Ticket Prices In Professional Sports

2653 Words6 Pages

Ticket prices can have a major impact on professional sports. The difference in ticket prices are what helps and hurts attendance at professional sporting events. When it comes to ticket prices there are many factors that can affect the price per ticket. In this review there are three main categories that are being focused on: (a) attendance, (b) pricing strategies and (c) ticket sales. Each category has different factors that affect ticket prices differently. In attendance, there was the economic crisis that started in late 2007. Strikes can happen at any time in professional sports. There is also the probability about the opposing team and its affect on ticket prices for those events. For pricing strategies, there are two main strategies that can be used for a professional sports team: (a) variable pricing and (b) dynamic pricing. The final factor discussed is the team’s decision process of setting ticket prices. There are four main areas that are being reviewed for ticket sales: (a) tactics used to increase ticket sales, (b) team owners’ role, (c) second hand ticket markets, and (d) price inelasticity. This review will show substantial evidence in each category that affects ticket prices for professional sports in America.
Attendance
Economic Crisis
Attendance at sporting events can be affected by many different factors. One factor that affected Major League Baseball (MLB) was the economic crisis that started in late 2007. In a study conducted by Hong, Mondello, and Coates (2013), they investigated how the economic crisis affected attendance in MLB during the 2008 and 2009 seasons (p. 140). In the 2009 season, the average attendance dropped 6.77% below what it was in the 2008 season (Hong et al., 2013, p. 140). Da...

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... ticket packaging, (c) money-back guarantees, and (d) web-based ticketing. There are benefits to using each tactic, but it depends on the professional sport organizations needs. In addition, professional sports ticket prices are price inelastic, which means the price for the ticket changes based on demand for that event. As stated previously, there were several different factors that can affect ticket prices in professional sports teams in America. Since there are many factors that can affect ticket prices, it would be beneficial to focus on the core factor that affects ticket prices and analyze it. Take pricing strategies for example. With two main types of pricing strategies, it would be valuable to identify which strategy would work best for each professional sports league. This study would help every sports league improve ticket prices and maximize revenue.

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