TFC leading the league in Ticket Prices in most sections

[Pookie]

I was asked to re-run this comparison of league wide ticket prices by vantage point with 2012 data.

We pay way too much for our tickets.

To give you an idea as to how far out of whack TFC tickets are relative to the league, I took a look at season ticket pricing per game across the league relative to the vantage point of the seat. I then took an average price and compared that with what TFC charges "the most loyal fans in the game." Given that vantage points and pricing models vary across the league, these numbers are to be taken as generalization. I didn't bother to include Field Side Tables or other VIP seating as those prices are ridiculous across the board. Lastly, note that while the numbers have not been vetted by an auditor down to the penny, I am presenting them so that we can draw some discussion points from what they suggest.

• A TFC fan who has purchased a pair of seats in BMO Field's "Club" section, which are Centre Line seats with "Club" access behind the players benches, pays $920 more per year than the MLS average
• What does $746 get you? That's the extra price you pay for a pair of season tickets in center line seats (non-club section) over the average MLS price.
• Those sitting off of Centre Line at BMO field (Dark Greys) pay $739 more for a pair of seats than the MLS average.
• Those seeking a bargin by moving to the corners will find that if they were in another MLS city, they might pay $494 less for a pair in that vantage point.
• The "new" North Stand, once trumpeted as a section for the fans that couldn't get access has apparently been priced so as to restrict access. It costs $438 more than the MLS average for seats in this section.
• And lastly, the Supporters. This is the group that has been used in countless marketing campaigns in order to sell "atmosphere." What is their special honour? They get to pay $236 more per year for a pair of seats than the average MLS supporter.

Feels good doesn't it?


2012 Data

Team	Club	Centre Line	Off Center	Corners	North Stand	Supporters
Houston	$1,825	$900	$700	$400	$550	$250
Toronto	$1,600	$1,083	$988	$684	$589	$399
RSL	$1,500	$900	$750	$565	$360	$250
Vancouver	$1,482	$832	$505	$505	$420	$277
Seattle	$1,432	$768	$768	$432	$342	$342
SKC	$1,400	$660	$700	$600	$380	$260
FC Dallas	$1,314	$954	$684	$306	$306	$241
Philly	$1,278	$756	$612	$432	$360	$324
NY	$1,100	$920	$720	$400	$360	$320
Chicago	$999	$600	$600	$400	$220	$199
NE Revolution	$972	$540	$432	$324	$432	$252
SJ	$840	$640	$420	$320	$280	$280
DC United	$803	$617	$446	$344	$344	$344
Colorado	$629	$476	$544	$357	$357	$238
Columbus	$560	$364	$336	$252	$266	$238
Chivas	$504	$504	$306	$252	$162	$162
LA		$1,160	$1,000	$850	$560	$400
Average	$1,140	$746	$618	$437	$370	$281
TFC	$1,600	$1,083	$988	$684	$589	$399
Difference	$460	$337	$370	$247	$219	$118
Pair Difference	$920.2	$674.94	$739.41	$494.7	$438.24	$236.12

* not an exact science as renewal pricing and multi-year renewals also impact pricing. Some generalizations made

[Joe Kool]

In comes Anselmi with "it's supply and demand" a couple years ago when asked about it but that doesn't really hold anymore. There is little demand and lots of supply these days. Just ask any STH that needed to sell a pair....even in supporter's sections which at one time was completely unheard of. With all the supply I am definitely re-thinking my season seats this year especially when the 2012 price freeze goes away. The ball is in their court when it comes to me renewing. Money talks...

[ryan]

MLSE has the balls to raise prices, so I'm expecting it. My poor account rep, I'm going to give him hell.

[Whoop]

We pay way too much for our tickets.

LOL

This is old news.

Question is does TFC LOWER prices especially if the team misses the playoffs? I would think even if they lower prices renewals won't be great next year.

[Whoop]

Can you imagine if they raise prices this year? LOL

Remember this is the last year of the price freeze.

[nfitz]

I was asked to re-run this comparison of league wide ticket prices by vantage point with 2012 data.

The analysis is interesting, but I'm not sure about some of the numbers.

I

Team	Club	Centre Line	Off Center	Corners	North Stand	Supporters
Toronto	$1,600	$1,083	$988	$684	$589	$399

Supporters (yellow) was $361 this year. Not sure why you have the light-grey corners in at $684 - they are $399.

How did you factor number of games, which is 19 here, but 17 at some other stadiums? And includes other things, at others? (applying a simple 17/19 to our price this year should deal with that).

I think this type of examination is quite interesting, and well worth doing. But should make sure that the data is clean, and avoids bias. Yes, I think it will show we are expensive. But also compare how many seasons they sell here to elsewhere ... supply and demand is a huge factor.

[sidvan]

For the Vancouver game in Champs league -http://dealoftheday.redflagdeals.com...lashPopup=true discounts

[Whoop]

I'm beginning to think someone works for the team.

[kodiakTFC]

For the Vancouver game in Champs league -http://dealoftheday.redflagdeals.com...lashPopup=true discounts

The demand for single game tickets has certainly dropped. In my opinion, albeit uninformed, I think you'll see MLSE freeze the prices once more.

EDIT: Not for Champs league btw

[Whoop]

I think a lot of people, being unable to sell their tickets this season (and last year) in the south end, are just eating the cost and not using them. At some point instead of eating the cost, they'll just stop buying.

I remember when the Ticket Trader section of this board was one of the most popular parts of the boards... now, not so much.

[Pookie]

The analysis is interesting, but I'm not sure about some of the numbers.

[FONT=inherit]Supporters (yellow) was $361 this year. Not sure why you have the light-grey corners in at $684 - they are $399.

How did you factor number of games, which is 19 here, but 17 at some other stadiums? And includes other things, at others? (applying a simple 17/19 to our price this year should deal with that).

I think this type of examination is quite interesting, and well worth doing. But should make sure that the data is clean, and avoids bias. Yes, I think it will show we are expensive. But also compare how many seasons they sell here to elsewhere ... supply and demand is a huge factor.

I couldn't use renewal pricing in this comparison as teams don't always publish renewal discounts. Further, teams like Seattle offer discounts if you commit for multiple years. So the price you see for all teams, including TFC is what a new seat holder would pay. Club seats for TFC are an estimate based on the club fee assigned per seat.

I did work out the per game pricing. That said, it too is hard to keep "clean." For example, some teams like LA offer 17 MLS games and 3 Bonus games, which include MLS playoff games. Is our Canadian Championship game (this year vs MTL) the same value as a playoff game?

Other teams also include a variety of options with their season tickets. All you can eat concessions. Free annual parking. A ticket exchange program which actually works as an exchange. If I have 2 unused tickets, I can exchange them for extra seats to games I can go to. Pricing for kids. Discount pricing for friends of a season seat holder. Better than 15% off merchandise. Hard to assign a value to all of that as some of those expenses are optional for us.

Best to look at these as a general picture and ensure that debate over team performance aside, our prices are out of whack. Supply and demand ceases to be a reason to keep prices where they are when 3,000 tickets go unsold for games and Center Line seats are sparsely attended.

[spe18]

And check out this "Family Pack" deal the Colorado Rapids have going! This is quite the deal!!!!

http://www.tickethorse.com/Promotion...vYFtaPm0iMc%3d

[trane]

Why should we not have the most expesnive tickets, after all we are the best team in Canada.

[spe18]

Oh, and btw - to add fuel to the fire......check out the prices LA is charge for the game vs. Real Madrid (especially for current STH)!

http://www.lagalaxy.com/realmadrid/tickets

[MartinUtd]

You know what I did instead of renewing my season tickets this year? I bought plane tickets to LA and Seattle and still had money left over to cover a majority of the hotel accommodations.

It might have been a harder decision if the idiots at the FO didn't act so cocky about their product. That includes the ticket reps too.

[Oldtimer]

... at least TFC is leading the league in something other than goals allowed.

[trane]

^ We are alos leading the league in losses. So that makes 3 categories in which we are tops.

[__wowza]

I think a lot of people, being unable to sell their tickets this season (and last year) in the south end, are just eating the cost and not using them. At some point instead of eating the cost, they'll just stop buying.

I remember when the Ticket Trader section of this board was one of the most popular parts of the boards... now, not so much.

last year i was able to attend 8 separate matches for free from board members giving away their tickets.
so there's that.

[Whoop]

Oh, and btw - to add fuel to the fire......check out the prices LA is charge for the game vs. Real Madrid (especially for current STH)!

http://www.lagalaxy.com/realmadrid/tickets

It's the exchange rate! LOL

[Whoop]

last year i was able to attend 8 separate matches for free from board members giving away their tickets.
so there's that.

And I think most of would have rather gotten face for it, but sometimes it's more of a hassle than just not using the ttickets.

I mean 112!!! is not full on most match days. I remember when it would be overflowing with people.

[Jack]

I waited until the last day to renew my tickets this season. It was no longer an automatic decision and I thought long and hard about the renewal.

The price was a major consideration. Even though I know that a pair of seats in 112 would get snapped up and not be a big loss for them, it would mean two less tickets sold elsewhere.

[trane]

^ I did not renew for 2011, and I was going to pick some up for 2013. But now, I am not sure.

[Pookie]

They always say that winning will cure everything. Grain of truth to it but a very small grain.

They have out priced the market, IMO.

[brad]

They always say that winning will cure everything. Grain of truth to it but a very small grain.

They have out priced the market, IMO.

They could be right - but that cure seems about as close as the cure for the common cold....

Nice numbers btw. I'm already letting mine go at the end of the year. They no longer represent a good value when the market is flooded with below cost (and free) tickets. I can't use all my tickets and no one will buy them.

The fact that I like where I sit and the people around me is the only reason I kept them last year. However there are so many empty seats in my section every game I can just pick up tickets anywhere and go sit in my section near my seats.

[__wowza]

And I think most of would have rather gotten face for it, but sometimes it's more of a hassle than just not using the ttickets.

I mean 112!!! is not full on most match days. I remember when it would be overflowing with people.

what you said. a lot of people would want to have someone there who wants to see the game, sing and go mental, even if they can't afford to do it. im not cheap by any means (i would normally repay in pre or post game beer/smuggled in booze) , just broke.

speaking of which, i owe you a beer jack!

[Hitcho]

I think absent a material price reduction, I won't be renewing next year. I cannot get to all the games, which is fine if you can sell on some of the tickets (and not even for face value, just a contirbution towards SSH cost would be fine), but these days you literally cannot give tickets away for some games. Check out the ticket trader - by the day before the game, people are offering tickets for free that are not being taken. Based on Anselmi's supply and demand theory, the cost of season tickets should drop next year, but I suspect that it will go up.

Any increase - any increase at all - and I will likely drop my four tickets (which I have had since late 2006).

[Roogsy]

Oh, and btw - to add fuel to the fire......check out the prices LA is charge for the game vs. Real Madrid (especially for current STH)!

http://www.lagalaxy.com/realmadrid/tickets

You have GOT to be shitting me!

[glaze]

They always say that winning will cure everything. Grain of truth to it but a very small grain.

They have out priced the market, IMO.

They have outpriced the market. As mentioned by many others, Ive had to eat a pair this year, in supporters, and probably will again. I'll stay on topic and just make points about the price. Mainly that Toronto sports teams have this concept of premium pricing, because of the Leafs. It is a foreign idea for them to offer any kind of family pack as other markets do for their teams.
The main place this is all visible is the good seats you can see on tv. In basketball the lower bowl, same applies for the Jays. If you go to a basketball game, the cheap seats seem pretty full, because thats all anyone can afford on a family outing. In the jays, there is always a decent crowd in the outfield, because the baselines cost about 40 bucks now. And the Argos are just complete write-off.

But the flip side is, the club offers a deal (like that tfc wagjag/travelzoo thing), and the SSH holders get annoyed. The only logical answer is a price reduction that reflects the product. But I think the odds are better of us making the playoffs this year than MLSE lowering their prices.

That said, they could save face by offering some food vouchers, more giveaways, special events. Something to feel that youre getting value added. Or even better, they could just start contending.

[SoccMan]

It does not look good going forward for this team, I wonder what kind of attendances we can expect next year. I will venture a guess and say that crowds like we saw on Wednesday night will most likely be the norm next season, they announced 15,000, however, if there were more than 8,000 on Wednesday night I would be surprised.

[ManUtd4ever]

Based on the club's current trajectory in the standings, TFC will be hard pressed to surpass 10,000 STH renewals next season, regardless of whether MLSE offers a discount or not.