seats off of Kijiji for a song on game days for a couple of seasons.

[Neeper]

Originally Posted by Fire

Oh, it must only be the first 3 rows that are $63+.

I am in the first 3 rows. My face value is $38. I just figured it out I think. Doesn't Ticketmaster charge a $9 or $10 fee? That would make the bleeds about $63 with tax. Ouch.

[moon]

Originally Posted by burnitdown

I find it shocking there are season seats available. Sure it'll be a bad team and the costs are high...but it's still hockey in a Canadian market. Is there any other Canadian team that has open availability for season tickets?? I'd be shocked if this was happening anywhere else...except for maybe Vancouver! But their fans are the definition of bandwagon fans!!

These are offered to people who have paid to be on a waiting list for 2-3 years (maybe more?) not sure how that is open availability or something to be concerned about.

[browna]

Originally Posted by EYE_Overstand

i thought people go to the dome to watch hockey... not to try and be cool

Having tickets now through the down, then up, now down times, there are certainly those who are at games just as much for the social standing and exclusivity of saying to others they are going to/at the the Flames game, then the consumption of actually watching what is going on the ice.

But, that's when, among that (larger than you'd think) crosssection of social strata, going to the Flames is socially acceptable because they are successful. That crosssection doesn't want to be explicitly associated with anything considered "losers" on the ice, thus the waning desire to be part of the situation (and, that doesn't extend just to those non hockey fans, many supposed Flames fans have the same feeling).

Basically, he's right, there are those who don't go to the game anymore because it's no longer "cool" amongst their group to go, because the team isn't winning or likely to win and they don't care about hockey itself usually one way or another anyways.

If the Flames get close to the playoffs, they'll be the ones with the dust on the jerseys loudly claiming to be a long time fan. They are also the first ones that did/will justify and cheer for the Oilers if they somehow make the playoffs first.

In general though, yeah, there are a handful more of tickets available, hardly a mass sell off. That said, many people have credits from last year (paying for the full year, only getting a half year), so after this year, there may be a bit more if things look as bleak the next 8 months.

[May 25, 1989]

A lot of comments in this thread highlight why an ownership is hesitant to go through a rebuild when "everyone else sees that it is needed". Not highlighting anyone's post however when statements about cost of tickets to watch a poor product are already starting to be made before year 1 has even started, you can see why business people are reluctant to go through the process. It also can show why Flames ownership group is reluctant to retain any salary in a potential trade when revenue stream is likely decreasing.

[moon]

Originally Posted by May 25, 1989

A lot of comments in this thread highlight why an ownership is hesitant to go through a rebuild when "everyone else sees that it is needed". Not highlighting anyone's post however when statements about cost of tickets to watch a poor product are already starting to be made before year 1 has even started, you can see why business people are reluctant to go through the process. It also can show why Flames ownership group is reluctant to retain any salary in a potential trade when revenue stream is likely decreasing.

I would hope that ownership would look at ticket sales, hot house memberships and corporate sponsorship and not a few whiners when making a decision about what to do with the hockey operations.

Plus there were likely as many people lamenting how bad it was going to the games the last few years with a bad non-play-off team that is likely going to be the case if they ignore the proper rebuild.

I think for the most part the whiners are just a loud small minority and the team has very little to nothing to worry about going forward financially outside of the Canadian dollar collapsing again or the Oil business coming to a complete stop all of a sudden.

[dino7c]

All I am saying is they should have left ticket prices alone for a year or two considering the circumstances. Anyway I am going to Florida for a month this winter so will be able to walk up and catch NHL hockey for $20

Will watch the Flames on TV and maybe buy a couple "non premium" games at the dome when season ticket holders sell them at a discount.

[moon]

I would much rather the Flames be at the cap floor charging me full price for my tickets and rebuilding the team correctly then wasting money on crap guys, being close to the cap but giving me a discount on tickets.

[dino7c]

Originally Posted by moon

I would much rather the Flames be at the cap floor charging me full price for my tickets and rebuilding the team correctly then wasting money on crap guys, being close to the cap but giving me a discount on tickets.

remember that when you are bitching about every player on the team in the game thread 82 games this season

[Mr.Coffee]

I think some of you guys are missing the point for fans. I think it has less to do with seeing winning and losing and more to do with seeing an exciting brand and a little effort.

Have you ever left the game after a loss but it was a great game to watch? Yes, probably many times. Probably because the players put in a little effort which directly relates to more chances, more close calls / nice saves, more nice goals, more big hits.... With Iginla as captain over the last couple years, again that wasn't happening. You had consistent floating nights.

THAT's the problem with the raising ticket prices. I forget exactly but I think over the last 7-10 years I'm pretty sure the Flames have raised ticket prices every single year. And the problem is then you have these idiots sit out half a year while they squabble over the billions. F that noise.

I think it has less to do with "being cool" relating to winning / losing / rebuilding and more to do with the QUALITY OF THE PRODUCT.

If the rookies come in, are crap, but play an exciting brand then yes- raise prices, you'll probably have people excited about the near-term future of the team. If they dick around and float all over the place, you shouldn't raise prices because the product really does suck.

It's like they're rewarding themselves for inept management and laziness on the ice.