Simple question: Season ticket holders... To renew or not to renew

[theslymonkey]

Originally Posted by bizaro86

I would guess they're down to 90% from a previous range of 95-98% or so. I got a personal call from my rep asking if I was going to renew and if I had feedback. Which is the first time that has happened.

I'd take the over on that one. It's one season out of the playoffs with a terrible coach. I don't think that many people will ditch that quickly. People here are listening to a few squeaky wheels over the masses who are quite and will just renew.

[Flamenspiel]

nm

[taffeyb]

Renewed as well. Was a tough decision. The saving grace was that we moved down from whites to oranges last year so saved a few dollars on that move. Another 5% increase next year and I'll be looking at moving to greens during seat relocation.

Pretty much maxed out on what I want to spend on sporting events...

[christoph186]

Unfortunately I will not be renewing — after relocating to Kelowna for work, and the person who I normally share with backed out, I just don’t feel like I’ll be able to sell enough games to make it worth it.

[bizaro86]

Originally Posted by theslymonkey

I'd take the over on that one. It's one season out of the playoffs with a terrible coach. I don't think that many people will ditch that quickly. People here are listening to a few squeaky wheels over the masses who are quite and will just renew.

The reason I think people will quit is this was the first year where (for many price points) there were a bunch of games where the market price was lower than STH cost.

Previously, if you moved or lost your job or had kids or whatever, if you couldn't make many games it made sense to keep the tickets and sell them. I don't think that's true anymore, so there might be a big backlog of people doing that who start to drop off.

[theslymonkey]

Originally Posted by bizaro86

The reason I think people will quit is this was the first year where (for many price points) there were a bunch of games where the market price was lower than STH cost.

Previously, if you moved or lost your job or had kids or whatever, if you couldn't make many games it made sense to keep the tickets and sell them. I don't think that's true anymore, so there might be a big backlog of people doing that who start to drop off.

I didn't find that to be the case. But maybe that's just me. I did quite well on games that I didn't go to. But if that's the case, I can see that possibly having a minor affect for some people. But I still don't think it will have a big effect on renewal.

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[agulati]

After quite some thought, I renewed my tickets.

I usually have not found it difficult to find takers for my tickets for games I cannot attend, but last year was a bit more difficult.

[flamesrule_kipper34]

I had an exceptionally difficult time selling my tickets at STH cost. I'd say I have some pretty decent seats too and mid-price point ($75/seat last year).

[bizaro86]

Originally Posted by theslymonkey

I didn't find that to be the case. But maybe that's just me. I did quite well on games that I didn't go to. But if that's the case, I can see that possibly having a minor affect for some people. But I still don't think it will have a big effect on renewal.

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What price tier do you have?

[theslymonkey]

Originally Posted by bizaro86

What price tier do you have?

Greens Row 17 and Oranges on the Aisle.

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[bizaro86]

Originally Posted by theslymonkey

Greens Row 17 and Oranges on the Aisle.

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I think the greens and oranges will renew at a higher rate, as will PL 1-3. People will do what is economically sensible for themselves, and those tickets are the most saleable.

I think there will be pretty strong availability for new STH in the corner whites though...

I agree there us a huge group of die-hards that either go to every game or go to every 4th game and split or whatever. But inevitably some of those people will have had a life change of some kind (including job loss lately) and will need to be selling, which isn't as easy in other price tiers I don't think.

[Reggie28]

Originally Posted by bizaro86

I think the greens and oranges will renew at a higher rate, as will PL 1-3. People will do what is economically sensible for themselves, and those tickets are the most saleable.

I think there will be pretty strong availability for new STH in the corner whites though...

I agree. We try to go to most of the games, but often have to get rid of tickets on short notice. Over the last few seasons, we have found the resale market has completely dried up, even at STH pricing, for our Blue Row 19 seats. We did renew all 4 seats and I fully expect to have sell games below cost, and sometimes have them go empty this season. Hard sell when you are coughing up over $13,800 for tickets. I think there are several reasons it is hard to unload our tickets.

1. Overall demand is down and "free" tickets seem to be more available. People who used to buy one or two games, now seem to get their hands on free tickets.

2. Competing with White Row 11 seats at the same STH cost as our Blue Row 19 seats.

3. Competing with Greens at about 1/2 of the STH cost.

4. Competing with PL at about 1/3 of the STH cost.

It would be nice if the Flames made a STH price distinction between the Blue and the White tickets, but I am not holding my breath.

[theslymonkey]

Originally Posted by bizaro86

I think the greens and oranges will renew at a higher rate, as will PL 1-3. People will do what is economically sensible for themselves, and those tickets are the most saleable.

I think there will be pretty strong availability for new STH in the corner whites though...

I agree there us a huge group of die-hards that either go to every game or go to every 4th game and split or whatever. But inevitably some of those people will have had a life change of some kind (including job loss lately) and will need to be selling, which isn't as easy in other price tiers I don't think.

There will always be corner whites. That's where every season ticket holder starts out. They're not good value, but there's always going to be those type of seats in any seat configuration. But once you have eaten that lump as a first time holder, you can move to a more desirable/sellable section. That's why I am shocked at people's willingness to drop their seats. I get it if you have financial issues or no longer enjoy the product, but once you get your seats into a value position you'd be crazy to give those up.

[rain_e]

Originally Posted by theslymonkey

There will always be corner whites. That's where every season ticket holder starts out. They're not good value, but there's always going to be those type of seats in any seat configuration. But once you have eaten that lump as a first time holder, you can move to a more desirable/sellable section. That's why I am shocked at people's willingness to drop their seats. I get it if you have financial issues or no longer enjoy the product, but once you get your seats into a value position you'd be crazy to give those up.

I'm in S213 R22 on the blue line in the attack zone. 2 seats in from the aisle and I haven't been able to improve these seats in 2-3 years now. I've decided not to renew after seeing a price increase. Maybe I could get a little lower this year but it doesn't matter how good the view is when the product isn't that good to look at.

[Flamenspiel]

^^Based on your location I would say you made the right decision. That being said I would watch things closely this year, make no mistake about it if the Flames start to show well, demand will pick up very quickly. I suggest you keep the connection with your account rep and perhaps a hothouse account.

[stone hands]

Row 5 of the pl, centre ice. I could not get $40 For the pair including the food vouchers for most games this season. I had to let a lot of tickets rot because nobody wanted to even go for free

[Hockeyguy15]

Originally Posted by stone hands

Row 5 of the pl, centre ice. I could not get $40 For the pair including the food vouchers for most games this season. I had to let a lot of tickets rot because nobody wanted to even go for free

Should have donated them to kids up front, at least you get a tax receipt.

[hayduke's dad]

Well I reluctantly renewed with about an hour left on the clock for the deadline.

I am hoping I can either find a replacement for the 10 games pack I lost or downgrade seats to the orange/greens. If not I may have to cancel and ask for refund after the seat relocation.

Tough to justify to the Warden $6900 for whites.

[DeluxeMoustache]

Originally Posted by Hockeyguy15

Should have donated them to kids up front, at least you get a tax receipt.

Yeah, about that.

I did this once and did not get one.

Plus, outside of the good deed of donation, a tax receipt gets you what, 30 cents on the dollar (whatever your tax rate is)

[calgarywinning]

So what we have learned is 80% of flames ticket holders will renew. 20% won't renew and there will be a limited line up for people to renew? Can we close this thread down now? The season is almost 1 season away and the early renewal deadline has passed.