Buying a sports ticket means paying for the whole experience

Sports are more prevalent than ever on television. And it’s almost the only thing left on TV that’s live. So people are finding it relatively easy due to living streams on tv, which is actually hurting the club’s funds.

Most football fans will sit back in their mansions this weekend and watch their teams play on television. This is neither an offense nor a crime. However, as much as you enjoy Peter Drury’s commentary with all of his poetic words and hullabaloo, you must wonder who will contribute to the funding of these clubs. Actually, the clubs require your services. The clubs need you to purchase that Ticket rather than frequently sitting back and enjoying the matches from the comfort of your own home. To be specific, football clubs make most of their money from selling these tickets. Then there’s you, the self-proclaimed “Die Hard Fan,” with your popcorn screaming in the house whenever your favorite team scores. “Of course, we won!!” Lol, a common phrase among die-hard fans. But did you know that this joy will be short-lived? Where do you think the club will get the money to bring quality players during the transfer window? Where do you think they will get the money to pay the players all these high weekly wages? It will be no surprise if the club does not fare well in the market.

“Since sports teams earn significant portions of their revenues from season ticket holders, we wanted to find out how secondary markets actually impact their behavior”

Even if you’re not willing to mortgage your house for what we used to call “pasteboards,” sports tickets continue to be prohibitively expensive. Someone now publishes an analysis of how much it costs a family of four to go to a game. Sports tickets have literally become a big-ticket item. I believe the Supreme Court has ruled that spending as much money as you want on a sports ticket is constitutional.

Nonetheless, it never ceases to amuse me that everyone always complains about how much concessions cost at games. Sports fans seem to be constantly surprised by how much they have to pay for food. Fans, get over it. You pass through the turnstile and become a captive customer. You’re still alive. It’s all part of what sports promoters refer to as “the experience.”

As television images improve and fans become more comfortable watching games live at home, former ticket buyers deceive themselves that they do not need to be present at the stadium to enjoy the game. Perhaps it will become custom to only go to a game once as a child, just as you only have to see the Grand Canyon once or have your First Communion once. It’s worth noting, for example, that even though the National Football League is more popular than ever, live attendance at NFL games has increased every year since 2010. So it’s clear that going to a game just to see the game is very sufficient. You require so-called experience.

That means constant noise, lasers, and bosomy cheerleaders and mascots shooting T-shirts into the crowd, as well as massive scoreboards that tell you everything you need to know… except the cost of concessions. Not only that, but sports promoters must create an entirely new sensation. Aside from providing an experience at the stadium, they must also make you feel as if you are still at home, sipping a cheap beer and watching the game on TV, complete with replays, analysis, and highlights from other games.

The experience in the stadium will never be able to compete with the experience in the house. You must meet people at the stadium. Make friends and learn how they perceive the matches. If you’re single like me, you might meet your lovebird there, Lol…hilarious. It’s time for us to market these clubs with our own money. We need football tomorrow, next year, decades, and centuries from now. Clubs should set reasonable ticket prices as well. There should not be empty seats in the stadium, and the main reason for this is that many tickets were not purchased. Instead of selling all tickets at the same price, divide them into three categories. For all commons fans, the secular tickets, The VVIP tickets, and the VVIP tickets should be sold at a slightly higher price. At the very least, all economic classes will be covered.

Let’s talk about psyching out the players. The best part of any sport is when the stadium or field is packed with fans. Meeting Cristiano Ronaldo, Lionel Messi, Bruno Fernandes, and Erling Haaland, among the world’s best players, is an unforgettable experience. I can’t imagine missing a Manchester United game because I didn’t buy a ticket and go cheered on David De Gea as he made those big saves. I can’t help but smile when I see my favorite striker, Marcus Rashford, dribbling past the opposing defense. It’s a surreal moment and atmosphere. Why not have the league require players to sign autographs after games? Why not keep practice sessions open to all-season ticket holders who want to come in and watch? I don’t want to imply that teams aren’t doing enough. Some teams are excellent at fan engagement. Some of the suggestions I just made have been used in buildings across the country for many years.

Nonetheless, in a shrinking economy with more and more options for our entertainment dollars, some teams must do more or risk losing fans to their own product. The irony is that watching a crowded stadium on television makes the game more exciting. So, for the TV experience to be at its best—and thus superior to the game experience—we need people to come to the games to fill the seats we can no longer afford.

Perhaps teams should start paying people to sit in seats to improve the experience for true fans at home.

WAKE UP THIS WEEKEND AND GRAB THAT TICKET, and enjoy the atmosphere.