How to Determine Seating Prices for a Stadium

Ticket prices are like snowflakes. No matter how similar one may appear to another, there are myriad differences within each that create unseen and complex variations. Even within the same facility, costs vary from seat to seat and event to event. An NBA ticket in one city costs less in one city than one for roughly the same seat in another. In some venues, a nosebleed seat costs the same as one on the 50-yard-line. Add in things like a "convenience charge" and the problem becomes more art than science.

Instructions

  1. Pro vs. college

    • 1

      Focusing on the big three U.S. spectator sports of football, basketball and baseball, a good rule of thumb is that fewer games equal higher ticket prices. Football, with its shorter season, generally is the highest-priced of the three sports; baseball, on a per-game basis, the lowest.

      But, as always with ticket prices, there are exceptions. The average ticket price for a Los Angeles Lakers home game is $93.25---not only the highest in the NBA at nearly double the league average ($49.47), but higher than all but two NFL teams and the only NBA ticket to cost more on average than one for an NFL game ($74.99).

      According to the current Team Marketing Report at www.teammarketing.com, the New York Yankees have the costliest MLB tickets at an average of $72.97, or $46.33 over the major-league average. Like the NFL's Dallas Cowboys, whose average ticket price soared 89.8 percent in 2009 to $159.65, the Yankees are located in a large media market and are a tradition-rich, glamorous franchise that moved into a new, $1 billion-plus stadium in 2009.

      The lowest averages in pro sports' big three? The Buffalo Bills (NFL) at $51.24, the Memphis Grizzlies (NBA) at $24.11, and the Arizona Diamondbacks (MLB) at $14.31. Tradition-rich, glamorous and major-market don't come to mind with any of those franchises.

    • 2

      Look at where you're sitting. Surrounding those average prices are staggering extremes. The NBA's Dallas Mavericks list selected upper-level tickets at $2 each, while the average "premium"--read: luxury suite--ticket to a New England Patriots NFL home game averages $566.67.

      For the most part, the closer you are to the action, the more your seat costs. The main exceptions are luxury suites, which aren't necessarily the closest to the action but provide an opulence unavailable to the average fan in the stands.

      As for the non-premium seats, minimum prices at times are dictated by the leagues. The NBA, for example, mandated after its 1998-99 lockout was resolved that each team make at least 500 seats available at $10 apiece for every regular-season game; some teams, as demonstrated by the Mavericks, go beyond that. Without exception, those seats are either the farthest from the court or provide a partially obstructed view.

      Courtside seats available to the public (i.e., non-premium) often are bought in blocks by, or used as advertising trade-offs with, teams' corporate partners and priced accordingly. Using the San Antonio Spurs as an example, available courtside seats for an upcoming game not tied into a discounted-ticket promotion range from $275 to $435 each.

      The remainder of the seats are priced on a sliding scale between the two extremes, and the same principle generally applies to NFL and MLB tickets, with the high and low points adjusted for the larger venue capacities for those sports. As noted, football tickets generally are costlier, baseball seats less expensive based on season lengths.

    • 3

      Choose between regular season and playoff tickets. Again, ranges vary, but always expect to pay more for a postseason game than for a regular-season contest.

    • 4

      Make it simple, like most colleges. Although there are exceptions, college football programs by and large assign every seat the same price for a given game. Yet there still are price ranges. In this case, schools frequently price tickets based on anticipated demand. In 2009, for example, the University of Texas had six home games, with face values ranging from $65 for a date with Louisiana-Monroe to $95 for a game against conference and intrastate rival Texas Tech.