Flames attendance at the dome...

[rage2]

Originally Posted by N-E-B

For me, the ticket price isn't the turn-off. It's pretty easy to find cheap seats if I'm buying a ticket for myself. The turn-off is the ridiculous food prices. $6 for a single slice of pizza? $7 for a crappy re-named hotdog (Pocket Dawgs are a scam and I can't believe people buy them)? I stopped buying food there. It's just stupid. I eat a big dinner before I leave so I'm not even tempted to spend money there. It's a shame, I actually quite like the nachos, but $7-$9? Nope.

So what's the problem? You're turned off because you have to eat at home first? It's like you're surprised that food costs more when you're going out. $9 nachos, $14 wings, that's cheaper than going out to a typical restaurant such as Moxies.

[GC91]

I'm actually quite impressed this year with the 5 dollar happy hour at the dome. 5 dollar cheeseburgers and 5 dollar beer from 5:30-6:30. That is about as cheap as you'll find in an NHL arena. There are some other items on the list that are 5 dollars at that time too but I can't remember them all.

[rage2]

Originally Posted by GC91

I'm actually quite impressed this year with the 5 dollar happy hour at the dome. 5 dollar cheeseburgers and 5 dollar beer from 5:30-6:30. That is about as cheap as you'll find in an NHL arena. There are some other items on the list that are 5 dollars at that time too but I can't remember them all.

Pizza slice, wine and highballs are the other items. The happy hour 10% fanatic discount is pretty awesome too, coupled with a season ticket holder discount, 35% off.

[kevman]

Originally Posted by theslymonkey

I sell my row 17 green seats for $120 a pair for the games I can't make it to and I almost never have a problem getting rid of them. The Flames rely on the season ticket holders for revenue. The face value tickets are just the gravy for them.

If you want to go for a good price, find someone that has good corner greens and buy from them...

I have season tickets. I was simply questioning the business model of relying on a middleman to take a hit to get affordable seats out there. I don't have kids either but fuffalo was bang on, it's expensive these days to take a family to the game. It becomes even harder to justify when you consider all the other entertainment options out there for a fraction of the price.

[Backlunds_socks]

Originally Posted by GC91

I'm actually quite impressed this year with the 5 dollar happy hour at the dome. 5 dollar cheeseburgers and 5 dollar beer from 5:30-6:30. That is about as cheap as you'll find in an NHL arena. There are some other items on the list that are 5 dollars at that time too but I can't remember them all.

But you gotta get there before the game. I just don't see the value.

To each is own I guess.

[Northendzone]

I had no idea that happy hour pricing exsisted.

to me the price of food for the most part is on par with what movies theaters charge - but both likely count food and drink as huge margin items.

Even if you were to take a family of four to sit in the lower bowl you are still looking at $175 or so to walk in the door (that would include parking or transit tickets). By comparasion I think you could take the family to a movie for ~$75 if you went to something new at one of those fancy 3D screens.

of course you could save money by grabbing the lowest cost seats in the 300 level; however, then the kids are pretty much watching specs on the ice - to em at that point it is better off staying at home and watching it on a large screen HD.

[CaramonLS]

Originally Posted by rage2

So what's the problem? You're turned off because you have to eat at home first? It's like you're surprised that food costs more when you're going out. $9 nachos, $14 wings, that's cheaper than going out to a typical restaurant such as Moxies.

At least restaurants like Moxies have slightly higher quality food than the dome does. I'd go so far as to say that the dome offers one of the worst quality to dollar ratios of any dining experience in the city.

[rage2]

Originally Posted by Northendzone

Even if you were to take a family of four to sit in the lower bowl you are still looking at $175 or so to walk in the door (that would include parking or transit tickets). By comparasion I think you could take the family to a movie for ~$75 if you went to something new at one of those fancy 3D screens.

of course you could save money by grabbing the lowest cost seats in the 300 level; however, then the kids are pretty much watching specs on the ice - to em at that point it is better off staying at home and watching it on a large screen HD.

Jeeze, I should start complaining that paying $300 for bottle service is too expensive. I could save money by just going in and ordering from the bar, but I'd have to deal with lining up to get in, lining up to get drinks, and dealing with the crowd, and ordering cokes.

You're comparing 2 absolute extremes here, going from lower bowl to 300's. The 200's are fantastic seats, I'd argue you can see more action than most of the seats in the lower bowl. If you want to be cheap, you can even go in to the lower bowl during practice for free with your cheap tickets to get some of that experience.

[Strange Brew]

Originally Posted by Northendzone

Even if you were to take a family of four to sit in the lower bowl you are still looking at $175 or so to walk in the door (that would include parking or transit tickets).

Can 4 people really sit in the lower bowl for that? That is a bargain.

[rohara66]

Originally Posted by rage2

Pizza slice, wine and highballs are the other items. The happy hour 10% fanatic discount is pretty awesome too, coupled with a season ticket holder discount, 35% off.

They let you stack the discounts? Sweet!

[rohara66]

Originally Posted by rage2

Jeeze, I should start complaining that paying $300 for bottle service is too expensive. I could save money by just going in and ordering from the bar, but I'd have to deal with lining up to get in, lining up to get drinks, and dealing with the crowd, and ordering cokes.

You're comparing 2 absolute extremes here, going from lower bowl to 300's. The 200's are fantastic seats, I'd argue you can see more action than most of the seats in the lower bowl. If you want to be cheap, you can even go in to the lower bowl during practice for free with your cheap tickets to get some of that experience.

Whenever this topic comes up there are always some people that are looking for any excuse to not to go to games and justify watching from their couch. And that’s cool, if you prefer watching the games on TV you are more then welcome to do so. But….. watching it from home (even on 10k HD ultra widescreen) does not compare to watching it live. Regardless of what anyone says its not the same.

Like I said before I’d much rather buy ticket in the second bowl for $40 (which is easy to do), park on the street 3-4 blocks away (for free), buy a couple $5 beers and maybe splurge for a $7 nanchos if the heroin beers kick in too hard.

[Northendzone]

Originally Posted by Strange Brew

Can 4 people really sit in the lower bowl for that? That is a bargain.

sorry, my post was not clear - I thought that somewhere above it was mentioned that you could buy resale tickets in the second bowl for somewhere around $40 - I rounded up a bit.

I suppose if 4 people could occupy one seat, then you might be able to sit in the lower bowl for around $175

[Northendzone]

had a mistype in my post - meant to say that perhaps you could buy seats for four in the two hundred level for a family of four for $175 via the resale route.

Originally Posted by rage2

Jeeze, I should start complaining that paying $300 for bottle service is too expensive. I could save money by just going in and ordering from the bar, but I'd have to deal with lining up to get in, lining up to get drinks, and dealing with the crowd, and ordering cokes.

You're comparing 2 absolute extremes here, going from lower bowl to 300's. The 200's are fantastic seats, I'd argue you can see more action than most of the seats in the lower bowl. If you want to be cheap, you can even go in to the lower bowl during practice for free with your cheap tickets to get some of that experience.

[Northendzone]

rohara - I can't say I disagree with you; however, do the math for a family of 4 - $160 for tickets, $20 for drinks for two adults, $25 for snacks and drinks for the kids - it is a $200 dollar night out for the family. and then if your spouse is iffy on hockey.

It is expensive for a family to go see NHL hockey.

[pepper24]

If affordability is an issue for families there are other options like the Hitmen games. Good value and kids enjoy the games just as much. They also have more afternoon games especially on Sundays. Great family value. Really good hockey.

[rohara66]

Originally Posted by Northendzone

rohara - I can't say I disagree with you; however, do the math for a family of 4 - $160 for tickets, $20 for drinks for two adults, $25 for snacks and drinks for the kids - it is a $200 dollar night out for the family. and then if your spouse is iffy on hockey.

It is expensive for a family to go see NHL hockey.

Agree, its not cheap.

But others saying its $320+ minimum for a night are stretching the truth. Like you said its $160 minimum for second bowl seats.

Food and drinks are extra but definitely optional. I’ve been to many game where I haven’t purchased any food or drinks. And when we were younger our parents would maybe buy us 1 pop to split ($5 purchase) and that’s it.

[Northendzone]

in respect to pepper24 - I don't disagree with you that there are options for watching hockey, but I thought we were talking about flames attendance here. me taking the family to a hitman game does not help the flames numbers (although the money flows into the same pot at the end of the day).

also, it is hard to take younger kids and not offer them food bribes to keep them engaged for the full three hours.

[pepper24]

Originally Posted by Northendzone

in respect to pepper24 - I don't disagree with you that there are options for watching hockey, but I thought we were talking about flames attendance here. me taking the family to a hitman game does not help the flames numbers (although the money flows into the same pot at the end of the day).

also, it is hard to take younger kids and not offer them food bribes to keep them engaged for the full three hours.

If you look at attendance then the only difference I see from 19,289 consecutive streak to now is the 3rd deck/bleeders not being full every night. The first 2 sections are sold tickets so any empty seats are folks who couldn't attend or able to resell. Pretty sure there is still a long wait list for season tickets. My season tickets are still great value for me.

I am not sure how you fill the bleeders. They are good value so it's not a cost issue and probably comparable to going to a Hitmen game. That said economy is still tough and not much discretionary income so any cost is prohibitive to many.

[Northendzone]

I would have to think that many sports venues struggle to fill those last few rows on a nightly basis.

personally, I would not consider buying those seats unless it is round 3/4 of the playoffs. otherwise, on a night like last night, I choose to watch from home.

I sometimes wonder if the jets really have a better setup with the smaller venue with less tickets to sell......I would have to think that if the flames only needed to sell 16,000 when the economy was good that would have lead to a higher average ticket price.

[RM14]

High in 219 has a lot of empty seats lately. I think co-op distributes a few hundred up there for less than face value, but can't seem to sell them all very often.

It would be good if the flames could take those back from co-op, and designate 219 the supporters section or something fun. A standing section that is encouraged to lead cheers would be a great addition to amp up the atmosphere a bit.