Owen, Messi, O’Sullivan. Of course, we expect no less from sportainment promoters in the post-pandemic time. It’s game time. But as the popularity of names rises, so do the ticket prices inflate – if not skyrocket. Lo and behold, let us provide just a little more context about why expensive tickets are so worth it, as somebody who’s been on the crew side and obviously on the fan side.
It’s 2024. Life’s back, game’s back. Michael Owen and Paul Scholes World Football Masters Cup, $280-$980, not too bad. The David Beckham’s Lionel Messi Jordi Alba Sergio Busquets Inter Miami CF vs HK Team, $4,800? Oh, it’s sold out anyways… okay, same for the $780 pre-match open training. And we have our home hero Marco Fu and no surprise world’s favourite Ronnie O’Sullivan in the Snooker All-Star Challenge, $3,380 – wait, I remember it was $580 for the Hong Kong Masters 2022?
We totally feel for you. The pandemic left some deep wounds in the economy, it's normal to rethink about where to spend discretionary income - but hey, as the saying goes, everything comes with a price, literally. To take a closer look at the issue, here we explain “five major players” that are responsible for the fluctuation of ticket costs:
1. Your Idols/Favs
It’s the stars, celebrities, or sports legends who set the prices, or have them set. Why Lamborghini or Hermès? Everyone pays a price for being a fan. You may say, with streamers and networks, it’s too old school and tiring to stand in the stands, but no one knows better than you that nothing compares to the gathering, cheering, chanting, and seeing the action of superstars unfolded in front of your eyes in a stadium.
2. Promoters
The organisers “officially” set the ticket prices, but they also swallow the loss if the event doesn’t generate enough ticket sales to cover all the expenses. They don’t only pay for the players and venue, but everything from ideation to production. There are countless unsung heroes in the industry who take care of the stage, audio, visual, video, logistics and transportation, public safety, online and offline marketing and promotions, crisis management… even liaison has a time cost.
3. Venues
While promoters are paid by ticket sales, venues are paid by the promoters. There’s the facility fee, not to mention the cost of sanitisation, maintenance, crowd control, manpower of bookings and promotions, ushers, security guards and more.
4. Ticketing Companies
It's mainly the online ticketing system, aka the cost of your convenience of not having to go to the box office counter, miscellaneous expenses associated with processing, and the cost of generation of emails with QR code or printing of a physical ticket and its delivery fee.
5. Resellers
They are not necessarily the “yellow cow” scalpers. In many cases, tickets are snapped up by professional brokers, often in teams or software bots, whose tickets are actually distributed by the promoters to create a higher secondary market price. This is also where tkt prices spike, because the resale prices are set by the seller and the sites don’t limit how much a seller can charge.
At the end of the day, it's simple demand and supply, but please be reminded that a quality experience is not born; it’s made.
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