By: Paul Quartaroli
https://www.forbes.com/video/5183066238001/
The link above is a video that explains why the tickets for the Cubs World Series were so expensive in 2016. The video also explains why this game was such a big event and how it was going to be history making for one team, the Chicago Cubs or the Cleveland Indians.
2016 was the year for the Chicago Cubs. It had been 108 years since the Cubs won the World Series. It was viewed as one of the biggest droughts in baseball history. In reality, the Cubs are also one of the oldest baseball franchises in history. When the World Series came around the face value of game tickets were ranging from “Face value for tickets ranges from $450 for infield club boxes to $175 for upper-deck seats” (Clair). However, the secondary ticket market prices had a median price for a ticket at about “$3,550”(Clair). This is a crazy amount of money for a baseball game that you could watch on your T.V. at home for nothing but the cost of your time. The reason the price of the tickets was so high was directly related to the very high demand for Cubs fans to be part of the World Series experience, in person and a limited amount of seats to offer. As well as the fact that it had taken the Cubs 108 years to get there.
With an increased demand for tickets and a limited number of seats in the ballpark, it allowed suppliers to increase the cost of each ticket. The more excitement there was for the game the more Cubs fans would want to experience the excitement first hand, driving up the demand for tickets. As expected, people from all over Chicago we're taking money from anywhere they would find just to get one ticket to see the Cubs compete in this historical game. After the first game of the World Series the ticket prices for “game four fell about 25 percent” as the Cubs lost the first game. After the Cubs won “game 2 the prices jumped 10 percent” (Clair). Again, supply and demand was at play. The more excitement and possibility the Cubs could win the World Series the higher the cost of the tickets rose.
It’s also important to note that attending a World Series game, at such inflated prices, is a want not a need. This means that consumer paid the high prices for the World Series ticket to be part of the excitement of watching the ball game in the ballpark not because they could not live without attending the game in person. It is safe to say that most every person that attended any of the World Series games and paid way over face value for their ticket did so due to their shear desire to be part of the experience not because they had to attend the game as a mean of survival. For me and most high school students, a luxury item like World Series tickets are completely out of my price range. Such an expense could only be viewed as a want. Looking at my income, I do not make enough to support the price of the ticket. I would never pay “$175” to sit in seats that are so high up that people look like ants or even pay “$450” for tickets (Clair). I would much rather sit at home on a nice comfortable couch and watch the game on my T.V. and watch the Cubs WIN the World Series. Just because I didn’t spend the inflated amount of money for the World Series tickets, directly caused by supply and demand, didn’t change the fact that I witnessed the Cubs win, at home for free!
Works Cited
Badenhausen, Kurt. “Forbes.” Chicago Cubs Ticket Prices At Wrigley More Than Double Previous World Series Record, 23 Oct. 2016, www.forbes.com/sites/kurtbadenhausen/2016/10/23/chicago-cubs-win-sets-stage-for-most-expensive-world-series-tickets-in-baseball-history/#7043a89676fb.
Chi, Samuel. “Cubs Making World Series History . . . For Ticket Prices.” The Post Game, 27 Oct. 2016, http://www.thepostgame.com/cubs-world-series-tickets-most-expensive-history.
Clair, Stacy St. “Chicago Tribune.” Cubs World Series tickets prices could break record, 27 Oct. 2016, www.chicagotribune.com/sports/baseball/cubs/ct-cubs-ticket-prices-20161027-story.html.
I agree that the tickets to the World Series are very expensive and overpriced. I would also never pay over 170 dollars to sit in seats that are so high up that people look like ants. However if I were a Cubs fan it might be a need because, they literally haven't made the World Series in over 100 years and you may not know when it will happen again. So what I am saying is if you can afford the tickets buy them.
ReplyDeleteTickets to most sporting events that are major league are quite pricey and out of budget for a great many high school students. I agree that the prices of this event were quite high and that it was all impacted by a greater demand for the product in order to make a higher profit. One thing I disagree about is your comment on watching the game at home on the TV. There is still a few costs associated with that, the cost of your cable provider and the electric bill plus the cost of the television itself. In the long run, your experience was much less expensive than going to the game in person but it was not free.
ReplyDeleteNot only world series tickets but a lot of sporting events tickets are pricey. For example if students want to go with friends to a sporting event some tickets for good seats are likely to be out of their budget for being in high school or college. I agree with Lila, nothing in this world is free. No matter what you are always going to pay a price even if its very little.
ReplyDeleteI agree with the ideas in this writing that as teams start winning more, their prices will start to rise. Because the tickets were in higher demand, the team can jack up prices however high they want until consumers are simply just not willing to pay for them any longer. I imagine that people would buy the tickets no matter how expensive they were as this might have been a once in a lifetime event for some people. At the same time, I also find it interesting that MLB teams do not sell tickets for lower prices for like one out of the 7 World Series games so that people who are not as wealthy still have a chance to experience the phenomenon.
ReplyDeleteI agree people are willing to pay a lot for tickets, but fans have the opportunity to buy world series tickets for their teams before the season and can get their money back if their team does not make it. It is unlike the Super Bowl where the league sells the tickets at a neutral stadium where the league can overprice the tickets.
ReplyDeleteI agree that the World Series tickets are over priced, especially when the Cubs were in it, but that is just how it is. Major sport organizations in general who don't set a high price tag on championship game tickets would be stupid because that is the biggest game of the entire season. Extreme fans will spend whatever price it takes for them to see their team in the championship. In the end, these organizations have every right to over price the tickets if they know fans are willing to pay the price.
ReplyDeleteIt is reasonable that the ticket prices skyrocket because they are limited, therefore whoever is willing to pay more will get it. This is seen in many sports, where a team starts winning and having a good record, and the stadium starts to fill up, and within a few weeks the prices for tickets just fly up.
ReplyDeleteThis connects to the economic concept of supply and demand, as the supply is short, and the demand is high, therefore price discrimination takes place.
DeleteThe exclusivity of watching the World Series in person is enough for people to purchase a ticket worth thousands of dollars, when in reality, the ticket would cost a fraction of its original cost. Sports organizations do this not only to raise money, but to also increase the demand for the tickets. This leads to a chain reaction, in which people buy tickets to the event, which leads to more people wanting to participate in the major event. In a way, the sports organization is using price-discrimination techniques to increase their profit. They are presenting a one-of-a-kind opportunity, that cannot really be re-sold and cannot be exploited. The sports organizations act like a price-discrimination monopoly.
ReplyDeleteWorld series tickets in particular have far greater demand in part to a far greater market size. People from all over the country buy tickets to world series games even if they aren't fans of the 2 teams playing. Then add in the factor of the Cub's long drought and more people than ever would by tickets. This allows the ticket prices to climb to great heights because the quantity demanded will stay close to max capacity of the ballpark at most all prices. Not just the regular Cubs fans are part of the market for these tickets.
ReplyDeleteThis is just like the Milwaukee Bucks this year, due to there raved success in this years season ticket prices have gone up, this is also with do to the new fiserv forum and the services and experience it offers. But this is exactly what we call supply and demand in economics because the better teams get the more willing consumers are to pay and go to the games just like in this case with the Chicago Cubs World Series tickets and the expense at which consumers where willing to pay.
ReplyDeleteThis is a really good example of supply and demand because like you said, the Cubs hadn't won the world series in 108 years which is what created such a demand for the tickets. I agree with Logan up above as well. This really relates to the Milwaukee Bucks this year because we haven't had a great team in years and now this year everything changed and the ticket prices flew up. Also coming from your post you said that once the cubs won games in the World series this drove the prices up. This is most likely true because the Cubs now have a higher chance of winning which everyone who is a fan of the Cubs wants to see. Not only was the supply and demand successful you could say because they were in the world series, but people in Chicago have a lot of money and are willing to pay the maximum amount to see there team play in a historic game. In your post you said that tickets were getting up to 3,500 dollars for a single ticket which is outrageous but is seen all over the sports industry when something out of the ordinary occurs. Overall I really liked your post because it was a very good example of supply which is a historic baseball game, and the demand made by people who wanted to go.
ReplyDeleteThere is always going to be an increase of demand for World Series tickets especially when you go to one of the teams home city. Especially with the Cubs it totally makes sense that their demand was sky rocketing, when you take into account of the long drought there was with them not being/winning the World Series. You can also see that direct correlation with the Milwaukee Bucks this year. Over the past couple of years the Bucks have been on the rise. But if you take a look like 10 years ago they were honestly horrible, and they weren't selling out tickets, the demand was extremely low. But now with recent success and a new stadium the demand has sky rocketed. So both of these examples are a great real life example of supply and demand of tickets.
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