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Pseudolus
05-30-2002, 12:37 PM
From today's Boston Globe:

Call could be slashing (http://www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/150/sports/Call_could_be_slashing+.shtml)

[H]ow much did you pay for your Bruins tickets? Maybe too much.

Based on a report in the Sports Business Journal yesterday, the Bruins are on the verge of a drastic change in ticket pricing, possibly cutting prices by the hour on game day - much the way Priceline.com discounts airline tickets, hotel rooms, and rent-a-cars.

It's a plan that would send Priceline pitchman William Shatner rushing to the Causeway Street box office in his double-runners.

According to the SBJ report, the Bruins will implement the flexible pricing, also known as variable pricing, next season.

''It's really just demand pricing,'' FleetCenter president Rich Krezwick told SBJ. ''It's common sense. The public has accepted it in the hotel industry and with airlines, but for some reason, sports has been a holdout.''

According to SBJ, a handful of Major League Baseball teams already practice some form of flexible pricing.

The Bruins' plan, if implemented, would see prices adjusted based on the club's opponent, the day the game is played, and also the time of purchase. In theory, a loge ticket normally priced around $80 could sell at a 25 percent or 50 percent discount a few hours before the opening faceoff. That likely wouldn't happen if the Canadiens were in town. But the Nashville Predators? On a Tuesday night? The price could come tumbling down by the minute.
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Could this work?

Shrek
05-30-2002, 01:03 PM
It seems like a good way to fill empty seats, thereby generating additional revenue, BUT

It may cause many to delay purchase of tickets, trying to get the lowest possible price, who then decide that another offer is more attractive. (we could drive all the way to the Fleet and watch the Bruins take on the mighty Lightning, or hey, that new movie just opened at the multi-plex, why don't we just go see that?)

AND

A team would run the very real risk of pissing off season ticket holders, who in most cases are the vast majority of the butts in the seats.

IMO, it would only be a good idea if attendance is a low percentage of capacity, which would limit the idea primarily to baseball in the smaller markets.

Dr T Non-Fan
05-30-2002, 01:19 PM
Don't you worry about the season ticket holders. Their Canadiens game tickets are worth more than they paid for them, so they can sell them for a profit.
They'll just have to show up for a Predator game on a Tuesday night.