Friday, August 12, 2011

Brief Respite/Ticket Prices

To our loyal followers:

I apologize for the lack of content over the past week. The 10 game skid, combined with the West Coast Swing and me scrambling to get ahead at work leading into my vacation this upcoming week has detracted from my posting.

Ticket Prices:

According to the  Trib today, the Bucs will be raising ticket prices in 2012. This comes as no surprise on multiple fronts. #1, ticket prices are far below the league average and haven't been raised significantly in quite some time. and #2, the Bucs have had a good season, attendance has been up, and it is a good business move to do this while the team is starting to find a few believers out there.

#1: The average price of a ticket to a Pirate game is indeed below league average, but then again, so is the product. You don't go to McDonald's and expect a Ruth Chris steak, right? You wouldn't pay for an Armani suit and be satisfied if the clerk then handed you a Haggar, would you?

#2: Yes, a few months of respectable baseball has been nice.But this season is still a long way from being over and the Bucs are now heading to the House of Horrors losing something like 15 of their last 20.

The bottom line is this: if you are going to raise ticket prices, you had better give the fans a reason to pay more to watch your club play.   The fans are expected to make the investment while the owners sit back and wait until their coffers are filled enough for their liking in order to make a move. That isn't how most businesses work, you don't sell a product you don't have, right Kenneth Lay? Most fans are still harboring some level of skepticism in regards to just how committed this FO is to winning at the major league level. The too little, too late acquisitions of Lee and Ludwick are low risk, low reward. But it is at least something.

Is it enough to prove to some of the naysayers that the tides have begun to change over on Federal Street? That is still to be determined.

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