PRICE VS. EXPERIENCE
IT’S STICKER SHOCK VS. ENHANCEMENTS, UPDATES AS BUCKS PITCH SEASON-TICKET PLANS
It’s early July, and the Milwaukee Bucks’ sales crew is cheering in its Schlitz Park offices. A gong just signaled the sale of another lower bowl season ticket package.
Meanwhile, on the east side of Milwaukee, longtime season ticket holder Roger Quindel exudes a mix of optimism about the team’s rebuilding efforts and frustration at the price increase for his seats in the Bucks’ new arena.
Along with some buddies, Quindel, 71, stuck with the Bucks through some pretty lean times. He’ll be there in the fall of 2018 when the team moves into its $524 million new home just north of the BMO Harris Bradley Center. But he won’t be in the same location.
Like many season ticket customers, Quindel was startled by the price increases the Bucks set for seats in the new arena.
Quindel’s group has two seats in section 209 in the Bradley Center, a lower level corner, at $1,696 each. The same seat at the new arena is $2,757, a 63% increase.
“I think that’s pretty high for somebody who’s been there all
those years and suffered,” he said.” I thought it was fairly steep, without much explanation.”
Quindel and friends will remain in the lower bowl for next season, and then move to the upper bowl just off center court in the new arena — and still pay about $500 more.
“We moved to the worst seats in the house, and had to pay more for them,” said Quindel, a former Milwaukee County supervisor and community activist.
Bucks’ leadership understands Quindel’s concerns
about the price increases. They promise the new arena will be worth it.
Fans will receive a meticulously crafted stateof-the-art experience that starts in the parking ramp and continues through the concessions and the experience of watching the game itself, said Bucks President Peter Feigin.
“We want to have fair pricing and go beyond expectations.”
The success of the team, and its ability to maintain the new arena, starts with season ticket holders like Quindel, Feigin said. The team expects 95% of current season ticket holders will renew.
“They are No. 1. They
are our most valuable asset,” Feigin said. “They are the lifeblood of the organization economically and psychologically.”
More than just money
The team’s first season goal for full season ticket sales at the new arena is 10,000, with 16,000 full season equivalents, which include partial season ticket plans and group buyers, said spokesman Barry Baum.
The expected season ticket base at the Bradley Center this season is about 7,100, with full season equivalents of about 9,000, he said.
Until recently, the Bucks were ranked 29th or 30th in the NBA in
terms of ticket prices and attendance, Feigin said.
For the new arena, the financial stream from season ticket sales is especially important, because under the deal that provided the team with $250 million in public financing, the Bucks are responsible for arena upkeep once it is open.
But it’s more than just getting long-term paying customers in seats. The new arena must be a loud, rocking house that hangs with the team win or lose — and creates an exciting atmosphere.
“You need to have the passion in the arena to balance out the ‘downtown crowd,’ “said Andrew Zimbalist, a Smith College sports economist. “You need to have people (seen) on TV standing up and screaming,” he said.
The largest season ticket price increases should come for the highest priced seats, he said, adding that teams must be careful not to increase the lower priced tickets too much.
The Bucks must “put a good team on the floor, and that’s not easy in the NBA,” Zimbalist said. The team also must also build good will through community outreach and player appearances.
Apples to oranges
Team officials say it’s apples and oranges to compare the seating bowls in the two arenas. In rough terms, the two arenas are mirror images of each other. At the Bradley Center, the majority of the 17,000 seats are in the upper level; at the new arena, the majority will be in the lower level.
Feigin said that season ticket sales for the new arena have been robust. About 90% of the seats in the event and mezzanine club levels — 2,500 of the best seats in the house — have been sold, he said.
A majority of tickets in the new arena will have a price increase of $6 or less per game from the Bradley Center, the team says.
For next season, the average price for the 7,875 seats in the lower bowl of the Bradley Center is about $100 per game. That will grow to $118 in the following year at the new arena, where there will be 10,400 seats downstairs.
Similarly, the average price for the 10,183 seats in the Bradley Center upper level will be about $21 per game next year. At the new arena, there will be 5,888 seats upstairs,
with an average price of $23. There also will be a “limited number” of $10 seats for each game.
“What you create with the new arena is 10,000 better seats,” Feigin said.
The sharpest price increases will come to customers in the best seats in the house.
A lower level center seat at the Bradley Center costs $7,327 per year if you buy a multiple season package. The same seat is $10,616 per year at the new arena, and there are two premium courtside levels in front of those seats that don’t have prices listed on the season ticket sale website.
Fans in those seats will see amenities such as exclusive club access and food service at a level that the team has been unable to provide at the Bradley Center.
Feigin said he personally makes about 50 phone calls and works with the sales team to send about 100 emails a week to ticket holders. Some are first-time prospects, others are those who have been supporters for decades, he said.
That later crew is particularly important, he said, saying they are people “I just want to bring in and give them a hug.”