Our guest blogger today is, @Evil_Bylsma from Pittsburgh, PA
There was a time when being a Penguins season ticket holder meant that you were a true fan.
You were there, supporting a team that had some high points, and a lot of very low points. When the Igloo had trouble filling its seats, the fans stayed until the horn sounded, win or lose. As things changed, there were some fans that had a hard time justifying the season ticket purchase when the team seemed to be going nowhere. Some lost their jobs and couldn’t afford them anymore. Some just decided to forget about the Penguins all together.
Then, something magical happened in Pittsburgh that made the Penguins an exciting attraction again. Crosby, Geno, and Flower breathed new life in to the Igloo. Mario secured the Pens future and it made being a fan exciting again. There were lots of people lining up to get season tickets, but for some the prices made them unattainable.
This allowed those who were fortunate enough to afford them the chance to scoop them up and then sell them at an extreme profit.
Nothing is more aggravating to a real fan than having to pay excess amounts for Penguins tickets. Using your tickets to take advantage of a fan who would love nothing more than to see their Penguins take the ice live is the definition of being a jagoff.
I mean, how can a single mother afford to take her kid to see Sidney Crosby if she has to take a loan out for the tickets? I understand making back some money to help cover the cost. Nobody expects to pay face value for a ticket anymore unless you can buy them directly from the Pens, or you have a gracious friend or family member.
But $200 for a $75 seat? Really?
What happens when those tickets don’t sell? That’s one more empty seat that could house a fan that is there to support the team.
I’m sure you are wondering if I think anyone who sells their tickets above face value is a jagoff. That is not the case at all. A little above face is reasonable to make back on your loss. PLEASE STOP using the Penguins current success and rabid fan base to sell your tickets for a high profit and to fund your next private-island-getaway or your new set of bedazzled earings that you’ll wear to the next Penguins-high-end-meet-and-greet-where-you-won’t-know-the-difference-between-Evgeni-Malkin-and-the-staff-from-Pierogie’s-Plus-or-where-you’ll-say-HEY-that-Crosby-guy-is ALSO-famous-for-that-White-Christmas-song, Ya Jagoffs!
See Friday’s Guest Blog, THANKFUL, from Scott Paulsen HERE!
See Saturday’s Guest Blog, a video blog, from Benstoium HERE!
See Monday’s Guest Blog from @SteelerGurl HERE!
BUT BE SURE TO CHECK THE ON-LINE AUCTION
Rachael Rennebeck is a Pittsburgh jagoff (the term of endearment version of jagoff of course) who cofounded YaJagoff Media, LLC. With decades of experience eating, drinking, shopping, living, and being among yinzers, we birthed the Pittsburgh-centric company encompassing all things related to the 412, oh, and the 724.
Excellent point, & excellent post!
I agree with your post in principle. So I’ll come at you from a season ticket holder’s perspective.
Been a STH since 2005 (Crosby’s rookie season). Bought a 1/2 season package the day before the home opener. Upgraded to a full the next season. That was well before the days of the STH waiting list. I’ve seen a lot of good hockey the past 6+ seasons. Hell, I even saw the Stanley Cup awarded (to the Red Wings). Regardless, it was awesome to have witnessed it.
But it costs a lot of scratch for the privilege. Having season tickets is a year-round commitment. They take $250+ every month from me (except in March, go figure?) for tickets. Playoffs are separate. And if they go to the finals, you’re getting billed for regular season+playoffs at the same time. So it’s like having a mortgage or car payment. Not complaining, just saying. And in this economy, it’s rough to budget (and sometimes hard to justify) that sort of commitment, even if you are a Pens/hockey fan. Sometimes I wish I could just go to a dozen random games throughout the season, and not be on the hook for the monthly charge.
Well, you can… if you want to pay a little bit of a premium for the seats… and it’s called TicketExchange. Accessible thru the Pens website, TE allows fans to buy tickets directly from season ticket holders. This is how it works: If I want to sell my tickets, I post them on TE. The Pens/TicketMaster then adds a 15% surcharge to my posted price, which the buyer pays. If/when the tickets sell, they add another 10% surcharge to the back end, which I pay. So, for example, if I post 2 tickets for tomorrow night’s game for $75 each, they list for $86.25 each… and when they sell, I get $67.50. So, let’s do the math… on this theoretical transaction, the Pens/TicketMaster make $22.50 on the front end, and $15 on the back… $37.50, just for brokering the sale. Plus, the Pens get to re-sell a ticket they’ve already sold! STHs can’t list tickets on TicketExchange for our STH price (face value), we have to sell them at the Pens gate price. So the Pens are one of the handful of teams in the NHL who keep their prices artificially high. Incidentally, these are the teams with high demand for tickets.
I’d love to sell my tickets for face value… but the Penguins won’t let me.
Are there greedy STHs? You bet your ass there are. But are all of us greedy? No way! Don’t trash the little guy, you need to look further up the food chain. The Pens can’t do any wrong in this town… but it’s helpful to remember that they are, first and foremost, a business. One that exists to make money. The Consol Energy Center is a monument of greed, designed to generate maximum revenues for the team and underwritten by the taxpayers of the State of Pennsylvania. Please, don’t ever forget that!