contact NCAA re: high ticket prices / low attendance at regionals

[Priceless]

Re: contact NCAA re: high ticket prices / low attendance at regionals

As opposed to 3 days notice? That is what you will have if you go back to having the FF the week after the regionals.

Sean

With the Frozen Four you pretty much know if you're going or not regardless of which teams end up there. The FF is usually sold out a year in advance. With regionals you don't know until the selection show. If you were a UNH or Wisconsin fan, you wouldn't know which regional your team was being sent to until it was announced. If the bye week were before the regionals it would allow fans more time to prepare and travel to those regionals.

[Shirtless Guy]

Re: contact NCAA re: high ticket prices / low attendance at regionals

With the Frozen Four you pretty much know if you're going or not regardless of which teams end up there. The FF is usually sold out a year in advance. With regionals you don't know until the selection show. If you were a UNH or Wisconsin fan, you wouldn't know which regional your team was being sent to until it was announced. If the bye week were before the regionals it would allow fans more time to prepare and travel to those regionals.

That is my point exactly!

[wolverineTrumpet]

Re: contact NCAA re: high ticket prices / low attendance at regionals

As opposed to 3 days notice? That is what you will have if you go back to having the FF the week after the regionals.

Sean

The biggest issue I see with getting rid of the week off between Regionals and FF is for the actual teams. We still have some Regional championships on Sunday...and teams doing a practice skate for the FF on Wednesday. That's 2 days to get back to school, and travel to the FF. Or you leave directly for the FF, the logistics of which are frightening.


I agree it would be nice for the fans of the 16 regional teams to have some extra time to plan and afford regional trips, but I think the current timing is the lesser of two evils. The FF is going to sell out and only fans of 4 teams are going to be making last minute plans to attend. Some of those fans may have planned on attending no matter the teams.

[Shirtless Guy]

Re: contact NCAA re: high ticket prices / low attendance at regionals

The biggest issue I see with getting rid of the week off between Regionals and FF is for the actual teams. We still have some Regional championships on Sunday...and teams doing a practice skate for the FF on Wednesday. That's 2 days to get back to school, and travel to the FF. Or you leave directly for the FF, the logistics of which are frightening.


I agree it would be nice for the fans of the 16 regional teams to have some extra time to plan and afford regional trips, but I think the current timing is the lesser of two evils. The FF is going to sell out and only fans of 4 teams are going to be making last minute plans to attend. Some of those fans may have planned on attending no matter the teams.

True, but under this change, I would think the Frozen Four would go to Friday/Sunday.

[gordwiser]

Re: contact NCAA re: high ticket prices / low attendance at regionals

No way the NCAA eliminates the bye all-together because of 2 championships on one weekend. I like the idea of the bye after the conference tourneys like the good ol' days. I really wish they would eliminate a week of games and move everything up so the hockey final is the week before the basketball final... again, will never happen because of setting up conference tourneys.

As for the ticket prices... I am a fan with above-average interest. I take in quite a few games a year without having season tickets...20-30, most without a team playing that I really care about. This year I skipped the Regional at the X because I just thought they were too darn much with all the fees added on. I think the final price for the weekend has to be under $100 total for the package. Yes, I could have gone and gotten scalped tickets, but sometimes I just get sick of that. I would have bought the Regional tics in Oct if the price had been reasonable.

[CLS]

Re: contact NCAA re: high ticket prices / low attendance at regionals

FWIW, according to some folks who have applied for 2011 tickets, the price for next year's FF is $195.

[WildKitty]

Re: contact NCAA re: high ticket prices / low attendance at regionals

FWIW, according to some folks who have applied for 2011 tickets, the price for next year's FF is $195.

Does anyone else's butt hurt?

Prices are exhorbitant. They deter any but the most diehard from traveling, and reduce local interest exponentially.

I think it's wrong to assume that writing the NCAA will do nothing. With that assumption, letters won't get written and the NCAA will then assume that there are only a few disgruntled fans out there who're just sore they paid all that money to watch their team lose in the first round. Whether you think it'll help or not, write the letter. Look what happened with Domino's Pizza!

I have never been to a scalper, just on principle, but I will say, I would seriously have considered it, had circumstances not been what they were for me.

[Puck Swami]

Re: contact NCAA re: high ticket prices / low attendance at regionals

FWIW, according to some folks who have applied for 2011 tickets, the price for next year's FF is $195.

While those prices sound like a lot, you are really paying $65 per game for a championship, premium event that is well worth the price, even if your team isn't in it. For a premium event, it's still very affordable, and it will be a sellout. My tickets for a 2010 Olympic Hockey Gamein Vancouver (not even in medal round) were $140 each face value. The same ticket in the semi-finals was $425 face value.

Compared to other premium events, Frozen Four prices are a bargain.

[moe24]

Re: contact NCAA re: high ticket prices / low attendance at regionals

FWIW, according to some folks who have applied for 2011 tickets, the price for next year's FF is $195.

Yikes!!! That's steep. How can an average person afford that?

[Shirtless Guy]

Re: contact NCAA re: high ticket prices / low attendance at regionals

Thats up what? $5-15 from Detroit? Can't remember if detroit was 179 or 189 for the expensive lottery?

[The Sicatoka]

Re: contact NCAA re: high ticket prices / low attendance at regionals

The only way to be able to plan to attend a regional is to know your favorite school is the host and will be seeded in that regional if they make the tournament.

[lord k]

Re: contact NCAA re: high ticket prices / low attendance at regionals

The regionals suck for many reasons. Most of the teams super fans go to the conference tournys the week before, so most pray their team wins in the regional and then they go to the frozen four.

I think the best solution would be to have the regionals played at the #1 seeds home rink. It would insure good attendance and would provide a great atmoshere for the players. It would also reward teams for having a great regular season. You wana host, just win baby.

It wouldnt matter if a school with a small rink ended up hosting because most of the regionals are very poorly attended anyway.

[Tipsy McStagger]

Re: contact NCAA re: high ticket prices / low attendance at regionals

No kidding... the turnout by both UW and SCSU was kinda sad in comparison to the infestation of green and black the weekend before.

Wisconsin and Minnesota both have other pro sports team. The UND hockey team is the biggest sports ticket in the state of North Dakota.

[slurpees]

Re: contact NCAA re: high ticket prices / low attendance at regionals

Yikes!!! That's steep. How can an average person afford that?

Not really, that's a <$10 increase, and only $15 more than DC in 09, and still less expensive than most final four seats. Plus the FF in an NHL arena is not for the average person to attend.

[IrishHockeyFan]

Re: contact NCAA re: high ticket prices / low attendance at regionals

Thats up what? $5-15 from Detroit? Can't remember if detroit was 179 or 189 for the expensive lottery?

Most expensive tix in Detroit are $189. Next year they will be $195. In 2008 they were $168. Odd that in a time where there has been relatively little inflationary pressure in the economy (and the CPI even actually declined .4% from 2008 to 2009) we've seen an increase of 12.5% in just two years. With next years increase that's a 16% raise in ticket prices in just 3 years. While I disagree with Swami pretty much in his opinion of whether or not the prices for the regionals are appropriate, I do agree with him that for the FF they are not so out of whack. This is the pinnacle of the sport, and the games have been sold out the last few seasons. I Still say the most compelling evidence of ticket prices that are too high are all the empty seats. We've seen that at most -- if not all -- of the regionals the last few years. But not at the FF. Well, we may see empty seats, but all those seats were sold.