What Would Be An Appropriate Ticket Price for an OHHSFB Playoff Game?
- Thread starter CMH FB
- Start date
ghsknightsfan
love the Knights and Grey Ghosts!
$7 for games at home sites
$10 for neutral site games
$5 for all non-revenue sports
$10 for neutral site games
$5 for all non-revenue sports
smurfyeah19
Well-known member
$14.99
LICKING COUNTY FAN
Well-known member
reganaustinjames
Well-known member
Fifteen dollars?!?!? Good LORD, that's a lot of money! (If you get the reference, we can be friends)
If tickets were 100% free for everyone you’d still only have a handful of capacity crowds.
bkmk1
Well-known member
Affordability can help. May not get huge crowds at every game, but I believe more people would come. Excluding bad weather conditions, which I know is coming and part of it as well.
I agree ticket prices are a factor in attendance, but the glory days of high school sports playing to sold out venues is never coming back.
bigredfollowing
Active member
If high school football passion is there like Georgia and Texas, the game fee is not consequential to attendance. Season tickets to many Class 6A schools in Texas is near $200.00, Katy for example is $180.00 (includes parking). I paid $23.00 for a 2021 state semi-final game in Texas.........however that $23.00 was paid directly to the school!
This thread is about Ohio playoff games. That being said, OHSAA is a deplorable, greedy, sleazy organization that certainly has differing priorities than UIL or GHSA.
Until playoff pricing gets north of $25.00, you will just hear and read more and increasing complaints with little change in attendance. School focus should be more on number of games these boys have to play rather than game revenue. More important things than money.
bkmk1
Well-known member
And I will agree with that as well. I still like the prices I listed. If nothing else, OHSAA could let people know that they realize times are tough, and they are willing to help. (a little human kindness sometimes goes a long ways).
Exactly. It has simply become easier for people to come up with reasons not to go.
I've said this ever since the days of $5 tickets for the state tourney at St John arena. Does the OHSAA not realize that twice as many people will likely show up for a game if tickets are $8 than they will if they are $15? Look back over the years. Heck, they used to get 17K + at the Schott....now they are lucky to get 5,000. Imagine the concession money when there were 17,000 people there compared to $5. I know I spent more on concessions at every one of the close to 300 state tourney games I've attended than I did on the ticket. Also, 17,000 people pay a lot more to park than 5,000. It's almost like nobody at the OHSAA cares at all about the students, parents and communities....but only about the $$$, but we all know that can't be true right lol
It is statistically inaccurate that twice as many people will show up if you halve the price. More people? Probably. Double? No way.
The Dock
Persona Non Grata
I also voted “NO.” It’s a leading question, anyways.
Being razor-focused on price of admission misses the bigger picture as to why attendance isn’t great. It as if, in the consumer mindset, there may be a holistic burden bigger than dollars-and-cents that deters attendance.
• product that is almost exclusively played at nighttime;
• product that, as a result of being in the evening and gets played into November/December, incurs cold weather and generally higher precipitation (rain/snow.) Some see being out in that weather as intolerable, others see driving in the dark for extended periods of time in those conditions as a dealbreaker.
• following a HS team, or having an informed read on the matchup you’re attending, requires a generally higher level of time compared to other levels of football (NCAAF/NFL) because the level of information out there is so minimal and — for that matter — doesn’t have nearly the level of dominance in media as tOSU/Browns/Bengals.
• split loyalties — have grandkids/family members past or present that are across different programs; sometime different leagues/size classifications/geographies. Or you don’t live near your alma/it no longer exists. Or your kids went to/go to different high schools than their siblings because you moved or the district re-did the attendance zones.
All of these things add up. It doesn’t help that our society is highly consumptive of other things, and making matters worse (for the intents of HSFB attendance) is younger generations today gravitate away from the concept of community being geographic and fixed.
Sad, but true.
Wildcat2023
Active member
Attendance issues are much more related to these two items than pricing. I remember attending a St. Eds vs McKinley playoff game in Lakewood in 2016 or 2017 and couldn't believe McKinley only brought maybe 500 people. This predates digital ticketing and inflation pricing.
1. More competition from other entertainment avenues i.e. streaming, smart phones etc, etc.
2. Demographic decline in the state of Ohio. Particularly industrial Ohio and rural Ohio. Less people, smaller families, poorer state than it used to be, decline of large industrial communities like Warren and Canton which used to pack a big punch attendance wise. Overall decline in the product of big school football.
1. More competition from other entertainment avenues i.e. streaming, smart phones etc, etc.
2. Demographic decline in the state of Ohio. Particularly industrial Ohio and rural Ohio. Less people, smaller families, poorer state than it used to be, decline of large industrial communities like Warren and Canton which used to pack a big punch attendance wise. Overall decline in the product of big school football.
Stirred not Shaken
Well-known member
Don't mess with Texas, Tx. also has more than twice the number of people than Ohio. More people more demand.
As for Ohio $5 bucks for students and sr. citizens 10 bucks for everybody else. I am what I consider a "rabid" Marion Local fan rarely miss any games however for 15 bucks (assuming that is OHSAA's price) - 30 bucks for a couple do I really want to watch ML destroy some team 50 - 0 for 30 dollars, I am not sure most likely will be a game time decision.
If that 500 number is accurate then actually pretty good. The city of Canton or one half of the younger generation has pretty much lost interest in attending high school football games. The older fans from days gone by are either to old or have past away. The other one half of it consisting of past Lincoln and Lehman highschools fans would never support McKinley or are dead from old age. Canton has always been a divided city sports wise. I won't even get into why.
eastisbest
Well-known member
That's not a done deal. What I've never seen is advertising. Most rely on the local sportscast but those have been getting cut and cut.
Ticket pricing isn't about the money. It's about the impression it puts in the mind of a potential buying. They want to make entrance to the event to look like a great deal, reaping back on concessions. I feel that people will buy if it's their option.
I'd hold the line on ticket prices for a season. Invest in a little advertising to try and build a crowd out of neutral locals just looking for family entertainment. Get local business, large and small involved. See what happens. Time to turn these back into what they were, Ohio culture, Ohio pride.
Casualobserver
Member
I think HS Sports have declined to where the majority of spectators are family and friends of those playing. When that is the case, demand is inelastic and really they can charge what ever they want and parents will have to pay it. You have to focus on the product if you really want to move the numbers up. Better food/concessions; better competition at games; better announcers and facilities. No one wants to pay (Other than parents) to see Marion Local beat someone by 70. Not a good product to draw in folks. Some schools deliver a better product and see much more revenue from their program but most are in the family and friends category unfortunately. It is a hard cycle to break.
I grew up in TX and 10,000 or more was typical at friday night games. There just does not seem to be the level of support in Ohio for HS sports. If there is no demand, no one is going to spend the money to make a better product.
I grew up in TX and 10,000 or more was typical at friday night games. There just does not seem to be the level of support in Ohio for HS sports. If there is no demand, no one is going to spend the money to make a better product.
smurfyeah19
Well-known member
Someone did not pass Macroeconomics 101
Dayride
Well-known member
Spot on with your first sentence. I will also add that a lot of adults from probably the ages 0f 40-60 don't live in the area they grew up in and have no affiliation to the local district other than their kids attend or attended there. I would guess it is an even higher number in the D1 level with the suburban schools. Just think about all of the new D1 schools that have popped up in the Olentangy area not enough kids have graduated from those school to create a hardcore following.
I work with a guy that lives within walking distance to his local HS stadium. He went to all the games when his son played. Still has girls in the district playing JR high and HS sports, knows kids on the current roster, and has a sports pass. He has not been to a game since his son graduated two years ago. He has watched a cpl online, but none in person. He has already paid for his admission, but has other things he would rather do on a Friday than go watch a team he has no real attachment to. Guy played football in high school does not miss an OSU game so it is not like he hates the game.
The product does have some impact everyone loves a winner. I don't put too much into facilities or concessions it's high school most people know what they are getting when they go to a game.
RollingTrain
Well-known member
The amount of money I spend on tickets to HS/Jr High events for my family over the course of a year is insane. A playoff football game will cost me $75 to walk in the door.
Our league went to $8 across the board for all varsity/JV/Freshman events this year and no student or senior pricing. Jr High events are $5 for all. Our HS finally went to an all-event family pass, but even that was $500 and you still have to pay for away matches. Most of the teams in our league are 45 minutes to 1:15 away. It all adds up. I can see why people hesitate to go to events. The price of food has driven concessions up.
Our league went to $8 across the board for all varsity/JV/Freshman events this year and no student or senior pricing. Jr High events are $5 for all. Our HS finally went to an all-event family pass, but even that was $500 and you still have to pay for away matches. Most of the teams in our league are 45 minutes to 1:15 away. It all adds up. I can see why people hesitate to go to events. The price of food has driven concessions up.
Stirred not Shaken
Well-known member
I will go watch Marion Local win 50 - 0 if it is 10 dollars but at15 I don't know. Some posters and OHSAA think people have unlimited money they don't. I don't think it is a coincidence that crowd sizes began to shrink with tix. prices going up. Many of the casual fans went to the games because it was something to do on Friday night and socialize but if you have a family of 6 and going to a road game (buy tix. at gate) you are talking close to 50 dollars. I can take my wife to the nearby theatre for 6 dollars apiece buy a beer for 2 dollars for a total of 14 dollars and it is not raining or cold in the theatre. Price does matter I know it does for me and I think a lot of other people as well. The other event that hurt attendance was the stupid covid policy on how many people who could go to the games, I had season tix. for Marion Local bball could not get them in 2020 well I never did renew them and now I go to 5 or 6 home games a year apathy begets apathy and higher prices feed into that apathy.