Ticket Price Inquiry and Response

PFB+
1

Hey y’all, I am very unaware of what the ticket pricing structure is, and have been wondering why ticket prices are the way they are, for basketball games specifically. So, I went ahead and emailed Payton Phillips in the athletic department! Below is my email, and his response…

"Hi Payton, my name is Ian Webster. I am emailing you in hopes of getting some clarity on why ticket prices are the way they are, for OSU basketball games specifically.

To give some background, I graduated from OSU in the fall of 2004. I am originally from Tulsa, went to Jenks.

I don’t get back to Oklahoma very often, other than to visit my mother, but lately I’ve been wanting to go back to Stillwater, specifically, to watch some of the bball games (my preferred sport). However, it’s hard to justify doing so with ticket prices, especially in the 200 level, being the way they are.

The prices I have seen are $25 being the lowest, to $175 for center court seats in the 200 level (I haven’t see how much courtside ones are, which is irrelevant anyway).

For comparison’s sake, my wife and I live in Memphis. She is a Memphis grad and we occasionally go to some Tigers bball games. Their prices can go from $7-12 in the upper bowl of FedEx Forum, to $45-55 in the lower bowl if they’re available (this season, they sold a bunch of season tickets, so getting tickets in the lower bowl is really difficult unless you go the StubHub route). The upper bowl of GIA is getting really close to the lower one of FedEx Forum, an NBA-level arena, in terms of ticket prices!

My primary question is, how can Ok State expect to fill Gallagher Iba up when the prices are like that? $125 for the 200 level is absurd. People can go see the Thunder for the same price and get decent seats. Someone once mentioned to me the Ok State price includes a donation to the university (please confirm if this is true)? If that’s the case, why is that? Maybe some people just want to go see a game without making a donation (which is perfectly fine, they shouldn’t feel compelled to do so). I simply feel like this is keeping a lot of people away, who would otherwise go (because, as we all know, there are many other costs associated with driving to Stillwater, parking…taking kids even…possibly eating at Eskimo Joe’s…etc.).

Really, I’m reaching out in order for you or anyone else to dispel preconceived myths/notions, so that I do not have any wrong ideas.

I hope to hear your thoughts. Have a good week and Go Pokes!"

1 Like
2

Payton’s response:

"Hi Ian,

Thank you for your note and hope you had a great Thanksgiving! Happy to clarify.

Our entry level single game ticket prices are currently $5 for most non-conference games. They go up from there in proportion to the price of season tickets in each location and the value of each game (opponent, tipoff time, day of week, etc.). As we are nearly sold out through season ticket sales in the most appealing 200 level sections, we feel we are likely priced appropriately in most of those sections.

That said, about 3 months ago we implemented the use of business analytics in our decision-making. As we speak, we are using all-new data-based methods to identify the fair market value of our season and single game football and men’s basketball tickets and will use that info to reprice our tickets next season. If the data recommend big changes in certain areas of the venue, we will heavily consider them. Meanwhile, we are reimagining our gameday experience to add value so we can fill our venues while maintaining the revenue we need to support our student-athletes across 16 sports.

Only season tickets have a “required donation” attached to them, but it is not forced charity and it is not an added cost. That is actually done to benefit the fan. Until the 2018 tax law was implemented, 80% of donations related to seating were tax deductible. So, most college athletics departments made a high portion of the market value of the season ticket a “donation” so fans could take advantage of that deduction. For example, our 50 yard line football season tickets are nearly sold out at $1,360/ticket. One upper corner section is 70% sold at $400/season ticket. Every section has a “ticket price” of $250 for the season. The rest of the cost, which reflects the true value of the ticket based on seat location, is a “donation.” Under the new tax law, we have kept this model to continue giving donor ranks and benefits to those that only “donate” via season tickets.

We believe the special program Coach Boynton is building – along with data-based pricing and an enhanced in-game atmosphere – are aligning at the perfect moment for a new prime era of Cowboy basketball. There is no better person in the business than Coach Boynton, so we are working hard to fill Gallagher-Iba for him and his team!

Thanks again for the email. Hope to see you in Stillwater soon and Go Pokes!

Payton

3

He mentioned that single game tickets do not have a donation added towards the price, so why are they $175?? Completely overpriced for a college basketball game and thus the reason for GIA not being filled this year and in years past. It’s a shame we cannot support these athletes and Coach Boynton. I live in Tulsa and would be willing to go to many weekday games if it were not for the ticket prices. Like you said, tickets, gas, food, as well as bringing the family can get pricey. It would cost over $500 for me to bring the family and sit in the 200’s.

3 Likes
4

Telling us the analytics show the pricing is correct is not a good answer. What he really said was they are able to sell fewer tickets and make more money with this model because they don’t see demand increasing much with lower ticket costs. There is no value being placed having a higher attendance besides just simple ticket sale revenue.

1 Like
5

Exactly. That is telling me they would rather sell a $1 million dollar seat (as an example) and play in front of one person. Short sighted.

1 Like
6

This is…not a great look because it doesn’t look ahead. You drop prices, more people (including families with KIDS) come to the games/buy merchandise(!) and concessions -> GIA fills up -> it makes the arena harder to play in for opponents -> OSU wins more -> OSU gets more Cade-level recruits -> the team gets better and the drive for people to show up gets higher. It’s how it would work. The way they are doing it doesn’t seem to consider that positive cycle.

1 Like
7

This is so lame.

A quick search on stub shows every game, besides OU and KU, with the cheapest ticket to get in being $20 or lower. If you really want to go watch them play, you can make that work.

Do people really expect to sit in the 200 section for 40 bucks? 200 level is prime seating.

1 Like
8

My gripe with this kind of thing is the assumption that upper level seats are bad.

They’re not bad.

There’s not a bad seat in the arena… and with the Orange Power Pass, you can get into the building for, like, $10.

The availability of seats in the 200 level is limited because of the student section and the center court seats being almost sold out to season ticket holders… so of course the price is high for the remaining seats.

The issue is and remains that not enough people (students and season ticket holders) with tickets are going to the games.

3 Likes
9

They’re not that bad…but again, as I pointed out in my email to him, I can watch Memphis, a team with the #1 recruiting class, for $7. YES…higher up than GIA? Probably. But I could still say I was at the game.

Also, the 200 level seats don’t cost $125-175 because of availability. They cost that much because those are set prices. Meaning, I believe they set those prices based off of metrics other than simply “supply and demand”. Again, as I alluded to in the email, a Memphis equivalent ticket is $45-55. Why is that?

10

Dude… I’m sorry but I really.dont care what Memphis does. I can go watch them play at SMU and it’s going to cost me $150 because there are no bad seats in that arena either… But it’s AAC basketball which is much lower quality than Big 12 basketball.

11

What…? The AAC has at least three legit basketball schools that could beat the Big 12’s best. That is an absurd assertion. And yeah, you should care about other schools, given they’re not keeping people from watching their games because of ticket pricing.

12

Just looked at the websites briefly and based off the cheapest corner seats at GIA and Fedex, here was the pricing.

OK State vs SE Louisiana - $5.00
Memphis vs Bradley - $7.00
OK State vs Georgetown - $15.00
Memphis vs. Georgia - $20.00

We litearally have a ticket package that gets you into every game for $150. Pricing is not keeping the average Joe away from the game because the costs that an earlier poster mentioned (gas, food, merch,etc) are all still there. If anything, we’ve compromised our faithful season ticket holders over the years by having too many of the “bring a canned good, get a free ticket” games, effectively lowering the perceived value of season tickets that are the lifeblood of our operating budget.

We have empty seats because we built an arena that for all but two games is about 3k too large in size and because of a massive dip in success (+ every game on tv, thunder, etc.) our season ticket holders have stopped showing up for the non-marquee games.

2 Likes
13

I could get a ticket in section 315, row 2 for $14 to the Georgetown game on Wednesday.

That’s a spectacular seat in the corner with a great view. Could take a date, buy a beer and a pretzel for her, and probably get lucky for under $60 on the night.

4 Likes
14

But the problem is filling up the 300’s while the 200’s are quite empty. All we are saying is that the pricing needs to change. Going from $10-$15 in the 300’s to $175 in the 200’s is a problem and is part of the reason GIA is not being filled to its capacity.
I agree with you all that if we really want to go to a game then we can go for the $10-$15.
But, I think we all can agree that the 200’s are completely overpriced.

1 Like
15

You understand that Memphis vs. Georgia has a bit higher pricing due to demand for a “bigger” opponent, right? But the average ticket price still is lower for Memphis even then.

And by the way, Grizzlies and Tigers games are also on TV all the time, FYI…

Lastly, keep in mind they have to sell out 18,119 seats, 4,508 more than GIA.

16

I don’t think that’s what he said. He said they are using a new analytics tool now to determine pricing for next year, if I read it correctly. A tacit admission that season ticket prices are too high right now, I thought.

Also - thanks for posting Ian.

4 Likes
17

Like I said, those aren’t filled because people with tickets aren’t going to the game. As the response email said, they’re close to being sold out of season tickets for those seats.

2 Likes
18

So then the next question would be, why aren’t people using their tickets?

19

I will have to agree with you on the point that if people want to go to a game they will go regardless of the seating. But, the 200 level is not worth $175. Not asking for a handout, just think it should be more fairly priced.

1 Like
20

If people are saying $175 is good for the 200 level, woooo doggie…

NBA games cost LESS than that.