Elasticity of Demand

[UgaBlows]

How about strippers instead of cheerleaders?

 

[UgaBlows]

My big idea is the higher up season tickets say the upper North... make them BOGO. Might as well sell 2 for the price of 1 than have no one up there.

Go give those tickets to inner-city kids, ymca, orphanages, give them to Cub, boy and girl scouts etc. we might build a sidewalk fanbase that way eventually....

 

[JacketOff]

Right now you could probably make every single ticket free and 55,000 people still wouldn’t show up. Tickets are already dirt cheap as it is. Honestly you could probably distribute 100,000 physical tickets to corporations, schools, churches, youth programs, and any regular fan and 55,000 of them probably wouldn’t show up to the game. The on-field product is unwatchable right now. Nothing is going to change that except the team getting better. No outside entertainment or tailgating is going to get people into the stadium.

 

[VintageWreck]

Even if revenues were reduced in the short term, it would pay off in the long term. I would imagine this must be a tactic taught in marketing, because I see it in effect all the time.
We're at the point where we need to reduce ticket prices and do other things. like giving tickets away to some underprivileged folks in the neighborhood to select games, to increase our fan base for the future.

And, like you said, get Bobby Dodd Stadium rocking again.

Oh, and reduce the price of parking, too.

Oh, and reduce the price of parking, too.
This

 

[Oldgoldandwhite]

Go give those tickets to inner-city kids, ymca, orphanages, give them to Cub, boy and girl scouts etc. we might build a sidewalk fanbase that way eventually....

Give them to every HS coach for every player. We used to that every year when I played back in the dark ages. Sat in the horseshoe.

 

[Vespidae]

Elasticity of demand refers to the degree in the change in demand when there is a change in another economic factor, such as price or income.

Assume the following:

• Bobby Dodd seats 55,000
• 2021 Average Attendance = 35,000
• Price per ticket = $50

35,000 x $50 = $1,750,000 in ticket sales revenue per home game.

What if:

$1,750,000 / 55,000 = $32/ticket

Could we lower ticket prices, fill the stadium and have the place rocking for every game? Concession sales go up, etc. But this assumes that there is elasticity of demand. What if we lowered prices, seats filled did not increase, and all we did was lower our revenue per game?

Thoughts?

The concept of demand elasticity is often mentioned but it's realized far less than you think. Meat, milk, and other consumables... yes. Most everything else is inelastic and dropping prices only further reduces profit/revenue.

The recipe is fairly predictable. Play better, play good opponents, have few other options for the entertainment dollar.

 

[bobongo]

The concept of demand elasticity is often mentioned but it's realized far less than you think. Meat, milk, and other consumables... yes. Most everything else is inelastic and dropping prices only further reduces profit/revenue.

The recipe is fairly predictable. Play better, play good opponents, have few other options for the entertainment dollar.

The essentials are elastic, but inessentials aren't? Not saying that's wrong, but it's way counter intuitive.
And I know I'm just one guy, but the price of the game and parking has an effect on how many games I attend.

 

[Richard7125]

I think those would be great improvements but they would be ridiculously expensive and you have to ask yourself if the investment would pay off. College football in general is a declining sport. The average attendance this year was the lowest it has been since 1981. While we could improve our team, make the stadium more pleasant, and various other improvements to get some uptick in attendance the overall trend is still going to be down until college football makes some effort to improve the overall product.

Yeah, I know. I wasn’t talking about doing it now, but at some point there will be another renovation to BDS. At that time, make it smaller and more intimate.

 

[tmhunter52]

It would be an interesting experiment to try (and expensive). Cheap draft beer available in the stadium would help too, maybe convert part of the stadium into a ropes course/water-park/playground for kids

Free beer after every win!

 

[g0lftime]

The best thing for a stadium improvement would be seat rails or some sort of seat backs. Getting into the upper decks on the west is not easy without handrails. Older fans really struggle on the climb. Steep and nothing to hold on to.

 

[Richard7125]

... Creating fewer opportunities for long time fans to attend the games due to being priced out. I'd give that a hard no.

I understand that. Tech season tickets are about 1/3 to 1/4 the price of all of the colleges around us. It’s a cheap ticket already. I don’t think you set a strategy based on the bargain hunters.

 

[tmhunter52]

Right now you could probably make every single ticket free and 55,000 people still wouldn’t show up. Tickets are already dirt cheap as it is. Honestly you could probably distribute 100,000 physical tickets to corporations, schools, churches, youth programs, and any regular fan and 55,000 of them probably wouldn’t show up to the game. The on-field product is unwatchable right now. Nothing is going to change that except the team getting better. No outside entertainment or tailgating is going to get people into the stadium.

Sad, but true. It’s a long round trip for me to watch Tech play, and I’ve done it for many years, but the sullen 4.5-5 hour rides home the last few years, after watching a shadow of the proud tradition that used to be Tech football, has just about broken my desire to make the trek.

 

[sgreer]

I don't see reducing ticket prices by $18/ticket would generate an additional 20,000 fans. I think the majority of people attending games are doing so because that's what they want to do. For the next big renovation project at GT, they should go for the more intimate setting reducing total capacity to 40k +/-. Blow-up North end-zone; put stadium seats everywhere and charge more per ticket.

I agree. I’m not sure Free tickets would bring 20,000 more fans. Only winning consistently for a span of several years will fill up Bobby Dodd.

 

[georgytech]

Arthur Blank provided the model when he bought the Falcons. He sold the upper deck season tickets for $5.00 per game. I'm from South Georgia. I couldn't afford NOT to buy them. Bought four. He slowly raised the prices as their fortunes turned.
My point, lower the prices, the fans will come. A little bit of something is better than a whole lot of nothing!

Had a supervisor once say 3 nickels are better than one dime.

 

[Vespidae]

The essentials are elastic, but inessentials aren't? Not saying that's wrong, but it's way counter intuitive.
And I know I'm just one guy, but the price of the game and parking has an effect on how many games I attend.

It all depends on whether what you're buying has substitutes or not. I would argue that Tech football has substitutes in other entertainment options.

 

[BuckeyeJacket]

I've even seen one article suggesting that betting on college games is hurting attendance. It is easier to follow and place bets if you are at home than if you are in the stadium.

I've got to disagree here. Live betting a game in person helps me take advantage of the book as there is a slight lag on TV.

 

[DavidStandingBear]

I want to assume this is a joke... but in case it's not.... No, being at the stadium is where you get the energy and excitement of the crowd when you're winning or in a close game. Sports bars can be ok too if you can't make it to the real thing, or don't want/can't afford to spend the money.

Spend the money? I haven't lived in GA or even the southeast for 3 or 4 decades (mostly Japan and France), homeboy.

 

[DavidStandingBear]

I understand that. Tech season tickets are about 1/3 to 1/4 the price of all of the colleges around us. It’s a cheap ticket already. I don’t think you set a strategy based on the bargain hunters.

again, how do theaters make money? $14 little cans of wine

 

[DavidStandingBear]

It all depends on whether what you're buying has substitutes or not. I would argue that Tech football has substitutes in other entertainment options.

exactly. during the fall semester for some time I have unfortunately lived in Lincoln NE. Sold out ~90,000 seat stadium since ~ 1963 plus 70" HD TV

 

[chewybaka]

As an occupant of the waste land, I can tell you that when the TO was clicking, the upper north provided some of the best views in the stadium for watching plays develop. Of course, these days it’s a great location for getting out early and getting to the car when the game gets out of hand. (I kid, I would never leave a game early).

I was in 213 in the upper deck and enjoyed it with the view of the game and down town ...got skin cancer and moved in the shade on the lower level east stands in response so I could continue attending... different perspective....better? Not sure