Ticket inflation

[HopsGuy]

I was going through some old boxes looking for my Zippo. I ran across the ticket stub from my first Bills game:

 

September 3, 1978

Pittsburgh

Game 3

 

Sec: C

Aisle 4

Row 21

Seat 11

 

Price: 8.64

County Charge: 0.25

Tax: 0.61

 

Total: $9.50

 

On the back there was an offer for a free Whopper with the purchase of one at any Burger King in the Greater Buffalo Area that expired on September 9, 1978.

 

An online inflation calculator puts the ticket price at $28.95 in 2005 dollars. (Thanks GG!)

 

I remember the seats being pretty good. The configuration of the stadium is different now, but I think the seats were in the neighborhood of sections 135-136 which would be $53.00 today. That's 83% higher.

 

Wow.

[elcrusho]

And you didn't even get the free whopper....

 

[finknottle]

An online inflation calculator puts the ticket price at $28.95 in 2005 dollars.  (Thanks GG!)

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Subtle thing at work here. An inflation calculator measures inflation on prices - just what you expect. But you can also measure the increase in income, or in standard of living. Income rises a bit faster than inflation (hopefully) as productivity grows.

 

So what? Well, sports is entertainment, with prices driven by what the market will support rather than by the cost of 'assembling the product.' And a better benchmark for what the market will support over time is the increase in incomes rather than the increase in inflation.

 

The figure of $53 is still a bit surprising, just slightly less so.

 

(This is relevent to the social security debate, where the outlays ar indexed to the increase in wages rather than inflation.)

[EndZoneCrew]

did you run across a 1978 players contract in that box as well?? I would say that may have INFLATED as well

[Bear]

did you run across a 1978 players contract in that box as well?? I would say that may have INFLATED as well 

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Only because the cost of living has gone up. They DO have to support their families you know.

[Mark VI]

Don't worry. That same 1978 whopper is still under the heat lamp.

[OBXBILLSFAN]

I think the prices of many items - including NHL, NBA and MLB tickets - have increased more than an inflation adjusted 83% in the past 27 years. Have you bought a car, a pair of socks or a pizza lately?

[Ned Flanders]

My ticket to the home opener at Rich in 1973 was $7.00...it was a mid-range ticket, as I believe the prices were $9 for lower bowl between the 20s, $7 for upperdeck and upper end zones, and $5 for lower end zones...

 

The real question is, what was Hammer charging to park the Dodge Duster in '73?

 

[HopsGuy]

I think the prices of many items - including NHL, NBA and MLB tickets - have increased more than an inflation adjusted 83% in the past 27 years. Have you bought a car, a pair of socks or a pizza lately?

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My socks are much cheaper, thanks to Wal-Mart. I think finknottle has a point about wage increases. A comparison of WNY median incomes from 1978 and 2005 would probably provide more clarity:

 

Here's what a NY Power Authority Study had to say:

 

New York State has seen continual growth in both real (inflation adjusted) median family income and real per capita income over the period from 1959 through 1999. Real per capita income increased from just under $13,000 in 1959 to just over $25,000 in 1999, somewhat greater than the 1999 U.S. level of around $23,000. Similarly, real median family income in the state has grown from around $23,000 in 1949 to almost $56,000 in 1999. Over the same period, however, the state has experienced an increase in the poverty rate—from 11.1 percent in 1969 to 14.6 percent in 1999, while the nation as a whole has seen a decline.

 

The Western New York region has also seen growth in real per capita income over the 1959-1999 period, though the region has remained below the state level over the entire period, recording real per capita income of just over $20,000 in the 1999 Census (in 2002 dollars), about $5,000 less than the state level. The Western New York region has also seen an increase in the poverty rate, which grew over two percentage points between 1969 and in 1999. However, the poverty rate in Western New York remained below the state level in 2000 at 12.0 percent.

 

In Erie and Niagara Counties, both real per capita income and median family income have increased since 1959, though, like Western New York as a whole, they have remained below average state levels. Real per capita income in Erie County was above the Western New York level by almost $2,000 in the 1999 Census. Niagara County’s per capita income was only slightly above the region with real per capita income of $20,753. Poverty rates in both counties have also grown since 1969, though they remained below the state level in the 1999 Census.

PDF doc link

 

 

It looks like we have more disposable income to spend on Bills tickets, but not as much as other folks around the country. Then again, Bills tickets are a bit lower than other teams (Washington?). The market is the market.