Pro sports attendance is way down
- Thread starter Obliviax
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I was in Vegas two weeks ago and the LV Knights tickets were $98 for single seat/bad seats. By ten minutes before game time, they were $35 for the lower bowl.
I am guessing because all the political bs has trickled into sports and people used sports to escape and forget about life for a while. It has become unpleasant to watch or go to a sporting event.
going to a live sporting event just costs a ton of money. these pro sports franchises are not stupid, they keep raising prices until the demand goes down. in the end, if they can charge 15% more per ticket and have 5% less attendance, then the math works out to charge more money.
Lots of factors..
- kids are far less invested
- older, invested, folks are "moving on"
- 90 inch TV screens with surround sound make it closer to an in person experience than the 27" sony. I have neighbors that get together every weekend for the Browns game instead of going to the game. They've got setups to accommodate 10+ peeps with a large TV (all are over 65")
- cost to attend, not just tickets but parking, food, etc.
- Lots of fights and the 'fan experience' has suffered
I’ve talked to some tix reps and college and pro l bel and they are saying in many cases people bought their seats because they didn’t want to lose them, but they are not attending because they still have some concerns or they just have no desire to wear masks in indoor venues.
People are willing to eat the tix or will sell for super cheap, just to recoup some $.
People are willing to eat the tix or will sell for super cheap, just to recoup some $.
Attendance is down, but ratings are up. That’s where the real money is.
In the 1980s we lived in the burbs of KC. I got free tickets to the Chiefs and Royals. At a Chiefs game, drunken fans behind us kept using the F word and spilling beer on us and our 3 daughters. When we complained to an usher, he asked us if we wanted to change our seats. We never went back. Some NFL franchises still cater to drunken thugs.. At the Royals, the drunks would have been thrown out.
The best pIayer in the NBA said last year that he "hates white people," a quote. People watch sports to be entertained, not coaxed into a fit of hatred.
If you live in FL, there are 500 things you do within 50 miles of my home, including the beach. I never however miss watching Penn State football.
I assume you arent tawking about the kleer kut #1 Greek Freek or either Slavic guy or Embiid, or KD or AD so Im a little confused who you are on about 🤔 plus Im Joey 2 times skeptical about your whole post and the veracity of any of this.
My friends in CA say the same thing. They've got a million good options that come in over spending a day fighting traffic at a pro game
More like you hope that.
You should look at Raiders tickets. All seats were bought up by people thinking the resale market would be crazy but if you buy just before game time it gets more reasonable. Months in advance upper bowl was starting at $200, lower bowl around $500. I ended up paying $120 for lower bowl 1 hour before kickoff.
I'm sure there will be a ton of analysts that release articles saying that attendance is dropping due to better TV coverage, bad stadium wifi, long lines, frustrating stadium and travel logistics, etc. which is par for the course. They never mention how ridiculous the prices have gotten to attend a sporting event which is the simple answer. The average fans have gotten priced out and have been replaced with corporate seats and sponsors.
It's been a life long dream to watch PSU in a national title game in person. Last time I looked I think face value tickets for a title game was $2000 a seat, resale likely even higher unless Bama is involved where their demand isn't so high because they play for it every other year. It's discouraging to know that even if by some miracle PSU reaches the title game I have virtually no chance to attend given that the total cost of the trip and tickets could approach $5000. It's ridiculous.
LMAOROFL. As a distribution manager responsible for tens of millions $ LTL shipments to all states, I received comp tickets to sports and other events. At that time, the Chief's management was pro thug, anti family. I was at every hone game in the playoffs and world series when the Royals beat the Cardinals. To be fair, very few children were seen at chiefs games. PS Tickets were about 10-15% of today's cost.
#1: Half the fans are probably still a little weary about big crowds.
#2: They have priced themselves out of the normal family of four just picking up and catching a game. I know it has for us. We did it once and it was about a 500.00 evening. Way too much for not know who or what you are going to see.
#3: During the pandemic people figured out that the home watching environment is actually pretty cool.
#4: And as always......................Get WOKE= Go BROKE!!!!!
#2: They have priced themselves out of the normal family of four just picking up and catching a game. I know it has for us. We did it once and it was about a 500.00 evening. Way too much for not know who or what you are going to see.
#3: During the pandemic people figured out that the home watching environment is actually pretty cool.
#4: And as always......................Get WOKE= Go BROKE!!!!!
It's too expensive to attend a live game on a regular basis. Plus, none of these leagues are really consistently competitive any more; why go watch your team get beat when you can do it from home for way less? Most of the stadiums I see filled are for the visiting team, as the locals can't afford the travel costs to see them play in their home stadiums. The stadiums are mostly corporate seats with a few individual diehards who would rather spend their money on inflated beer and crap seats than a 401K. Add in COVID, whatever political excuse you pretend to believe in, and the fact that people don't want to give up an entire day to watch the Grizzlies play the Pelicans, and you have what you have.
I do think the main issue, other than the pandemic, is the cost.
People are tired of having to pay so much for such a poor experience. Lines to get to the parking lot, lines to get into the stadium, lines to get to your seat, lines to the bathroom, lines to get out, lines to get to your car, lines to get out of the parking lot. All the while spending hundreds if not thousands for the right to sit in lines.
On top of that, people don't know how to behave. Fights in the stadiums. Idiots on both sides forcing their politics down your throat. In the case of Beaver stadium, I am a 6'2" ex college football lineman. It gets a little tight for me in those seats.
But again, lets not pretend this isn't about the pandemic because it so obviously is. The same declines are across the board from concerts, to restaurants to hotels. People are spending money at home rather than going out. That will change. And spare me your rant on what you think about covid, the vaccine or otherwise, Im simply stating, regardless of what your thoughts on it are, that people don't want to be around big groups right now.
People are tired of having to pay so much for such a poor experience. Lines to get to the parking lot, lines to get into the stadium, lines to get to your seat, lines to the bathroom, lines to get out, lines to get to your car, lines to get out of the parking lot. All the while spending hundreds if not thousands for the right to sit in lines.
On top of that, people don't know how to behave. Fights in the stadiums. Idiots on both sides forcing their politics down your throat. In the case of Beaver stadium, I am a 6'2" ex college football lineman. It gets a little tight for me in those seats.
But again, lets not pretend this isn't about the pandemic because it so obviously is. The same declines are across the board from concerts, to restaurants to hotels. People are spending money at home rather than going out. That will change. And spare me your rant on what you think about covid, the vaccine or otherwise, Im simply stating, regardless of what your thoughts on it are, that people don't want to be around big groups right now.
I hated the last PSU game I went to, the cost is way yup, getting in the seat was a huge PITA, the constant let's make some noise scoreboard stuff. IT annoyed me to no end. While I don't have a 65" TV, I'm fine with my 45" tv, good beer and food with no bathroom lines. My sports addicted cousin keeps asking me to go and I laugh at him.
Oh, zero traveling too. And if the game is over early enough I can be in the woods archery hunting in 30 minutes or less lol.
Sports has long Covid. And like long Covid there are several complications. One is few of getting sick. Lots of vaccinated people are getting it now. Or at least we’re in the last two months....seems to have slowed lately.
But there is another side to the pandemic. Last year saw record sales for camping gear, canoes and kayaks, bicycles and more. State and national parks were packed as people discovered other ways to spend their money and time. And a lot discovered it was fun, it was healthy, and they don’t need sports.
Or they can watch sports for a couple hours on the tube and then go out and about. Even better, they could record the action and watch it at their leisure.
But there is another side to the pandemic. Last year saw record sales for camping gear, canoes and kayaks, bicycles and more. State and national parks were packed as people discovered other ways to spend their money and time. And a lot discovered it was fun, it was healthy, and they don’t need sports.
Or they can watch sports for a couple hours on the tube and then go out and about. Even better, they could record the action and watch it at their leisure.
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I see a lot of fans in these pro stadiums that I have no interest being around. It seems like fights have skyrocketed. I figured out a long time ago it is more enjoyable watching from home than being there in person. The last pro game I went to was in 2018 to watch the Rays play the Angels because we were on vacation, the tickets were cheap and we could leave in the sixth inning because no one cared who won. I think many people figured this out during the pandemic.
I had Steeler season tickets for 40+ years and sold them because I couldn't stand all the bull$hit that was going on. Do not watch any games either except for the Steeler games. Used to watch many and was in fantasy leagues. Not any more
Interesting. I don't subscribe to the effectiveness of the alleged conservative boycott narrative about athletes taking a social stand. I know it is crap because those same people constantly tell me on sports radio, sports internet message boards, and in casual sport conversation how they don't watch anything, but yet always seem know or have an opinion on what is going on with their team or sports in general. But I do think there is something going on that is connected to this narrative.
Lately I have been thinking that Charles Barkley was finally right: sports "heroes" are no longer something people are teaching their kids about or encouraging them to have, so interest in sports as something to pay for is on the decline. The rise of the Marvel movies and "nerd" culture (aka fake heroes), the idea that teams cheat to win (steroids, Pats spying, Astros scam, paying college players), and the constant stories in the news of poor behavior from most of these guys (spouse issues, drugs, DUIs, neglecting their own kids, bankruptcy) have made parents turn their kids towards other avenues to glorify. Combine that with CTE and most people are no longer going out of their way to open up their shrinking wallets. JMO.
Fair point, Gregg, but I no longer watch the three major professional sports, all of which I once followed, due to the fact that the people running them...and in some cases the athletes playing them...have ruined the game with their performative politics. I'm sick of it...and have tuned out.
Start watching NHL since I am guessing the three major you are referring to are NFL, NBA, and MLB.
Your guess is correct. But I've never gotten too much into hockey except back in the day when our professional teams used to play the Soviets...and of course the Olympics in those same years...especially the Miracle on Ice.
One of my favorite moments ever in sports was the Bully Boy Flyers and toothless Bobby Clarke kicking Soviet ass in 1976...after Kate Smith sang God Bless America. The memory of those Soviets being body-slammed and mugged all over the ice still gives me goose bumps.
NHL sort of dispels the theory since the are also having a decline
As someone who had season tickets to the Orioles and family season tickets to PSU FB and knowing dozens, if not hundreds of friends who have had season tickets to the Ravens, Redskins, Steelers, Eagles, National, Pirates, Penguins, Caps or UMd basketball, everyone who has given up their tickets had done it because of cost/time. I dont know a single person that gave then up over covid concerns or kneeling or any other BS.
It's not just the cost of the ticket but the other nickel and dime stuff like parking and PSL and stadium food. Add in the time to get back and forth and waiting in traffic when you can watch it in your game room with 5 other friends on a big screen tv, go to the bathroom whenever you want and tailgate in your backyard and I dont think a couple thousand dollars is worth the experience anymore.
Ill take my kids a couple times but making three consecutive trips up to PSU in September will never happen.
It's not just the cost of the ticket but the other nickel and dime stuff like parking and PSL and stadium food. Add in the time to get back and forth and waiting in traffic when you can watch it in your game room with 5 other friends on a big screen tv, go to the bathroom whenever you want and tailgate in your backyard and I dont think a couple thousand dollars is worth the experience anymore.
Ill take my kids a couple times but making three consecutive trips up to PSU in September will never happen.
A guy is offering his two night stay in State College for the Michigan game for something like $750.
You missed the point. I was suggesting the league that has not been as “political “.
That may have added to it, but in a different way than you think. Last year when they couldn't go to games, they spent that money on things like an 80" screen TV, surround sound system, etc. And this year they're thinking: "Why should I go to the game when I can sit in the comfort of my mancave, avoid the drive to and fro, not waste money on over priced, poor tasting concessions, don't have to deal with that schmuck 4 seats down who continually gets up, etc."
I know, and yet there has also been a decline in NHL attendance.
