The current economic conditions are affecting everyone from school teachers to the big players on Wall Street. How is the recession affecting the ticketing industry? What are the affects on ticket buyers and ticket sellers? How will the industry adapt to these trying times?

Written by mmiller

One of the most recent and obvious effects is prices of this year’s baseball playoff tickets on the secondary market. As chronicled here, you could buy tickets to the one of the Dodgers/Phillies games for about $10 bucks/each. And Red Sox playoff tickets this year were going for about half of what they have been going for the last few years.

Read more here: Suddenly, Sox no Longer the “Hot Ticket”

NFL tickets have also taken quite a hit on the secondary market. One reason is that the average price of NFL tickets rose approximately 8% this year. For example, decent lower level tickets to see the New England Patriots this year have a face value of close to $200/ticket after fees. If you look on the secondary market, a lot of football tickets are going below face value or breaking even. Another factor contributing to this is that Monday Night Football used to be a much hotter ticket, but it seems that since it moved from ABC to ESPN, it doesn’t have the same allure (or price premium on the secondary market) that it used to. NFL isn’t the only sport that has raised it’s prices. Major League Baseball has also steadily raised their average ticket price every year. And this year, for the first time in 4 years, MLB season attendance has dropped.

As for concerts, one affect of the downturn has been smaller bands cutting their touring due to gas prices and less ticket sales. Many indie bands no longer can afford a West coast tour because the stops are so spread out. 400 miles of gas to goto a show that only 30 people might show up at is too much of a risk, but big towns being less than 2 hours away from each other on the East coast is much more financially viable. As for big name concerts, most of the high-priced summer tours are already over and then went onsale about 6 months ago, when the economy was not so bad. Madonna still came close to selling out her tour at $350/ticket for premium tickets and Tom Petty had one of his best tours in years at close to $100/ticket. But will people shell out that much next summer? It has yet to be seen.

What does this mean for the ticketing industry? As an event patron, it’s going to get easier to find tickets for events that are cheaper or even way under face value. Also, the slowing economy may force concert promoters and sports teams to lower ticket prices. As a ticket broker, things are going to continue to get tougher with primary ticket sellers charging more than ever right now and the economy getting worse, as well as the constant inflow of new ticket brokers (and their inventory), it’s just going to get harder and harder to make the same profits.