Economics enforced on Knights’ bottom line
Asure seemed like a guy with good intentions, believing we are all born with an innate moral sense and that the happiness of others is utmost important, even if it comes with no financial gain to ourselves.
My goodness. The father of modern capitalism sure never saw professional sports coming.
Welcome to simple economics in the world of fun and games, where markets fail to be competitive based on assorted displays of ownership power, where the overnight success of an expansion hockey team can drastically alter who is allowed to purchase tickets.
Las Vegas wanted major league professional sports in the most passionate manner for decades, and yet for all the good and positive ways they have and will benefit the town, such a presence comes with this reality: Private individuals will make final decisions about the distribution of goods, and you as the consumer don’t have a damn thing to say about it.
We have seen it with the exorbitant personal seat licenses being charged by the Raiders for the NFL stadium set to open in 2020, and now, in a different and yet no less direct fashion, the Golden Knights and their decision to reportedly cancel several hundred season
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through both traditional and social media, though the team declined to confirm a number other than to say the process is ongoing.
The organization similarly can’t get into details of specific customers, but insists the policy is far from arbitrary.
“Our team does a significant amount of research on the account activity before making any decisions,” the team said through a spokesperson. “Furthermore, we are in contact with members during the process to explain and talk through our membership policies. Generally speaking, continually posting tickets for sale on non-authorized sites — clearly for profit — is grounds for cancellation.”
Ruggiero said he did not make money during the regular season and insisted he had been upfront with his account representative about how many games he would attend. Knights tickets became big business on the secondary market as the team continued its historic season. The Stanley Cup playoffs brought even greater demand and soaring prices.
Interest in the team coming off a Western Conference championship has driven the average asking price of a ticket on the secondary market for the 2018-19 season to $271, which ranks behind just the Toronto Maple Leafs ($332) for tops in the league.
According to the Knights, a membership agreement was signed by all of their season ticket holders that includes safeguards against purchasing tickets for the sole intent of profiting off resales. The current policy states ticket holders “acknowledge that the spirit of being a season ticket member is to support the team and not generate financial gain.” They also must “acknowledge and agree that my ticket resale and/or trade activity may be monitored and tracked by the Vegas Golden Knights.”
Reports of season ticket revocations have sparked anxiety among fans who aren’t sure what they can do with their seats when they can’t attend a game.
The team insists there isn’t much to worry about as long as the season ticket holder doesn’t violate the “excessive resale” threshold and doesn’t utilize “non-authorized” resale sites. The Knights declined to say how many resales they consider excessive.
“Our policy and membership parameters were created to protect our members and help create a true home ice advantage,” the spokesperson said. “Memberships are never arbitrarily revoked. We are fully supportive of members who share their tickets with friends and family and allow new fans to experience a
Golden Knights game, so fans are very much encouraged to do so.
“Again, we do not arbitrarily revoke memberships. If we do identify potential issues, we address them directly with the members to clearly explain our policies and offer alternatives. In these discussions we may offer fan-friendly alternatives for such accounts with regards to a ticket plan.”
The Knights are not alone in attempting to curb tickets from being resold for profit. Similar policies are common among teams across professional sports.
Ruggiero remains undeterred despite having his tickets revoked and said he’ll still try to attend games when he’s in town.
“I can’t not love this team,” he said. “But I’m torn. I feel like I can’t love them as much as I used to. I absolutely understand what they’re trying to do. They told me the fans around me don’t want to sit next to fans of the opposing team, but I’m like the East Coast ambassador for this freaking team. I live 35 minutes from the Capitals’ facility, and I have Vegas Golden Knights stickers all over my truck. Do you know what that’s like to endure?
“I feel like the uncle who got in an argument with the family and was never invited back to Thanksgiving.”
The Knights host Calgary the day after Thanksgiving. They are off on Christmas.
Contact Adam Hill at ahill@ reviewjournal.com or 702-277-8028. Follow @Adamhilllvrj on Twitter.