rlh04d wrote:That's ridiculous.
I can make an argument for maximizing profit with a higher price than is able to sell out the arena if you're looking strictly at the monetary side of things ... but it's not just about the money. You need to maximize revenue with butts in seats to create a home-court advantage. The better the advantage, the more likely you are to win, the more demand there will be to watch a winning team, etc.
Charging $75 for tickets to a half-full arena is simply stupid. There's no defense for that, unless they're simply gouging the people that want to be there because they think that even if they lowered the price significantly, it wouldn't lead to an increase in attendance because no one else wants to watch them.
There is too much competitive advantage to a full arena to go out of your way to hold attendance down. They're over-thinking things.
Yes. Obviously more people in the seats will help with concessions and merchandise revenue too. And more people being there and seeing a good product will make it more likely that they come back again. At this point MSU is just needlessly turning off potential customers.
Couple weeks ago went to see St. Louis at Valparaiso. $10 each for two tickets to sit near midcourt, about 10 rows behind the Valpo bench. Not the most modern arena (seats on this side were bleacher not chairback), but a decent size, about 6,000 capacity, and place was about 2/3 full. Great seats, very good atmosphere, good ball game, enjoyable experience, would go back in a second. At $75 each for the same scenario, there's no chance. The product better match that price, and unless you're a top 20-level program, it doesn't.