Just A Matter Of Not Gettin' It: Bengals Concerned About Ticket Sales
by Josh Kirkendall on Sep 30, 2011 9:38 AM EDT
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"It's very concerning," Bengals ticket sales manager Andrew Brown said of ticket sales struggles. "Obviously we strive to sell out the games and make the product available for everybody."
- per Shannon Russell of the Cincinnati Enquirer
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, Hamilton County has an unemployment rate of 8.9% for August, nearly a 1% increase since April. And the area tri-state area ranging as far north as Middletown and including Northern Kentucky and southeast Indiana has an unemployment rate of 8.7%.
"This is not just a problem in Cincinnati anymore. Several other cities - Tampa Bay, San Diego, Miami, Carolina - are having the same problem," Vann said. "Ratings remain extremely high for Bengals. In the midst of this economic downturn...if you're un- or under-employed, it's a tough choice to buy football tickets."
The San Diego Chargers recently announced that their week four game against the Miami Dolphins will be blacked out with over 6,000 tickets remaining. The Jacksonville Jaguars were ranted an extension to sellout before Friday's deadline at 1 p.m.
There's other factors that's always involved besides money that's incomparable to other metropolitians of similar population and geography. For instance the Bengals have lost 13 of their previous 19 games and they're owned by Mike Brown, whose often believed as being an owner that puts such a small value on winning that many believe he doesn't care.
So our suggestion is that if want to make them affordable to fans, lower the ticket prices -- across the league. It's not like the league isn't benefiting from a $15.5 billion deal to extend Monday Night Football on ESPN or anything. Give back to the fans, lower tickets that makes the decision to go to games easier. Otherwise find it in yourselves not to be shocked if they continue playing games below capacity.
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Ticket prices (amongst the plethora of other factors described above).....
are a big factor. I recently attended the opening game in Cleveland on Sept 11th and the 49’er game this past Sunday in Cincy. I paid face value for both sets of tickets and sat in almost the identical place for both. The ticket prices in Cincy were almost $20 higher per ticket than in Cleveland (actually the tickets we got in Cleveland were about 20 rows better and closer to the 50 yard line as well). Losing, mismanaging and charging higher ticket sales will result in an empty stadium and blackouts on TV. With that combination, how else could fans not feel that Mike Brown just doesn’t care? It’s embarrassing to me as a Bengal fan to see the stadium empty like this, but I don’t blame the fans for that reaction.
by The Van Buren Boys on Sep 30, 2011 9:45 AM EDT reply actions
Prices Not the Issue
I don’t think ticket prices are the issue. The economy is awful, but if this team won consistently and wasn’t owned by Mike Brown (or if he showed that he was trying to win by hiring scouts/GM/etc.), the place would be packed every week. There are definitely 55,000 people every week employed in the region with the ability to come, but choose not to. I live in DC, but I can’t blame anyone for not supporting Mike Brown and his family’s control over this team. Until the team wins consistently (2 winning seasons in a row at least) or he shows that’s he’s willing to make real changes in the way he runs the team, they will struggle to sell out.
Agree 100%
Win and People will come hell I will drive up from Pittsburgh to see a game again, like when they had decent team in 05
prices might not be an issue for you, but they are an issue for a lot of people
by Paul Cannon on Sep 30, 2011 12:12 PM EDT up reply actions
Agreed
Add in that some people are looking at buying more than one ticket to bring along family, and it is just too much.
It's a combination of...
The Bengals being the worst managed franchise in the history of professional football and the Bengals having a terrible fan base in general. Bengals fans are the biggest fairweather fans around… granted it’s been mostly inclement weather for the last 20+ years.
p.s. me calling Bengals fans will probably get a lot of people’s panties in a bunch but if you read and comment on this site on a regular basis i’m probably not referring to you.
by peko'sponytail on Sep 30, 2011 10:14 AM EDT reply actions
"Bengals having a terrible fan base in general"
bull.
no other city in the nfl would put up with 2 decades of mike brown and still sell out games. cincy fans are among the most devout for caring about this hapless circus after 20 years of mike browns coupon clipping mismanagement.
" I for one, welcome our new Buffalo overlords. " - Whokebe
Agree With Palewook
I am calling a hearty “bull” out to you Peko. Bengals fans have persistently supported this franchise regardless of the crap product put on the field – twenty plus years of mediocrity in any NFL city outside of Cincinnati and you might have already lost your franchise to Los Angeles.
Look at San Diego. Perennial winners and they have a difficult time filling the stadium to capacity every week. Hell, Buffalo has been playing games in Toronto because they couldn’t sell enough tickets. And, New Orleans was doing everything they could to move out of their locale leading up to Hurricane Katrina.
No. It’s time that the Brown family finally listen very clearly to the thousands of “no-show statements” last Sunday and the for the many Sundays to come. Stop jerking us around Mike Brown and show us you care -
1. Hire a general manager (that is not in the family)
2. Enhance and improve your Scouting Department
3. Build an indoor practice facility
4. Negotiate openly and honestly with your players
5. Actively pursue desirable free agents (key word “desirable” / ex. Asomugha and not T.O.)
6a. Give your coaching staff and general manager the authority and support to do their jobs without restriction and hold them accountable for their results
6b. Recuse yourself from making player decisions
7a. Stop pursuing miscreants as “bargains” (the cost is more than the money you pay)
7b. Remove miscreants from team after repeat offenses with no amnesty to return
8. Attempt to retain high-quality players
9. Negotiate openly and honestly with the County officials (they’re not that bright – you need to be the better man here, because their misdeeds are harming taxpayers who used to support you)
10. Noone EXPECTS you to win. But, we DEMAND that you TRY everything possible to win; and, this means being a highly competitive organization where players and personnel bring their A-game efforts every week or they lose their jobs
11. Change the culture. Be classy! The franchise has become a laughingstock. The little things do count. When the players are at training camp pay for their amenities (i.e. cable…). Have player appreciation where their spouses are invited to attend (i.e. a holiday party).
by Skeleton Kees on Sep 30, 2011 1:29 PM EDT up reply actions
For Carson's Money...
…I’ll be anyone you want me to be.
by Skeleton Kees on Oct 1, 2011 1:39 AM EDT up reply actions
losing, terrible ownership, high ticket prices
What do they expect. If Bengals ever won on a consistent basis people would come, but since ownership sucks and still keeps tickets at high cost when losing I dont blame people for not coming. Im a Bengal fan since I was 8 now 32 and was born and raised in Pittsburgh and still live here, I still support them but each yr dont expect much cause Mike Brown is the worst owner I have ever seen. Until he lets someone else run team I have feeling this is something that will never change. Its a start with Dalton and Green but they need more, also hire a GM that will have full control of team not idiot Brown.
It seems to me that buying season tickets is not that great of a deal. i mean honestly, saving $6.25 per game via season tickets does not really jump out at me screaming of a good deal.
by ddbumpus on Sep 30, 2011 10:43 AM EDT via mobile reply actions
Carson and Chad sold Tickets
Losing drove ticket buyers away..
mike browns poor poor choices and refusal to make change where its needed doesnt get hope up and ticket prices absolutely should be lower. hamilton county pays for that stadium. And its just $65 to get in doesnt include parking/food/drink per person…
why people dont go to stadiums
Beer = 7$
HotDog = $7
Ticket = $65
for that price i can have a cookout and beer for 20 people.
Also HD TV
Makes it like your their anyways
by Bengalsfan024 on Sep 30, 2011 11:02 AM EDT up reply actions
also
the blackouts hurt who the people who pay for the stadium why does that make any since if anything it should be blackout to those outside 100 miles since their not paying for the team. your angering hamilton county because when you dont sell enough your saying people who approve tax levys to support an affordible stadium you cant see the game. Its simple economics lower price to get more demand or create more demand by wining. Also unless its blackouted i can go see it at bw’s cheaper better atmosphere and can watch 7-8 games on hdtv. not to mention with streaming i can see all the games or can listen or look at the play by play. Im a college kid why in the heck would i pay 65 dollars to go there when i can do anyone of those mentioned above?
by bengalsfanforlife on Sep 30, 2011 11:10 AM EDT reply actions
I don't understand even the business/money side of this for Mike Brown...
Stadium was like 2/3 filled this week? If he takes ticket prices down to like 45 bucks a pop it would sell out probably right? Hell, if I was him I would give away tickets in some sort of lottery type situation to “reward the county” when really, if I’m Mike Brown, I got people coming into the stadium, buying food, drinks, merchandise, etc. The tickets that you are giving awaty aren’t selling anyways, so not like you’re losing money on that… Not to mention the game is now on TV and there is more interest for people to come down or buy Bengals gear etc. I don’t know if there is some rule about giving away tickets to avoid the blackout rule, but that’s what I would do.
if you sell gas to 2 people @ 4$ a gallon
and i sell it to 30 people @ 3$ a gallon who made more money?
by Bengalsfan024 on Sep 30, 2011 11:40 AM EDT up reply actions
Sorry dude.
That doesn’t hold water. In your example, I could easily say the guy who sold it at $4.00. Why? What if the wholesale price of gas was $3.13 per gallon?
You're right...
to be more accurate and comparable, the gas that doesn’t get sold by Sunday gets thrown away and you make no money off of it.
or in normal people terms
Being really really greedy.
by JCompton41 on Sep 30, 2011 11:41 AM EDT via mobile up reply actions
Seriously?
You want to give away the tickets and pi$$ off the people who paid for theirs? If you did that, there would be NOBODY who would be stupid enough to ever buy tickets again.
Think of it like the airlines
How do they make their money? They have to fill up their airplanes even if they have to sell tickets at discounted prices a couple of days before. But if you wait, to buy your ticket there’s no guarantee that there is going to be a seat available and there’s no guarantee that you are going to get a seat that you want. That’s why I always end up in the back of the plane by the noisy engine and a sweaty guy who snores.
So maybe I wouldn’t give away seats for “free” but it might not be a bad idea to start offering discounted prices a couple of days before the game.
by Paul Cannon on Sep 30, 2011 12:23 PM EDT up reply actions
supply and demand
The supply of Bengals tickets > the demand for them.
When the Bengals have sold all of the tickets they are able to sell at full price, it’s time to lower the tickets across the board about 10% to sell the remaining tickets to the next rung of consumers willing to pay a little less.
And if you have tickets left over, you lower the prices another 10% and repeat, until you’ve sold every last ticket.
It’s one of the only ways you’re going to fill up that stadium as long as the supply > the demand.
Or as an ex-coworker once said…“The prices on the coins in my store have nothing to do with supply and demand. It has to do with how rare the coin is, and how many people are willing to buy it!”
I don't think the Bengals have any incentive to fill up the stadium just for the sake of filling it up.
i don’t think they get a % of sales from parking or concessions, but get a flat fee for concessions.
So if they sell 5 tickets, i don’t think they get much more money if only the 5 people show up for if 50,000 people show up.
So i don’t see them extremely slashing prices or giving away tickets jsut to fill the stadium.
i can get club level seats at browns stadium
For what I can get canopy seats a pbs. Or even dog pound seats I’m pretty sure! People can’t afford 130 for two tickets, then parking, food, and drinks. That can be a whole week of work if working for min wage, 40 hrs a week. Then on top of ticket prices you have only had a legit shot of making the playoffs maybe 5 or 6 times in 20 years, and haven’t won a single playoff game on 20 years! Sorry Mike Brown, I’m not paying for a focus, when other people are buying Cadillacs for cheaper.
by JCompton41 on Sep 30, 2011 11:28 AM EDT via mobile reply actions
Its simple
Go to BW3’s with free admission and parking, cheaper brews than at PBS, better food, protected from weather, good big screen viewing, fans cheering for and against, etc.
Okay, okay I know its not like being there but perhaps it’s more financially acceptable. Plus, you have all the teams to watch but no live cheerleaders.
but you can actually talk to the hot waitresses
So I think that’s an even trade.
by JCompton41 on Sep 30, 2011 11:39 AM EDT via mobile up reply actions
if you didnt talk to the hot waitress
you’d go hungrey and thirsty
by Bengalsfan024 on Sep 30, 2011 11:42 AM EDT up reply actions
None of the waitresses are that hot at mine :(
cheerleaders >>>>>>> nasty waitress haha
It is sad for me.
I line in CT and have been a Bengals fan since I was 7 (I am 39 now). I was a also a die hard Whalers Fan growing up. The community refused to build the Whalers a new stadium and the old one couldn’t be expanded. Of course, this cut into the profitability of the team and what happened? They moved.
All the people who think they are hurting Mike Brown are sadly mistaken. For now, he gets his revenue sharing. When the lease is up, he leaves. No skin off his back.
I, for one, don’t want to root for the L.A. Whatevertheirnamewillbe. I want my Bengals and I want them to stay in Cincinnati (unless they move to Connecticut, but that will never happen). You guys need to wake up and realize you are just going to end up with no team at the end of the day.
i thik the bengals might be the only team la will say they dont want.
And Mike brown won’t sell naming rights to the stadium named after his father, despite how cheap we all know he is. I think the bengals stay in cincy as long as Mike brown is alive.
by JCompton41 on Sep 30, 2011 11:50 AM EDT via mobile up reply actions
Bengals aren't going anywhere
They have a lease til 2020 I think. After that who knows? Cities aren’t exactly committing financial suicide to lure NFL teams into a promised land. LA is lipstick on a pig. Any team coming in will have the same problems the Raiders did. Fickle fans with plenty to do in a warm weather climate. City government that is more screwed up than Chicago with red tape that will delay any new stadium years beyond their promises. Any team coming in will regret it in a few years.
I would be more concerned if cinch didn't have enough people to support the team
but that’s not the case. cincy has big enough population to sell out 8 home games. if the bengals leave due to low tickets sales caused by years of bad football then I am perfectly fine with that
by LyotardFactory on Sep 30, 2011 1:36 PM EDT via mobile up reply actions
There is a Hooters 3 miles from my house
with enough screens to find the game you like. Specials to keep the beer budget balanced and titties galore. Of course I don’t live anywhere near Cincinnati, Oakland is quite close though and the Black Hole is fun to go to assuming you keep your loyalties cloaked and quietly enjoy your team’s scores. That place is worth the price of admissions for the crazy characters roaming the stadium. Still I’d never buy season tickets too much money, too much time and the alternatives are very good.
Bengals Game
Hey, I am a Dayton native living in the Bay Area. Next time you want to brave the Black Hole during a Bengals game let me know because I will be there. I have made every Bengals v. Niners / Raiders game since moving here permanently in 1997.
by Skeleton Kees on Sep 30, 2011 2:07 PM EDT up reply actions
The Bengals ticket prices are priced in an asinine manner
I’m not arguing that they are too high, but they appear to be priced by morons who don’t under economics and finance. Whoever is in charge of their ticket pricing must be there by nepotism, because it surely isn’t by competence.
Single game ticket prices range from $65 to $85
It is frelling rediculous in the NFL to have such a tight range ($20) from worst seats to best seats. $85 for your ‘good seats’ is a real steal in the NFL…but $65 is absolutely atrocious for your ‘bad seats’. That’s one of the most expensive ‘bad seats’ in the whole of the NFL.
Most teams (that are not ineptly run) price their good seats in the $100+ range and price their low seats in the $25~$50 range.
When the Bengals don’t sell-out, it’s not the good seats that aren’t selling, it’s the ‘bad seats’ in the upper sections. And those aren’t selling because nobody is going to spend $65 to sit in the top row to watch the Bengals score 8 points against a bad 49ers team (when it’s only $20 more to sit in the lowest section on the 50-yard line).
If the Bengals really wanted to sell out, they would adjust the spread on their ticket pricing to be more in line with every other major sports team in every other major sport.
couldnt agree more
there are many other ways to be innovative with ticket prices as well. have a college student special or a family special price. also let the bengals cover the transaction fees for tickets purchased online. maybe even free parking
by LyotardFactory on Sep 30, 2011 1:46 PM EDT via mobile up reply actions
Bingo
Prices + losing = empty stadium. People can usually suffer one of those, but not both.
Joel, get off the babysitter
watch it on the internet FREE
brown dont get a dime and thay cant stop it. nfl to stupid to offer local games on nfl network to sell more subscription.
Mike Brown Is The Problem
It’s not the price of the tickets that got fans upset to the point that they won’t go to the game. I can’t say it any better then the guy here posted with regards to trhe twelve thingfs Mike Brown needs to do. Until fans see that Mike Brown is putting up nothing is going to change. As far as Mike Brown moving he is stuck here right now and is under contract with the stadium.
Small Opening Crowd
Mike hasn’t seen anything yet as it’s going to get worse! Fans are going to redefine for Mike Brown what small crowds are.
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