duncan228
04-11-2009, 12:13 AM
Spurs are not-so-hot ticket for playoffs (http://www.mysanantonio.com/sports/spurs/Spurs_are_not-so-hot_ticket_for_playoffs.html)
Tom Orsborn - Express-News
With the economy in crisis and Manu Ginobili in street clothes, local ticket brokers expect the soft market from the Spurs' regular season to continue in the playoffs.
“Bleak, dismal,” Best Tickets' Jerome Cohen said of his Spurs business. “It's not a good year to be in the ticket business Spurs-wise.”
The recession and the team's injuries have even forced secondary market vendors — fans and brokers who resell tickets — to unload tickets for most games below face value.
“We did that for more than 60 percent of the games,” Cohen said. “It wasn't unusual to sell a $175 face value ticket for $99. To recoup the $99 is better than throwing it in the trash.”
John Binder of Awesome Tickets agreed.
“You still do well with the Lakers and Celtics, but you definitely take a loss on others,” Binder said. “That's been more the case than not this season.”
The buyers' market was underscored by ESPN The Magazine's Rick Reilly discovering a ticket to a Spurs-Wizards game March 6 offered online for 99 cents.
“True, it's a balcony corner seat at the blimp-hangar known as the AT&T Center in San Antonio — which means you're practically in Waco — but so what?” Reilly wrote. “By the second quarter, you'll be sitting behind Gregg Popovich!”
With a bum ankle sidelining Ginobili, the prospect of the playoffs rejuvenating the secondary market appears dim.
Rick Pych, president of business operations for Spurs Sports & Entertainment, said it's too early to tell how the team's playoff sales will fare.
“A lot of things are dependent on who your opponent is,” Pych said.
Even before Ginobili went down, brokers said there wasn't much playoff buzz among dollar-conscious, spoiled Spurs fans.
The club starts selling tickets for the first two home playoff games today, with prices range from $10 to $125.
“It's the law of diminishing returns,” Cohen said. “The Spurs have won four titles, ho hum. We've seen it; we've been there. There's no excitement. Prices went up, that didn't help. The economy went down, that didn't help.”
Binder said business in the early rounds is typically slow because of fan complacency and Fiesta.
“Everyone's spoiled,” Binder said. “They expect the team to at least go to the conference finals.”
The decrease in convention business is another factor in the slumping secondary market. January hotel occupancy rates fell more than 14 percent from a year earlier, according to the San Antonio Convention & Visitors Bureau.
“We move a lot of seats through the hotels downtown, and the convention business is way off this year,” Binder said.
In yet another sign the gloomy economy has resulted in a buyers' market, the average Spurs ticket on the online ticket auction site StubHub.com was $67 this season. That's a decline of $14 from last year's average.
“Outside of the Lakers coming to town for the Western Conference finals, we're going to see some attractive playoff prices for Spurs tickets,” StubHub.com spokesman Sean Pate said.
Bargains aren't limited to the secondary market. The Spurs offered breaks throughout the season to what a team spokesperson called “our corporate partners and key sponsors.” In an e-mail dated March 24 obtained by the San Antonio Express-News, the club offered lower-level seats at half price for the last five home games.
The Spurs are one of 11 NBA clubs that froze ticket pricing for next season. Asked what the response has been to their season-ticket renewal campaign, Pych said, “Considering the economic environment, we're satisfied with where our renewals are going.”
But Cohen and Binder reacted with skepticism.
“They should have rolled back prices,” Cohen said. “Wal-Mart rolls back prices, why can't they?”
Tom Orsborn - Express-News
With the economy in crisis and Manu Ginobili in street clothes, local ticket brokers expect the soft market from the Spurs' regular season to continue in the playoffs.
“Bleak, dismal,” Best Tickets' Jerome Cohen said of his Spurs business. “It's not a good year to be in the ticket business Spurs-wise.”
The recession and the team's injuries have even forced secondary market vendors — fans and brokers who resell tickets — to unload tickets for most games below face value.
“We did that for more than 60 percent of the games,” Cohen said. “It wasn't unusual to sell a $175 face value ticket for $99. To recoup the $99 is better than throwing it in the trash.”
John Binder of Awesome Tickets agreed.
“You still do well with the Lakers and Celtics, but you definitely take a loss on others,” Binder said. “That's been more the case than not this season.”
The buyers' market was underscored by ESPN The Magazine's Rick Reilly discovering a ticket to a Spurs-Wizards game March 6 offered online for 99 cents.
“True, it's a balcony corner seat at the blimp-hangar known as the AT&T Center in San Antonio — which means you're practically in Waco — but so what?” Reilly wrote. “By the second quarter, you'll be sitting behind Gregg Popovich!”
With a bum ankle sidelining Ginobili, the prospect of the playoffs rejuvenating the secondary market appears dim.
Rick Pych, president of business operations for Spurs Sports & Entertainment, said it's too early to tell how the team's playoff sales will fare.
“A lot of things are dependent on who your opponent is,” Pych said.
Even before Ginobili went down, brokers said there wasn't much playoff buzz among dollar-conscious, spoiled Spurs fans.
The club starts selling tickets for the first two home playoff games today, with prices range from $10 to $125.
“It's the law of diminishing returns,” Cohen said. “The Spurs have won four titles, ho hum. We've seen it; we've been there. There's no excitement. Prices went up, that didn't help. The economy went down, that didn't help.”
Binder said business in the early rounds is typically slow because of fan complacency and Fiesta.
“Everyone's spoiled,” Binder said. “They expect the team to at least go to the conference finals.”
The decrease in convention business is another factor in the slumping secondary market. January hotel occupancy rates fell more than 14 percent from a year earlier, according to the San Antonio Convention & Visitors Bureau.
“We move a lot of seats through the hotels downtown, and the convention business is way off this year,” Binder said.
In yet another sign the gloomy economy has resulted in a buyers' market, the average Spurs ticket on the online ticket auction site StubHub.com was $67 this season. That's a decline of $14 from last year's average.
“Outside of the Lakers coming to town for the Western Conference finals, we're going to see some attractive playoff prices for Spurs tickets,” StubHub.com spokesman Sean Pate said.
Bargains aren't limited to the secondary market. The Spurs offered breaks throughout the season to what a team spokesperson called “our corporate partners and key sponsors.” In an e-mail dated March 24 obtained by the San Antonio Express-News, the club offered lower-level seats at half price for the last five home games.
The Spurs are one of 11 NBA clubs that froze ticket pricing for next season. Asked what the response has been to their season-ticket renewal campaign, Pych said, “Considering the economic environment, we're satisfied with where our renewals are going.”
But Cohen and Binder reacted with skepticism.
“They should have rolled back prices,” Cohen said. “Wal-Mart rolls back prices, why can't they?”