Smaller Stadiums; are they good or bad for the viewers?
It is obvious that stadiums are getting smaller these days. In fact, in the past decade, the Seattle Mariners are the only team to have built a larger stadium than the one before it. At www.foxbusiness.com, they say that the reason for this is to be more like a nightclub. If the club is full, more people will come, even if it is full only because it is small. The owners want the stands to be full, because they don’t want the people at home watching the game to see the empty seats. The smaller stadiums are good to the fans, because they have larger seats that are closer to the field, wireless internet available, and more concessions available with smaller lines. All of these facts look good to the consumers, except for the fact that because of less seats, the price of seats will go up. Fans will also have the disadvantage if they like to decide to go to games the day before, or the day of, because tickets might be sold out. So, is it better for the fans to have smaller stadiums? I think it is better because if you plan ahead and pay a slight increase in ticket costs, the advantages of having smaller lines for food and larger seats will be worth it.
6 comments:
This is definitely the argument of quality vs. quantity, but I think that in this case, quality definitely wins. Fans may have to pay more, but they are getting a better deal out of the cost they are paying. The "nightclub" theory is also a good idea because people want to be able to enjoy the social aspect of the game, also. More fans = more excitement!
I agree that there is an advantage to having a smaller statium. Sometimes demand can be increased by popularity. If ppl think the baseball game is where everyone is then thats where they want to be. I have also heard of televised games avoiding the empty seats in the stands.
I also feel that smaller stadiums are better for the fans. It provides better vantage points for viewing and gets you closer to the action. As long as the team has a strong enough fan base to absorb the higher costs and not create blackouts, I feel this is a good decision to move to smaller stadiums.
I agree that smaller stadiums are better. As we have learned, baseball teams have a hard time selling out, due to the large stadiums. By reducing the size of the stadium, the franchise won't be losing money. I believe that demand will increase and the stadium will become more efficient.
I agree that smaller stadiums are better. As we have learned, baseball teams have a hard time selling out, due to the large stadiums. By reducing the size of the stadium, the franchise won't be losing money. I believe that demand will increase and the stadium will become more efficient.
I think that in Pittsburgh the price of tickets is more inelastic than you would expect and after the arrival of Heinz Field, which I believe seats far less than the old Three Rivers Stadium, ticket prices direct from the venue have gone up slightly, however the number of scalpers and the price they sell tickets for is always well over the stadium price. I can think of specific examples where people paid as much as 20x face value for tickets. If they made a monster of a stadium this would decrease price but I still believe there would be an incredible "black market" for scalping tickets to people who can't get them from the stadium.
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