Thread: Price gouging for opening night tickets

Originally Posted by rviramo

In looking at the DVR of the practice... I think the "unfurling" will be the retired jerseys and the existing Kings banners that currently reside on the wall. I think the Championship Banner will be raised... just my .02

The banner with the new logo is already hanging from the rafters next to the banners with the Chevy logo. That was clear during Meet the Players.

Them suckers is gettin' unfurled.

Originally Posted by darby

The banner with the new logo is already hanging from the rafters next to the banners with the Chevy logo. That was clear during Meet the Players.

Them suckers is gettin' unfurled.

Not if that new one is a Conference Champs banner.

Originally Posted by Bogey

Scotch?

lol, I'll pass.

Originally Posted by DeaderFan

Forgot about that one!

Just looked up the actual quote from the LA Times: Kings to raise some ticket prices - Los Angeles Times


I wonder if back then he would have considered $150 to sit up in the nose bleeds an unfair "stupid price."

Yeah...I wonder...

I bet older Luc wonders about alot of things younger Luc did and said.

Originally Posted by jt

Ethics teaches us that there is a difference between what I have a right to do and what is right to do. People apply that concept differently, while some don't apply it at all...and it's their right to do whatever they want. But that's the argument here...should the Kings do it simply because they have a right to do it? Some of us say no and the unethical weenieheads say yes.

We all rooted for the team when it was owned by a convicted felon who stole hundreds of millions of dollars to steal Gretzky for a few years..... ethics has never been something that I expected from any professional sports franchise.

As for the Wirtz situation.... doesn't the popularity of the Blackhawks now prove that no amount of "unethical" or "unwise" business practice will significantly erode the fan base or it's passion for the "product"?

Originally Posted by Dr. Naysay

We all rooted for the team when it was owned by a convicted felon who stole hundreds of millions of dollars to steal Gretzky for a few years..... ethics has never been something that I expected from any professional sports franchise.

But nobody knew that at the time. Had people knows, I'm pretty sure they wouldn't have rooted for the Kings...I know I wouldn't have - ethics is one reason I'm no longer a Redskins fan (Snyder has no ethics) and partly why I'm less of a Caps fan than I used to be (Leonsis has questionable ethics).

But that's me.

As for the Wirtz situation.... doesn't the popularity of the Blackhawks now prove that no amount of "unethical" or "unwise" business practice will significantly erode the fan base or it's passion for the "product"?

No, the lack of popularity of the Hawks during the Bill Wirtz era proves just that IMO. And the resurgence in the Rocky Wirtz era further proves it.

Obviously, becoming a better team makes a difference...now. But go talk to people in Chicago (I have) about how the broadcast issue affected them. It was horrible and turned alot of people off...and it eventually affected attendance. And that's the point I'm trying to make. Bill Wirtz made a decision that would increase profits short-term...but it lowered them long-term. Will that happen with the Kings? I don't know, I left my crystal ball at home...but if they keep making decisions like this.........yeah it could happen here too.

Originally Posted by rviramo

In looking at the DVR of the practice... I think the "unfurling" will be the retired jerseys and the existing Kings banners that currently reside on the wall. I think the Championship Banner will be raised... just my .02

this.

Originally Posted by darby

The banner with the new logo is already hanging from the rafters next to the banners with the Chevy logo. That was clear during Meet the Players.

Them suckers is gettin' unfurled.

i doubt it. the one next to the ones with the chevy logo is likely the western conf champs banner. no point in raising that one, right? unfurl that one and then raise the stanley cup banner. there's a space for the cup banner to go up between the canadian flag and the western conf champ banner if you look at the pic again.

Originally Posted by jt

So are you denying ethics are a part of this decision? [big snip]

Yes, because this is not ethics. Ethics would be charging you more than me because you're richer or have been a fan longer. Or Broguiere's charging more for the milk bottles because I was going to get a 6 pack of chocolate no matter what...

Do you collect sports memorabilia? Would it be unethical to charge more for a record breaking home run ball vs a generic home run ball by the same player? What about game worn jerseys? I'm sure Cup Finals stuff was sold at a premium to the regular season stuff. Was that being unethical or charging market rate for a rare and more desirable item? I'd argue the banner game tickets and the sports memorabilia are the same. Circling back to the home run ball, so I catch McGuire or Bonds' record breaking hit and sell it to the guy next to me for $500. Yay me. And then he auctions it at Lelands for $500k. Should I claim some moral superiority because I kept the pricing ethical. Or was I just so out of step with things that I failed to acknowledge the novelty.

Also (and maybe this is how I rationalize it), the game was going to sell out in milliseconds for single-game seats whether it was $40 or $60 or $150. So I'd 99% chance be looking at the resale market since my STH friends will all be attending. Would I rather: a) the Kings price the game correctly and get the money between $X and $155 or b) some ticket flipper gets the difference between $X and $155? I would choose a.

Originally Posted by jt

[more snip to the end]
Meh. I can go to any number of (good hearted) people to get a ticket for a price I can pay. For family reasons, I'm not sure I can go...but if I wanted to I could. That's not my point and it never has been. It's that I believe it's the wrong thing to do. If you want to call what I'm doing raging against the machine, I'm ok with that. I'd call it mildly expressing my disappointment with the team I have an irrational tie to. Tom-a-to...tom-ah-to.

I guess my point is you keep saying how it is short-sighted pricing and parents won't be able to take their kids to a game anymore. But that is not true, IMO. I am not going to the opener either. But I'm taking my son to his first game against the Canucks and we are also going with him to the Avs game in February. So maybe parents won't be able to take their kids to the banner raising games (hopefully every couple years rather than 4 decades) any more due to demand pricing.

Maybe I am just more beaten down and conditioned than you. Growing up in DC, I remember things like "you can't see <Jordan/Gretzky> unless you buy a partial game plan with 2-3 good games offset with a bunch of clunkers that we are bundling in with the good ones so that we can sell them".

Slightly off-topic: If you can go to the game through kind-hearted friends, then I would urge you to go. And take your kid. This is not a bucket list thing like Game 6 was for me, but it is still going to be a great spectacle and you owe it to yourself to enjoy it.

Originally Posted by DeaderFan

I agree that charitable giving is always classy. It this case I wonder if people really understand what they mean when they say they are giving a million dollars to charity? The suggestion at the press conference was that the Kings were cutting a check and that McDonalds was matching them dollar-for-dollar--implying that $2 million could be going to charity. If you carefully read the press release you see that that is not the case.

Rather, the Kings have made a commitment with McDonalds, their other partners, the players and the Kings Care Foundation to raise a million dollars through a series of fundraising projects/events and auctions. So we the fans are actually making part of that contribution. As far as matching funds go, nowhere does it say McDonalds is contributing matching funds in addition to the $1 million. It is a combined total of fundraising and matching funds. As for McDonalds part, they are already committed to donating to one of the main charity recipients, The Ronald McDonald House.

I don't mean to nitpick, but I think you need to put things in context. The bottom line is that local charities will get the money and that is a good thing, but the Kings are not donating money that would have been used to win back or apologize to the fans. If they have really sold 15,000 season seats, they don't need spend money on freebies to sell tickets. In fact, they can do the opposite and charge the fans more for the few genreal admission seats they have left when there is sufficient demand.

You make good points but at the end of the day, the "bottom line" is they are putting the effort into putting the money into charity, which is a classy move (as you said). Do I think they should have done more to "reward" the "loyal" fans with promotions? Yes, but I don't know that they won't be. And we can get into X and O's about how that can be a write off, truly isn't a cost, etc........ I like the fact that they went off the board and will contribute to charities BUT do still think they should have a merchandise sale or something to that extend.

By the way, I love your avatar! One of the greatest Kings games I have been to!