Showing posts with label tickets. Show all posts
Showing posts with label tickets. Show all posts
Wednesday, May 26, 2010
Sunday, October 19, 2008
Question of the Night
It is October 19th, the NHL season is underway and there are 73 days left before January 1st. So why hasn't there been any word on tickets to the 2009 Winter Classic?
The Chicago Blackhawks have the same FAQ up that they did this summer, when Hawks prez John McDonough told the Daily Herald that "The NHL will make an announcement in the near future regarding ticket availability." The exact date of the article that quote appeared in was July 22nd, and I think we are pretty far past the "near future." I know that they want to cater to and satisfy the Chicago fanbase, but there are those of us who are willing to make the pilgrimage to watch the historic game at Wrigley.
So what's the deal?
The Chicago Blackhawks have the same FAQ up that they did this summer, when Hawks prez John McDonough told the Daily Herald that "The NHL will make an announcement in the near future regarding ticket availability." The exact date of the article that quote appeared in was July 22nd, and I think we are pretty far past the "near future." I know that they want to cater to and satisfy the Chicago fanbase, but there are those of us who are willing to make the pilgrimage to watch the historic game at Wrigley.So what's the deal?
Friday, October 17, 2008
Is The Garden In Trouble?
The official attendance on the scoresheets of the first three New York Ranger home games was the same each night - a sell-out of 18,200. For those of us actually in the building, we have noticed a good number of those supposedly-sold seats empty. Usually empty seats in MSG is just chalked up to corporations not giving away their tickets but it may be a sign of something worse.
Adding to that simmering feeling of dread is the repeated e-mail updates, ads on the scoreboard and new banner ad on the website advertising that tickets were still available for the next three games. Now how is that possible? Those next three games are on Friday against an Original Six foe, Monday against Sean Avery's new team and Saturday the 25th against the Cole Harbour Queen Cindy Crosby.
Their rotating ad on the homepage links you to a Ticketmaster page where you buy tickets directly it doesn't take you to the TicketExchange where season ticket holders are selling their own seats. That means that there are even more seats available that went unsold.
As of 1 a.m. on Thursday night/Friday morning there were 868 tickets for the Leafs, 1,029 for the Stars and 491 for the Pens available on the Exchange.
It is utterly shocking to me that 1 - there would be tickets still available for those games and 2 - the Rangers would have to aggressively advertise to fill the seats. These aren't the Panthers who have to give tickets away for free. These aren't the Coyotes who made things as family friendly and wallet friendly to get anyone to come to their home opener. And this isn't Nashville; the beer is cheaper here.
What could it be? Rangers are 5-1 so it can't be performance related (unless anyone else got as physically ill as I did watching the Buffalo game). Is it name recognition? No, because Toronto Maple Leafs, Sean Avery and Sidney Crosby are three of the biggest names in the game. Is it the crowded New York sports market? No, the Yankees and Mets didn't make the playoffs, the Knicks haven't started their regular season yet and neither New Jersey-based football team is setting the NFL on fire right about now. Since I refuse to think that New York's taste for hockey is waning, it leaves one thing: ticket costs. The prices are just too exorbitant in this difficult economic climate. With the NYSE index looking like a Six Flags roller coaster ride, hockey fans are finding the Garden's ticket prices too costly for their limited disposable income to handle.
While I am not going to advocate cutting ticket prices - I am not completely delusional - I do think that the Rangers can fix this. You know how?
*Increase game-night giveaways. The only giveaway thus far was a magnetic schedule before the Devil game. People like free stuff and the Rangers have no promotions listed on their home page and are notorious for not doing much of anything in recent years aside from schedules and cheesy towels during the playoffs.
*Increase contests. Everyone likes to win something and the chance to win something big is always nice. And I am not talking about a signed Petr Prucha stick for winning the human puck race or pedal car race during the intermissions. I am talking about seat upgrades, tickets to future games or even game-worn jerseys.
*And the easiest and cheapest way: increase the drama. Nowhere on the Rangers website is it mentioned that Sean Avery is coming to town. A fan favourite who left town to get a big contract, Sean can easily be set up as a villain and as Avery himself has mentioned, this league needs villains. The same goes for golden boy Crosby, who is kinda good and has performed some last-second heroics before in MSG.
Now I am not being Chicken Little and crying that the sky is falling, but I am saying that there is cause for concern and the matter needs to be closely watched going forward. The Rangers have artist renditions of the upcoming renovation to the Garden standing up in the lobby and unless they do something soon to ensure fans keep coming, they may have to bust out the erasers.
Adding to that simmering feeling of dread is the repeated e-mail updates, ads on the scoreboard and new banner ad on the website advertising that tickets were still available for the next three games. Now how is that possible? Those next three games are on Friday against an Original Six foe, Monday against Sean Avery's new team and Saturday the 25th against the Cole Harbour Queen Cindy Crosby. Their rotating ad on the homepage links you to a Ticketmaster page where you buy tickets directly it doesn't take you to the TicketExchange where season ticket holders are selling their own seats. That means that there are even more seats available that went unsold.
As of 1 a.m. on Thursday night/Friday morning there were 868 tickets for the Leafs, 1,029 for the Stars and 491 for the Pens available on the Exchange.
It is utterly shocking to me that 1 - there would be tickets still available for those games and 2 - the Rangers would have to aggressively advertise to fill the seats. These aren't the Panthers who have to give tickets away for free. These aren't the Coyotes who made things as family friendly and wallet friendly to get anyone to come to their home opener. And this isn't Nashville; the beer is cheaper here.
What could it be? Rangers are 5-1 so it can't be performance related (unless anyone else got as physically ill as I did watching the Buffalo game). Is it name recognition? No, because Toronto Maple Leafs, Sean Avery and Sidney Crosby are three of the biggest names in the game. Is it the crowded New York sports market? No, the Yankees and Mets didn't make the playoffs, the Knicks haven't started their regular season yet and neither New Jersey-based football team is setting the NFL on fire right about now. Since I refuse to think that New York's taste for hockey is waning, it leaves one thing: ticket costs. The prices are just too exorbitant in this difficult economic climate. With the NYSE index looking like a Six Flags roller coaster ride, hockey fans are finding the Garden's ticket prices too costly for their limited disposable income to handle. While I am not going to advocate cutting ticket prices - I am not completely delusional - I do think that the Rangers can fix this. You know how?
*Increase game-night giveaways. The only giveaway thus far was a magnetic schedule before the Devil game. People like free stuff and the Rangers have no promotions listed on their home page and are notorious for not doing much of anything in recent years aside from schedules and cheesy towels during the playoffs.
*Increase contests. Everyone likes to win something and the chance to win something big is always nice. And I am not talking about a signed Petr Prucha stick for winning the human puck race or pedal car race during the intermissions. I am talking about seat upgrades, tickets to future games or even game-worn jerseys.
*And the easiest and cheapest way: increase the drama. Nowhere on the Rangers website is it mentioned that Sean Avery is coming to town. A fan favourite who left town to get a big contract, Sean can easily be set up as a villain and as Avery himself has mentioned, this league needs villains. The same goes for golden boy Crosby, who is kinda good and has performed some last-second heroics before in MSG.
Now I am not being Chicken Little and crying that the sky is falling, but I am saying that there is cause for concern and the matter needs to be closely watched going forward. The Rangers have artist renditions of the upcoming renovation to the Garden standing up in the lobby and unless they do something soon to ensure fans keep coming, they may have to bust out the erasers.
Tuesday, October 7, 2008
Wednesday, September 3, 2008
Tough Luck Getting Tickets ...
Individual tickets will go on-sale on Saturday, September 20 at 12:00 noon. Tickets will be available for purchase at newyorkrangers.com, Ticketmaster charge-by-phone at 212-307-7171 and Ticketmaster outlets. Your purchase will be limited to four (4) tickets per game. Please be aware, inventory for 2008-09 individual games is extremely limited.I think that basically means no chance for the general public to get Ranger tickets as brokers will eat them up in seconds. There is always StubHub or Ebay but I would suggest looking at season ticket holders who can't make it but want to sell to other Ranger fans. The two best places, if you are willing to make a leap of faith, are on the Rangers' Bulletin Board and HFBoards.
Happy hunting ...
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
