The St. Louis Blues filling their newly refurbished building with fans excited to watch a game is nothing but good. The question is whether those seats will truly be filled.
The St. Louis Blues released a good piece of marketing recently. It was an article released on their website detailing how well season ticket sales are going.
According to the article, the team has sold 2019-20 season ticket packages at a record pace. Several sections have already filled their allotment of season tickets available and the team has instituted it’s first ever waiting list.
Fear not though, if you have lots of expendable income. The article is quick to point out that there are still sections available. Almost all of them are all-inclusive, close to the glass or in a special section. They are likely to empty the average fan’s bank account too.
However, the entire thing points out the inequity in sports fandom these days. In larger markets, such as Chicago or Toronto, your average fan is becoming priced out of the lower bowl and in some cases priced out of the building entirely.
That works for larger markets because you have the population to sustain higher prices. As great as Blues fans are, we do not live in a market capable of sustaining a building that prices out the average Joe or Jill.
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It is great that the team has revamped their arena and has more to offer outside of the game. Hockey is not football or baseball though. Most fans want to go to watch the game. There are those that spend their money just to socialize, but I’ll never understand those people. I digress.
If there are real fans that have purchased these seats and fully intend to attend all or most of the games then fantastic. More money in the owner’s hands means someone like Tom Stillman is more likely to put money back into the team.
However, as one of the older guys on the Bleedin’ Blue staff, let me put on my tinfoil hat and tell some kids to get off my lawn for a moment, if I may. I, sadly, question whether these season ticket packages have been bought by fans.
I have no reason to doubt the Blues. They are simply celebrating the fact they have guaranteed money flowing in and trying to get those last few spots taken.
What I doubt, in today’s modern technological society, is that Blues fans are buying these. While there is nothing to base it on, other than dubious actions of the past, I would not be surprised if online ticket brokers were snatching these things up.
It might be unprecedented for those kinds of websites to buy entire season ticket packages, you have to understand the perfect storm coming. You have an entire fan base eager to find a way to attend opening night and see the banner lifted to the rafters. The market for those tickets might be as high as Stanley Cup Final tickets simply because it is a one night event, not a chance to see two or three games during a series.
There is also the All-Star Game in St. Louis in 2020. Before tickets were even officially on sale, some online ticket sites were listing Skills Night seats for well over $200 for one seat. That will likely double or triple for the game itself and go even higher as the day approaches.
The bottom line is there would still be money to be made. If their ticket site has the funds to spend on season ticket packages, they could still recoup their money on those two nights alone.
Even if those two games fail to recoup the money in total, selling off the rest of the season at slightly higher than face value would be a net gain.
If you think it’s not probable, you’re kidding yourself. We now live in an age where everything is online and almost nothing can be had for face value.
When I was in high school, I was able to get first row seats to a WWE event in St. Louis because we stood in line, outside the building and got them for face value. Now, no matter when you login or when you get to the ticket window, it is impossible to get those same seats for what the ticket will say they cost because they are all bought up by ticketing sites before the average person can get them.
The same thing is happening to sporting events. While it has made things easier to get tickets the day of an event or even last minute, it has also pilled a lot of extra fees and higher than normal prices on fans.
I’m not here to argue against a free market system. Sadly, if there are people willing to pay hundreds of dollars for an event, nothing will stop people from asking for that much.
What I do dislike is taking away the freedom of choice for a fan. We have kind of gotten to a point where even getting online right when tickets go on sale is pointless.
There are so many presales and backdoor options that there is little to be had when things “officially go on sale”.
In the end, I hope this is all just conspiracy nonsense on my part. I hope that Blues fans are the ones buying these things and then if they want to sell off the All-Star tickets, so be it.
Something in the back of my head tells me that might not be the case. No way to know for sure and the Blues have no reason to care as long as the money is good.
I guess we will find out if there are still empty seats during a midweek game in December even with all these season tickets sold.