So what is the issue now?
So what is the issue now? We have made the best offer to our fans to come to see our games, two-for-one specials on season tickets and a six-pack for $99 against our best rivals. Best plans in the NHL. We have $10 tickets and we have aggressive college student discount plans. We are calling everyone and our players are helping us to sell tickets too. We are removing all issues for buying plans and tickets to come see our team play. That is a good thing, right? Don
This subject is becoming very long in the tooth, same as it does about this time every year. Yes, I am also not very happy with the current ticket prices, the last several years of team performance and overall NHL league performance.
But on the other hand, I have to also see Ted’s take on a lot. See, I drive 3.5 hours EACH way multiple times a year (16 home games and 3 away games last year) to see the Caps play in D.C. It’s a long and vary tiring drive to and from Norfolk Naval Base but I do it to support the team I love. Most of you live within a short METRO distance and still complain about EVERYTHING under the sun. Lets talk about fuel, tires, wear and tear on vehicles, hotels (if I’m lucky to catch a weekend game), food, METRO passes , TICKETBASTA*D surcharges, etc.
My typical day begins at 0430. After work I drive to a game. Immediately afterwards I drive back. I lay my head down about 0300 the next morning to get right back up at around 0500 (if I sleep in) and hit the decks running.
Stop the whining and get your butts out and in the seats and be vocal in the stands cheering, not complaining on a message board. Maybe…just maybe if the stands are filled and the crowds into the game the team may perform better and revenue may increase. This may make Lincoln Holdings be able to keep ticket prices still fairly low.
I’d sell my soul to have my old season tickets back again and be able to be at every home game, win or lose.
Yes I too would like a Cup winning year but it’s still Caps Hockey… for better or worse and I wouldn’t miss it for anything.
I’m lucky that COMCAST braodcasts the games even down here so I can at least watch most of them while in homeport.
Try missing going to Caps games for a couple of years like I have or maybe crowd around a lap top and listen to it on the Internet while sitting in 120 degree desert heat in Jebal Ali,UAE in December as I have and tell me you would still complain about going to a game.
The Rolling Stones said it best: “You can’t always get what you want”.
Best wishes and fair winds and following seas.
“Z”
I have a couple of comments on the comments here and then I’ll add in my take on the facts.
1) Revenue sharing would not work in hockey. Revenue sharing works when there is significant league-wide revenue that can be shared. The NFL and NBA have revenue sharing because of their immense TV deals. Baseball has it to a lesser degree. An NHL team doesn’t get anywhere near as much from TV as the other sports. When someone (like me) buys a ticket, I’m paying to see the Caps and their opponent that night, not all 30 teams. I don’t see why the money from that ticket doesn’t go to the teams involved only in that game.
2) Win and they will come….that’s the only formula to increase demand for tickets. Yes, teams like Montreal and Toronto sell out when they’re not winning, but that’s because the demand for seats is greater than the number of available seats. It wasn’t all that long ago when there were empty seats in Detroit (in the 1980s you could walk up and buy tickets). When I was in college, I could walk up to the box office at Madison Square Garden and buy Ranger tickets for the lower bowl the day of the game. Really!
What is happening with the Caps is simple economics. Right now the number of seats is greater than the demand. In order to increase the price the Caps can either do one of two things: increase demand or reduce supply. The Hurricanes tried reducing the supply when they first moved to Carolina and it was a disaster, since it leads, eventually, to a decrease in revenue. Increasing demand will enable the Caps to raise prices within reason, which means they can generate more revenue, which can then be used to pay players like Alex Ovechkin…and also can be used to further invest in what is becomming the best development system in the NHL (minor league players, teams, scouts, etc. cost money, good ones cost more.)
It’s nice when the Caps can put a winner on the ice. But, if they can put a winner on the ice, have a strong farm system, and build a culture of winning, then you’ll see players want to sign here for less to get a shot at the Cup. We’ve already seen two players do that this summer (Nylander, Clark) and there may be more down the road…
“Only marketing fools believe that people will pay $95 for bad hockey, a dumb mascot, overpriced concessions and 41 salutes to the military. Win, and they will come. And well they should.
Comment by Michael on September 12, 2007 9:48 PM”
You should visit FedEx Field some Sunday.
Ted,
98/99 the team went 31/45/6 (WLT) for 68 points and finished out of the playoffs.
06/07 they were 28/40/3 (WLotl) w/ 11 SOLs and finished out of the playoffs.
Since your goal is to raise ticket prices, how about putting a winnig team on the ice. Or at least make the product you are selling worth the entertainment dollars people are willing to spend.
But like previous posters have said – you have to have a winning team. Take the Redskins as an example. When I first moved to the area the Redskins had a waiting list decades long to become season ticket holders. After years of medicore and often sub-par performances, and Danny-boy continually raising prices and making it hard to be a fan, you know what happened? I got a mass mailing the other day offering me season tickets to the Redskins. Now the fan base is still there – they just are tired of being treated like Danny’s personal ATM machines. I bet they’d start going back in droves if the team was winning.
Make it an experience. Give stuff away at every game. heck when the Hurricanes moved to Carolina they gave away a car or truck at every game (not suggesting you do that – but you get my point). Make it fun again. And people have fun when they can walk out of the building taunting the other teams fans because we won.
Major
PS – When I go to a game I want good seats. I don’t want to have to sell a kideny to take my family of four. If I had to do that I could only go to two games ever.
With all of these prices, discounts etc, sounds like it’s a marketing plan for a fast food restaurant.
Only marketing fools believe that people will pay $95 for bad hockey, a dumb mascot, overpriced concessions and 41 salutes to the military. Win, and they will come. And well they should.
Ted–
The new plans are great. I went to about a dozen games last year but bought 4 season ticket this year because of the great summer special you had–and the improvements to the team. We went to the final game against Buffalo last year and it was infuriating to hear all the Sabres fans when they scored. We should fill the Verizon Center with Caps fans like in the old days and this new plan sounds like a good addition to the menu of plans. But the 2-for-1 special on season tickets was a great deal and made the difference for me. As a long-time Caps fan, I was at the Caps Center for the game 7 overtime win against the Flyers (when the Caps came from 3-1 games down) and you have never heard an arena rock like it did that night! We need to get that back.
Mr. Leonsis:
For the record, you already raised the price for my tickets. I had two season tickets in Section 416 Row M for the 2006/2007 season, which were approximately $17 per seat. Lincoln holdings raised the price for these tickets for the 2007/2008 season 60% to $27 per seat. I did not appreciate the fact that this was done with very short notice when it occurred in the spring, and to read an article about your desire to raise ticket prices in the future is just as irritating. After consulting with my friend who shares the season tickets with me, we decided to remain STHers, but move to a different section; however, if ticket prices are raised again, I would defintiely reconsider my decision to remain a season ticket holder.
Sincerely,
William Marton
P.S. Peerless is a thoughful and dedicated fan and his website no doubt increases interest in the Caps, but frankly, it’s not his responsibility to “grow the fanbase”…it’s yours. This is best accomplished by putting a winning team on the ice.
Well, Ted, if you want to really establish a fan base, why don’t you try becoming the major sport with *reasonable* ticket prices? And by that I mean across the league, not as a dig on you. Tell me again why players and owners can’t just take less of the billions and make this game super-accessible to everyone? Doesn’t it seem wrong that owners have to gouge the fans with ticket increases, parking, concessions all because they are paying the players too much money? Maybe this pie of yours isn’t as big as you think it is. If revenues assume $20 to park, $7 beers, $5 sodas and nothing in the lower bowl for under xx dollars then isn’t the logic flawed from the get go? Again, I feel this is a league wide issue. The Caps have been pretty good about trying to stay reasonable but obviously you can only hold out for so long without feeling the pinch of league economics. Maybe the only way to truly implement is revenue sharing.
It’s not the hardcore fans you need to appeal to, it’s the casual ones. Weeknight games are pretty much out for casual fans due to work, traffic and the crazy prices for concessions at the arena.
What ever happened to Rocking the Suburbs? get back those free tickets. Approach schools in the area and get kids interested. Get your players to go to schools to talk to people there. Heck, take some of the foreign players to schools to talk to ESOL classes to show them that even adults are learning to speak English and how they can relate to the kids. That would be great for the kids and PR.
It’s a bunch of little things. It wont happen overnight but do the little things and let them add up.
Ted, I appluad the recent ticket deals, especially in order to pack the house with Caps fans. Keep up the good work (and deals!)
Hope Alex doesn’t stay here now, but tells you before the season starts, he’s going elsewhere in a few years…and that we should just cherish what we have “now”
Its part of a business plan, but not something you say out loud IMO.
…build a winning team…the only way we’ll pack out the Phone Booth consistently…build a winning team…unless you’re the Redskins, this town only supports winners…build a winning team!
(Not saying that none of the new offers will work – that $99 rivalry 6-pack could particularly have possibilities…but build a winning team!)