Single game tickets - holy crap!

[Dan Darragh]

On 5/16/2025 at 2:47 PM, JÂy RÛßeÒ said:

I have never seen a team reduce ticket prices once they go on sale.

 

Perhaps, but when I was a student in Chicago during the Artis Gilmore days (pre-Michael) I used to buy tickets from the scalpers at less than face right before the game.  Face value was $8 and we usually paid around $6.

 

I guess you can't see an NBA game for $6 any more.

[muppy]

I figured youn all would get a chuckle out of this 🙂

 

 

[SoCal Deek]

1 minute ago, muppy said:

I figured youn all would get a chuckle out of this 🙂

 

 

Yeah…but the PSL back then was brutal! 😉

[muppy]

1 hour ago, SoCal Deek said:

Yeah…but the PSL back then was brutal! 😉

I saved these in a photo album.  Good times

 

EDIT: I googled. Our record that year ended up being 5-11 in 1978

Edited 4 hours ago by muppy

[SoCal Deek]

12 minutes ago, muppy said:

I saved these in a photo album.  Good times

I used to carry around the stub from the game where we beat Miami to end the decade long streak. The face value for our sideline seats was $13.00. Yikes!

 

I got a kick out of the County Charge on your photo. Erie County was apparently sticking it to ya for 25 cents to pay off the new stadium. Those bastards! 

Edited 6 hours ago by SoCal Deek

[Matt_In_NH]

On 5/16/2025 at 10:18 AM, Southern Bills Fan said:

Any guesses for single game tickets next year? I'm thinking $500 or more for the cheap seats. 

They will vary dramatically....you can go to that stadium in LA for quite cheap and they have ridiculous PSL's behind them....when there is a weather game you will still be able to go for $20....although you might not want to....night games get cheaper and the price will fluctuate...I would not buy at the current prices, they will get better in almost every case.

[Bleeding Bills Blue]

On 5/17/2025 at 9:09 PM, DCofNC said:

Ticketmaster can suck my left one, I can’t stand them, BUT they do basically control everything again and set/destroy the market for fans everywhere, so I’m super pumped about their data.

 

Well they've done a pretty good job cleaning up fraud with the new ticketing model.  The "i need tickets" guys trying to sell paper tickets that they already sold online for example, can't do that anymore.  

 

But i'd largely agree that their monopoly has broken the industry.  

Edited 5 hours ago by Bleeding Bills Blue

[Royale with Cheese]

10 hours ago, Einstein said:

 

Dont tell anyone but the real play is to buy them on your phone about 15 minutes before kickoff. 

 

You can literally stand by the entrance gate and nab a ridiculously low (relative) priced ticked.

 

That might be a little too nerve wracking for me.  I did it for an Elton John concert and the tickets I was eyeing dropped $250 per so I snatched them up.

I don't mind risking a music concert but Bills game....gotta pull the trigger earlier.

 

I'm going to go to the Eagles game in the hopes that after Christmas, people are seeing family and spent a lot of money on gifts...tickets hopefully are cheaper.

I went to the Bills/Falcons home game a few years ago right after New Years, 30 yard line, 1st row I think I paid $120 a piece.

[BarleyNY]

12 hours ago, Sierra Foothills said:

 

 

I was thinking about this again today... the idea that we've finally attained our dream so can finally walk away.

 

When the Bills win the Super Bowl is when we'll all learn much more about our dependency on the team.

 

 

The sentiment that once the Bills finally win it all that they will finally walk away is pretty common among Bills fans. I’ve always found that perplexing and never heard a fan from another team express that same thought. 

[Mr. WEO]

3 hours ago, Dan Darragh said:

Perhaps, but when I was a student in Chicago during the Artis Gilmore days (pre-Michael) I used to buy tickets from the scalpers at less than face right before the game.  Face value was $8 and we usually paid around $6.

 

I guess you can't see an NBA game for $6 any more.

 

those are MLB prices...

[Royale with Cheese]

1 hour ago, muppy said:

I figured youn all would get a chuckle out of this 🙂

 

 

 

Are those paper tickets or stone tablets?  

[Gregg]

44 minutes ago, BarleyNY said:

 

The sentiment that once the Bills finally win it all that they will finally walk away is pretty common among Bills fans. I’ve always found that perplexing and never heard a fan from another team express that same thought. 

 

Same here. I am a Bills fan until the day I die. Doesn't matter if they never win it or win once or multiple times.

[Draconator]

On 5/17/2025 at 12:01 AM, BobbyC81 said:

My Oakland A’s moved to Sacramento so I thought I’d catch a few games but learned that they’re charging the highest average ticket prices in MLB.  Goodnight!

F John Fisher

[JP51]

On 5/16/2025 at 9:47 AM, JÂy RÛßeÒ said:

I have never seen a team reduce ticket prices once they go on sale.

 

Wait until 12.000 empty seats show up for the Sabres games this year LOL... I know wrong sport but I had too... 

[DCofNC]

1 hour ago, Bleeding Bills Blue said:

 

Well they've done a pretty good job cleaning up fraud with the new ticketing model.  The "i need tickets" guys trying to sell paper tickets that they already sold online for example, can't do that anymore.  

 

But i'd largely agree that their monopoly has broken the industry.  

Used to laugh at Fat Larry in his yellow Porsche out hocking tickets every Sunday off of 90.  Ahh the good ole days.  I will say TM has made the process easier and safer at the expense of insane prices. I used to routinely walk in around game time and scoop great seats for $20 or less, that was nice, but it was always a risk that they might be duplicates etc.

 

Maybe I’m wrong, but I think the live entertainment industry is in trouble, because of their deal with the Devil, they have alienated the average person, you now have to be stupid or rich to attend more than an event or 2 a year.  There’s definitely a lot of stupidity in the world so maybe it holds up, but the vast majority of the market is not going anymore. 

Edited 3 hours ago by DCofNC

[Dan Darragh]

1 hour ago, Mr. WEO said:

 

those are MLB prices...

When Rich Stadium opened, the seats that had been $7.00 at the 'Pile went up to $7.50.  I was pissed off, and I got wet when it rained because there was no roof over the stands (although no posts blocking your vision either).

[Mango]

In the current market, first day tickets are insane. I almost never grab them anymore, ever. 

Think about it. When Stubhub, Vivid, etc. own such a large percentage of seats why would they release them at a lower price right out of the gate? 

Check back again in August. They will be cheaper, I promise. 
 

17 minutes ago, DCofNC said:

Used to laugh at Fat Larry in his yellow Porsche out hocking tickets every Sunday off of 90.  Ahh the good ole days.  I will say TM has made the process easier and safer at the expense of insane prices. I used to routinely walk in around game time and scoop great seats for $20 or less, that was nice, but it was always a risk that they might be duplicates etc.

 

Maybe I’m wrong, but I think the live entertainment industry is in trouble, because of their deal with the Devil, they have alienated the average person, you now have to be stupid or rich to attend more than an event or 2 a year.  There’s definitely a lot of stupidity in the world so maybe it holds up, but the vast majority of the market is not going anymore. 

 

I used to live near KBC (thankfully in the pre-Pegula era), and I would watch the national anthem at home, then walk to the arena and grab seats for like $10-$20. It was the best. 

[Bleeding Bills Blue]

23 minutes ago, DCofNC said:

Used to laugh at Fat Larry in his yellow Porsche out hocking tickets every Sunday off of 90.  Ahh the good ole days.  I will say TM has made the process easier and safer at the expense of insane prices. I used to routinely walk in around game time and scoop great seats for $20 or less, that was nice, but it was always a risk that they might be duplicates etc.

 

Maybe I’m wrong, but I think the live entertainment industry is in trouble, because of their deal with the Devil, they have alienated the average person, you now have to be stupid or rich to attend more than an event or 2 a year.  There’s definitely a lot of stupidity in the world so maybe it holds up, but the vast majority of the market is not going anymore. 

 

You definitely see it in the cancelled tours and dates for artists.  Either they miscalculated the demand and booked arenas that are too large, or the pricing is too high to meet the venue's break even point and it'd be a poor reflection to play to a half empty arena.  

 

Some artists are safe in this type of scenario because of sheer popularity.  Comedians can just book a smaller venue and add shows if the demand is there, but there's a big difference in what you get paid playing 1000 seats like the town ballroom and something like the keybank center.  

[Metal Man]

1 hour ago, DCofNC said:

Used to laugh at Fat Larry in his yellow Porsche out hocking tickets every Sunday off of 90.  Ahh the good ole days.  I will say TM has made the process easier and safer at the expense of insane prices. I used to routinely walk in around game time and scoop great seats for $20 or less, that was nice, but it was always a risk that they might be duplicates etc.

 

Maybe I’m wrong, but I think the live entertainment industry is in trouble, because of their deal with the Devil, they have alienated the average person, you now have to be stupid or rich to attend more than an event or 2 a year.  There’s definitely a lot of stupidity in the world so maybe it holds up, but the vast majority of the market is not going anymore. 

 

Read an article a few weeks ago about the rising ticket prices which said based on their research and data that a high percentage of people are using payment plans for single event tickets. IIRC it was over 60% for Coachella. That makes me think that an even bigger chunk of people are probably just running up credit cards to cover these prices.

 

I blame this trend of high ticket prices on social media. It is causing way too much FOMO which is driving up the prices because more and more people just can't imagine missing out and need to go at any cost.

 

Long gone are the days where anyone could just say that were at the big show/game to not feel left out. Now if you don't have a selfie of yourself at the event you are relegated to a lower social class.

[Mr. WEO]

3 hours ago, Dan Darragh said:

When Rich Stadium opened, the seats that had been $7.00 at the 'Pile went up to $7.50.  I was pissed off, and I got wet when it rained because there was no roof over the stands (although no posts blocking your vision either).

no “confusing the wind” either, though…