Flyers Ticket Prices Are Insane
Do you want to see Claude Giroux, Ilya Bryzgalov and the rest of the new look Flyers? Get ready to pay up, big time. Individual game tickets went on sale today, and the Flyers have completely redone the way they establish pricing for this season. Unless I’m missing something, it is ridiculously more expensive than it has ever been. Whereas the pricing in the upper level used to be broken up by sections and somewhat by rows, now it is completely by row. And the cheapest row, regardless of whether you sit in a corner or center ice is $81. Repeat, the shittiest seat in the building is $81. Per person. Did I miss out on some massive cash payout on the City of Philadelphia? How in the hell can they justify this?
Two seasons ago, Section 221 and 221A were called the Lehigh Valley Dairy Farms Family Section, and adult tickets were $20, while kids tickets were $10. Let’s say you were lucky enough to snag a front row seat in one of those sections. Today, that same ticket will run you $120. 600% inflation, in two years? Get the hell out of here. If this is what they need to do in order to generate revenue and compete, then the NHL is going to come crashing down again really, really soon. football can sustain these kinds of prices simply because it’s less games, and a football game is an event. I love hockey more than football, but each game is not an event. I go to enjoy the game itself; I don’t plan any events around the game.
If memory serves me right, ticket prices were far, far lower last season. The cheapest tix were in the $40 range, and the most expensive were either $65 or $80 up top. In the lower bowl, the priciest tickets were $125. Now, the lower bowl price ranges from $155-$165. club box tickets seem to remain unchanged at $200. I couldn’t find anything online with previous years prices, so I may be a bit off in my numbers. But suffice to say, an event that had already been a bit pricy (but worth it) may have outpriced itself for a lot of people. If a family of 4 wants to drive to a game, they are looking at $339 just for tickets and parking. Let’s not get into food and drinks and souvenirs.
Now I understand that people who get season tickets or oven partial plans get a discount. That’s fair, and i have no problem with that. But the amount of the discount is stunning. The last seat in the house will cost a season ticket holder $37. That’s the same ticket that will cost me $81. Why the hell am I paying 219% more? In addition to that, season ticket holders do not pay all those processing fees that I would be subject to. And it is pretty damn obvious that the sales/marketing staff really, really wants fans to get plans and not individual tickets. Last week, I called to find out when individual tickets go on sale. I was told they might not at all because there was such high demand for packages, and I was better off getting one of those. Today, as tickets went on sale and I saw the prices, I decided to click the ‘Chat’ button and talk to a rep online. Here’s the convo:
"Chat Content:Mike Andrews: Hello and thank you for using our chat. What can I help you with today?Guest: Why did the ticket prices skyrocket compared to last season?MikeAndrews: What type of seats are you looking for?Guest: I was looking for something decent in the upper level.MikeAndrews: I see. What do you consider decent for a game?Guest: $50/ticket, somewhere around the blue lines, around row 10MikeAndrews: Got it. Our ticket prices had stayed the same for 3 years and this was the first time that prices had increased. How many games are you considering?Guest: They didn’t just go up a small amount though. I was looking for 4 tickets to the Vancouver game, 4 to the LA game, and then I would pick and choose a few moreMikeAndrews: Our season ticket and partial plan prices had a smaller increase. Several of our games last year were also at a higher box office price. What are your thoughts on getting a discounted package so you can save a large amount of money?Guest: I don’t want a package because I can’t choose the exact games that I want.MikeAndrews: How many games do you want?Guest: The first two, the Classic, and maybe 3-4 more.MikeAndrews: It sounds like you come to a lot of games. How about sharing a package with some other Flyers fans that you know? It would be much more affordable than going game by game.Guest: Once again, I can’t pick and choose the exact games with your packages. I’ll just hope for the secondary marketplace to yield better results b/c the current prices are too much. good byeMikeAndrews: I do not foresee that prices on the secondary market will be more affordable for the games. If you were to find people to share with, or perhaps sell a few of your games, you would get a much better deal. Please call me at 215-952-5994 if you would like to work on discounted seats"
He does not seem to care one bit about my concerns. I made it clear that I want to be able to pick specific games. Instead, I was directed to ticket packages. I DO NOT WANT PACKAGES, I WANT WHAT I WANT AND NOT WHAT YOU’RE PUSHING ONE ME. I understand these are not his prices, and this is just a salesman doing his job. So I’m not angry with him. He’s following his training. I’m angry with the Flyers for making these absurd prices, and for training their sales staff to do business like this. Flyers, I wish you luck this season. But unless I have some success in the secondary market place (eBay, StubHub), I will not be there to cheer you on in person.
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