Dynamic and variable ticket pricing strategies allow universities to alter ticket prices in an attempt to balance revenue generation between primary and secondary ticket markets. Dynamic ticket pricing sets prices based on an algorithm and fluctuating secondary market values, while variable ticket pricing predetermines prices for individual games based on factors like opponent and date. Some universities like Penn State have had success explaining variable pricing changes to fans, while others like Michigan faced backlash. Fresno State saw increased revenue from implementing dynamic pricing. Achieving the perfect balance requires maximizing primary market revenue while allowing enough secondary market activity to analyze pricing effectiveness, without angering fans.
This strategic communications plan recommends that the Saskatoon Farmers' Market target university students and young families, ages 18-40, with messages around health, social responsibility, and community. It suggests engaging these groups at the University of Saskatchewan campus, elementary schools, and through social media by promoting messages like "Healthy eating is healthy living" and "Local buying is local thriving." The plan outlines strategies for each target group, as well as measures of success, timeline, budget and conclusions.
How has disruptive technology changed the world? In the world of ticketing some companies like Stub Hub are shaking things up for big companies like Ticketmaster. Check out Andrew Langer's breakdown!
The document examines factors that may affect NFL season ticket prices from 2012-2014. Regression analysis found that average winning percentage, median household income, and whether a team is in the AFC or NFC significantly impact ticket prices, while number of conference championships and Super Bowl wins do not. Higher winning percentage, income, and being in the NFC correlate with increased prices. The model explains 65% of price variation.
A Front-Row Seat to Ticketmaster’s Use of MongoDBMongoDB
Ticketmaster is the world leader in selling tickets. After more than a decade of developing applications extensively on Oracle and MySQL, Ticketmaster made the move to MongoDB. The reasons for the move are generally in line with those of other companies – increased flexibility and performance, and decreased costs and time-to-market. In this session we’ll discuss how the conversion to MongoDB went at Ticketmaster and we’ll take a deeper dive into some of the successes and set-backs that we faced. We’ll give an overview of the MongoDB topology at Ticketmaster, discuss exactly what data we’re writing to MongoDB and comment on the MongoDB support model that we’re using. We’ll also touch on the transition from relational DBA to NoSQL DBA at Ticketmaster.
The document is a letter from a strategic consultant to the CEO of Ticketmaster recommending that Ticketmaster acquire Live Nation. The summary identifies that the consultant conducted an analysis of Ticketmaster, identified three strategic problems around expanding globally, simplifying its value chain, and developing defenses against competitors. The consultant recommends that acquiring Live Nation would help Ticketmaster address these problems by providing global expansion opportunities, simplifying the value chain by eliminating vendors, and gaining a shared fan base and sponsors to strengthen its competitive position.
I was the group leader in this project to analysis the Broadway industry, conduct primary & secondary research and provide recommendations for Broadway. The leave behind was submitted for a Marketing Research course.
This strategic communications plan recommends that the Saskatoon Farmers' Market target university students and young families, ages 18-40, with messages around health, social responsibility, and community. It suggests engaging these groups at the University of Saskatchewan campus, elementary schools, and through social media by promoting messages like "Healthy eating is healthy living" and "Local buying is local thriving." The plan outlines strategies for each target group, as well as measures of success, timeline, budget and conclusions.
How has disruptive technology changed the world? In the world of ticketing some companies like Stub Hub are shaking things up for big companies like Ticketmaster. Check out Andrew Langer's breakdown!
The document examines factors that may affect NFL season ticket prices from 2012-2014. Regression analysis found that average winning percentage, median household income, and whether a team is in the AFC or NFC significantly impact ticket prices, while number of conference championships and Super Bowl wins do not. Higher winning percentage, income, and being in the NFC correlate with increased prices. The model explains 65% of price variation.
A Front-Row Seat to Ticketmaster’s Use of MongoDBMongoDB
Ticketmaster is the world leader in selling tickets. After more than a decade of developing applications extensively on Oracle and MySQL, Ticketmaster made the move to MongoDB. The reasons for the move are generally in line with those of other companies – increased flexibility and performance, and decreased costs and time-to-market. In this session we’ll discuss how the conversion to MongoDB went at Ticketmaster and we’ll take a deeper dive into some of the successes and set-backs that we faced. We’ll give an overview of the MongoDB topology at Ticketmaster, discuss exactly what data we’re writing to MongoDB and comment on the MongoDB support model that we’re using. We’ll also touch on the transition from relational DBA to NoSQL DBA at Ticketmaster.
The document is a letter from a strategic consultant to the CEO of Ticketmaster recommending that Ticketmaster acquire Live Nation. The summary identifies that the consultant conducted an analysis of Ticketmaster, identified three strategic problems around expanding globally, simplifying its value chain, and developing defenses against competitors. The consultant recommends that acquiring Live Nation would help Ticketmaster address these problems by providing global expansion opportunities, simplifying the value chain by eliminating vendors, and gaining a shared fan base and sponsors to strengthen its competitive position.
I was the group leader in this project to analysis the Broadway industry, conduct primary & secondary research and provide recommendations for Broadway. The leave behind was submitted for a Marketing Research course.
The document discusses the financial state of major college football and men's basketball programs. It estimates that the average annual economic worth of a football player at the top 75 schools is $435,000, while the average worth of a men's basketball player is $591,000. This is much higher than the value of an average scholarship. The document proposes a model where the largest schools form a professional college sports league that directly pays players salaries from program revenues, similar to the NFL and NBA models.
CollegeWayGameDay is a proposed fan-based sports program featuring college students defending their teams. It would incorporate social media and broadcast on TV and online. Students from rival schools would debate games from their perspectives. The goals are to develop social media interactions between fans and have the program accessible online and on TV. The target audience is college students, sports fans, and family members. The Southeast and Atlantic Coast conferences would be test markets. The program aims to be profitable for advertisers, schools, networks, students, parents, and athletic boosters.
CollegeWayGameDay is a proposed fan-based sports program featuring college students defending their teams. It would incorporate social media and broadcast on TV and online. Students from rival schools would debate games from their perspectives. The goals are to develop social media interactions between fans and have the program accessible online and on TV. It would target college students, sports fans, and families. The Southeast and Atlantic Coast conferences would be test markets. The program aims to be profitable for advertisers, schools, networks, students, parents, and athletic boosters.
The document provides an overview of research conducted by the University of Colorado's athletic department to identify effective communication strategies and fan engagement initiatives to increase attendance. It conducted surveys and focus groups of CU students to understand which social media platforms and messaging resonate best. The research found that Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Snapchat were preferred communication channels for students. Creating a sense of community through a student ambassador program and student-led social media was recommended to better connect students with athletes and encourage attendance.
Weighing the Case for Paying College AthletesChaseCrean
This document discusses the debate around paying college athletes. It notes that college sports, especially football and men's basketball, generate billions in revenue each year, with most of that money going to coaches, universities, and the NCAA rather than the athletes. It introduces the economic concepts of monopsony labor markets and marginal revenue product to argue that the NCAA functions as a monopsony, suppressing wages for athletes below what a competitive market would pay based on their value. The document maintains paying athletes beyond their current scholarships warrants further discussion considering these economic factors and the NCAA's role as the sole regulator of college sports.
Bellingham United F.C. is proposing a new marketing plan to increase ticket sales and attendance. Their objectives are to raise average attendance by 30%, increase YouTube video views by 100%, and increase revenue. Their target segments are families with children and people aged 20-29. The plan includes promotions through email, social media, flyers on buses. It suggests dividing the stadium into family and non-family sections to appeal to both target segments. The budget for the first year of marketing is $6,000.
This document provides an executive summary of a capstone project analyzing the return on investment of playing club soccer in relation to receiving an athletic scholarship for college. It first explores the rising costs of attending college to show why athletic scholarships are pursued. It then reviews literature on the physical/time demands of student-athletes and the relationship between club and high school soccer. The analysis uses surveys of collegiate soccer players to determine if club soccer experience increases chances of receiving a scholarship over just playing high school soccer. The results found that while some receive scholarships, most benefits are the physical, mental and social rewards of playing youth soccer.
This document presents a public relations plan for Programming Board at Pitt-Johnstown. The plan aims to address issues with the organization's advertising and increase student attendance at events. The objectives are to gain 100 more Twitter followers, advertise events 3 weeks in advance, and offer incentives at events. Strategies include daily tweets, flyers around campus, and offering prizes to students who attend multiple events. A student talent show is used as an example event, with timelines for planning, promotion and evaluation through post-event surveys. The budget for the talent show is $200 for prizes and refreshments. The goal is to improve attendance by the end of the semester through implementing this PR plan.
This document discusses a study that aims to analyze how game experience factors like ticket price, concession quality, seat comfort, and parking quality affect middle-class sports fans' purchasing of professional sports tickets. It will survey fans in Tampa, Boston, and Pittsburgh regarding these factors for their local baseball, football, and hockey teams. The study is important because professional sports teams rely heavily on ticket sales for revenue and compete for fans' entertainment dollars against other sports and non-sports events. Providing a good overall game experience can help increase fan loyalty and ticket purchases.
This document provides marketing strategies for a new credit card called The Aggie Card launched by USU Credit Union. It analyzes five target markets: members of the True Blue Pledge student donor program, owners of Utah State license plates, season ticket holders, current USU students, and faculty. Specific strategies proposed include offering a $100 sign-up bonus for True Blue Pledge members, reserving front-row seats at a basketball game for Pledge members who attend a seminar, direct mail campaigns targeting license plate owners, and a "Movie in the Park" community event to promote the card. Additional benefits and costs associated with each strategy are discussed.
This marketing plan summary analyzes the Red Sox Student 9's program, which offers discounted tickets to students. It finds the program has struggled with low attendance despite its goals of engaging students and creating lifelong fans. Trend analyses identify declining youth interest in baseball and increasing reliance on technology among millennials as challenges. The plan recommends targeting international students, excluding high schoolers, partnering with universities, and introducing incentives to boost ticket sales and brand awareness through expanded digital and campus marketing.
Michigan state university athletic department final presentationKendall Kuhens
This document outlines marketing strategies for Michigan State University's athletic department. It recommends focusing marketing efforts on the revenue sports of football, basketball, and hockey, which generate over 90% of the department's income. New strategies include creating official accounts on Google+ and Flickr, promoting fan engagement through sharing stories and memories on the department's website, and leveraging digital signage and sponsor partnerships. Mobile initiatives like QR codes could help drive traffic to promotional content online. Overall, the goal is to increase revenue through improved ticket sales, broadcasting profits, fundraising, and sponsorships by better promoting MSU athletics.
This document discusses a project to analyze the effect of social media marketing on student attendance at Texas Tech men's basketball games. It provides background on the project goals and research question. A literature review covers previous research on social media's impact on attendance at other universities. It also reviews Texas Tech's current social media presence and engagement strategies. The target audience for promotional efforts is identified as undergraduate and graduate students at Texas Tech, totaling over 35,000. Previous research suggests social media, especially Snapchat, Instagram and Twitter, can effectively promote games and increase student attendance.
The summary analyzes the financial performance of the University of Oregon Athletic Department. It finds that while revenue is strong from increased NCAA/PAC 12 payments, ticket sales and donations from private donors (DAF gifts) are declining. Expenses are highest for men's sports and administration. Women's sports generate little revenue but expenses remain proportionate to revenue generated from men's sports. The department relies heavily on private donations to remain self-sufficient, but donations have been declining in recent years. Maintaining self-sufficiency could become challenging if this trend continues.
Ticket sales are a major source of revenue for sports organizations, generating $12 billion annually for U.S. sporting events. However, attendance declined in the early 2000s due to economic recession and increased competition from other entertainment. Sports organizations employ tactics like dynamic pricing, ticket packages, and web-based sales to improve ticket sales and revenues. Proper organization of ticket sales, accounting, and operations are crucial to maximize this important revenue stream.
Michigan State University's minor sports like tennis, volleyball, and field hockey have suffered from poor attendance for years despite on-field successes. To boost attendance, MSU will launch a digital strategy targeting students that offers incentives for attending minor sporting events in exchange for desirable services or tickets to major sports. The strategy will create a sense of urgency through promotions on social media. It aims to entice students to new events by offering added value and building new fan bases cost-effectively with a $20,000 budget. The benefits include increased student-athlete support, new student sections, and continued online conversation about sports.
Dynamic ticket pricing. Squeezing more juice from half time oranges Value Partners
A new perspective devoted to the benefits of the dynamic ticket pricing (DTP) in the sport industry. It is a pricing strategy according to which companies set flexible (dynamic) prices based on market demands.
The document provides details on an advertising campaign for the Oregon Track Club (OTC) to increase membership. It outlines the team developing the campaign, brand goals of growing membership by raising awareness of OTC's history and events. Research found parents interested but lacking information on events. The campaign proposes non-traditional ads like sidewalk tracks and school field days along with traditional ads like bus wraps and social media to engage families and remind them of OTC's community role.
The document discusses the financial state of major college football and men's basketball programs. It estimates that the average annual economic worth of a football player at the top 75 schools is $435,000, while the average worth of a men's basketball player is $591,000. This is much higher than the value of an average scholarship. The document proposes a model where the largest schools form a professional college sports league that directly pays players salaries from program revenues, similar to the NFL and NBA models.
CollegeWayGameDay is a proposed fan-based sports program featuring college students defending their teams. It would incorporate social media and broadcast on TV and online. Students from rival schools would debate games from their perspectives. The goals are to develop social media interactions between fans and have the program accessible online and on TV. The target audience is college students, sports fans, and family members. The Southeast and Atlantic Coast conferences would be test markets. The program aims to be profitable for advertisers, schools, networks, students, parents, and athletic boosters.
CollegeWayGameDay is a proposed fan-based sports program featuring college students defending their teams. It would incorporate social media and broadcast on TV and online. Students from rival schools would debate games from their perspectives. The goals are to develop social media interactions between fans and have the program accessible online and on TV. It would target college students, sports fans, and families. The Southeast and Atlantic Coast conferences would be test markets. The program aims to be profitable for advertisers, schools, networks, students, parents, and athletic boosters.
The document provides an overview of research conducted by the University of Colorado's athletic department to identify effective communication strategies and fan engagement initiatives to increase attendance. It conducted surveys and focus groups of CU students to understand which social media platforms and messaging resonate best. The research found that Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Snapchat were preferred communication channels for students. Creating a sense of community through a student ambassador program and student-led social media was recommended to better connect students with athletes and encourage attendance.
Weighing the Case for Paying College AthletesChaseCrean
This document discusses the debate around paying college athletes. It notes that college sports, especially football and men's basketball, generate billions in revenue each year, with most of that money going to coaches, universities, and the NCAA rather than the athletes. It introduces the economic concepts of monopsony labor markets and marginal revenue product to argue that the NCAA functions as a monopsony, suppressing wages for athletes below what a competitive market would pay based on their value. The document maintains paying athletes beyond their current scholarships warrants further discussion considering these economic factors and the NCAA's role as the sole regulator of college sports.
Bellingham United F.C. is proposing a new marketing plan to increase ticket sales and attendance. Their objectives are to raise average attendance by 30%, increase YouTube video views by 100%, and increase revenue. Their target segments are families with children and people aged 20-29. The plan includes promotions through email, social media, flyers on buses. It suggests dividing the stadium into family and non-family sections to appeal to both target segments. The budget for the first year of marketing is $6,000.
This document provides an executive summary of a capstone project analyzing the return on investment of playing club soccer in relation to receiving an athletic scholarship for college. It first explores the rising costs of attending college to show why athletic scholarships are pursued. It then reviews literature on the physical/time demands of student-athletes and the relationship between club and high school soccer. The analysis uses surveys of collegiate soccer players to determine if club soccer experience increases chances of receiving a scholarship over just playing high school soccer. The results found that while some receive scholarships, most benefits are the physical, mental and social rewards of playing youth soccer.
This document presents a public relations plan for Programming Board at Pitt-Johnstown. The plan aims to address issues with the organization's advertising and increase student attendance at events. The objectives are to gain 100 more Twitter followers, advertise events 3 weeks in advance, and offer incentives at events. Strategies include daily tweets, flyers around campus, and offering prizes to students who attend multiple events. A student talent show is used as an example event, with timelines for planning, promotion and evaluation through post-event surveys. The budget for the talent show is $200 for prizes and refreshments. The goal is to improve attendance by the end of the semester through implementing this PR plan.
This document discusses a study that aims to analyze how game experience factors like ticket price, concession quality, seat comfort, and parking quality affect middle-class sports fans' purchasing of professional sports tickets. It will survey fans in Tampa, Boston, and Pittsburgh regarding these factors for their local baseball, football, and hockey teams. The study is important because professional sports teams rely heavily on ticket sales for revenue and compete for fans' entertainment dollars against other sports and non-sports events. Providing a good overall game experience can help increase fan loyalty and ticket purchases.
This document provides marketing strategies for a new credit card called The Aggie Card launched by USU Credit Union. It analyzes five target markets: members of the True Blue Pledge student donor program, owners of Utah State license plates, season ticket holders, current USU students, and faculty. Specific strategies proposed include offering a $100 sign-up bonus for True Blue Pledge members, reserving front-row seats at a basketball game for Pledge members who attend a seminar, direct mail campaigns targeting license plate owners, and a "Movie in the Park" community event to promote the card. Additional benefits and costs associated with each strategy are discussed.
This marketing plan summary analyzes the Red Sox Student 9's program, which offers discounted tickets to students. It finds the program has struggled with low attendance despite its goals of engaging students and creating lifelong fans. Trend analyses identify declining youth interest in baseball and increasing reliance on technology among millennials as challenges. The plan recommends targeting international students, excluding high schoolers, partnering with universities, and introducing incentives to boost ticket sales and brand awareness through expanded digital and campus marketing.
Michigan state university athletic department final presentationKendall Kuhens
This document outlines marketing strategies for Michigan State University's athletic department. It recommends focusing marketing efforts on the revenue sports of football, basketball, and hockey, which generate over 90% of the department's income. New strategies include creating official accounts on Google+ and Flickr, promoting fan engagement through sharing stories and memories on the department's website, and leveraging digital signage and sponsor partnerships. Mobile initiatives like QR codes could help drive traffic to promotional content online. Overall, the goal is to increase revenue through improved ticket sales, broadcasting profits, fundraising, and sponsorships by better promoting MSU athletics.
This document discusses a project to analyze the effect of social media marketing on student attendance at Texas Tech men's basketball games. It provides background on the project goals and research question. A literature review covers previous research on social media's impact on attendance at other universities. It also reviews Texas Tech's current social media presence and engagement strategies. The target audience for promotional efforts is identified as undergraduate and graduate students at Texas Tech, totaling over 35,000. Previous research suggests social media, especially Snapchat, Instagram and Twitter, can effectively promote games and increase student attendance.
The summary analyzes the financial performance of the University of Oregon Athletic Department. It finds that while revenue is strong from increased NCAA/PAC 12 payments, ticket sales and donations from private donors (DAF gifts) are declining. Expenses are highest for men's sports and administration. Women's sports generate little revenue but expenses remain proportionate to revenue generated from men's sports. The department relies heavily on private donations to remain self-sufficient, but donations have been declining in recent years. Maintaining self-sufficiency could become challenging if this trend continues.
Ticket sales are a major source of revenue for sports organizations, generating $12 billion annually for U.S. sporting events. However, attendance declined in the early 2000s due to economic recession and increased competition from other entertainment. Sports organizations employ tactics like dynamic pricing, ticket packages, and web-based sales to improve ticket sales and revenues. Proper organization of ticket sales, accounting, and operations are crucial to maximize this important revenue stream.
Michigan State University's minor sports like tennis, volleyball, and field hockey have suffered from poor attendance for years despite on-field successes. To boost attendance, MSU will launch a digital strategy targeting students that offers incentives for attending minor sporting events in exchange for desirable services or tickets to major sports. The strategy will create a sense of urgency through promotions on social media. It aims to entice students to new events by offering added value and building new fan bases cost-effectively with a $20,000 budget. The benefits include increased student-athlete support, new student sections, and continued online conversation about sports.
Dynamic ticket pricing. Squeezing more juice from half time oranges Value Partners
A new perspective devoted to the benefits of the dynamic ticket pricing (DTP) in the sport industry. It is a pricing strategy according to which companies set flexible (dynamic) prices based on market demands.
The document provides details on an advertising campaign for the Oregon Track Club (OTC) to increase membership. It outlines the team developing the campaign, brand goals of growing membership by raising awareness of OTC's history and events. Research found parents interested but lacking information on events. The campaign proposes non-traditional ads like sidewalk tracks and school field days along with traditional ads like bus wraps and social media to engage families and remind them of OTC's community role.
1. Using Dynamic and Variable Ticket Pricing to Attain the Perfect Balance Between
The Primary and Secondary Markets
By, Rory O’Day
MCA 605
University of San Francisco
14th April 2015
2. O’Day 1
Dynamic Ticket Pricing (DTP) and Variable Ticket Pricing (VTP) are both
relatively new strategies that have been implemented by many organizations and
institutions in an attempt to increase revenue. These two strategies are similar in the fact
that they allow the respective university to alter their ticket prices for games; however, it
is how the ticket prices change is what differentiates the two. VTP allows the company to
set their prices for tickets in the Primary Market to a predetermined amount, usually
before the season begins. DTP is much more erratic and unpredictable, as the price of the
ticket is a result of the ever changing Secondary Market. The Secondary Market has been
generating a significant amount of revenue for years, and just recently organizations and
universities began to tap into that market. Through the successful implementation of DTP
and VTP universities and organizations have successfully entered the Secondary Market
with the goal of attaining the perfect relationship between the Secondary and Primary
Markets. However, increasing revenue is not the only reason for entering the Secondary
market; other benefits include, happier season ticket holders and the opportunity for
casual fans to obtain unique tickets. The San Francisco Giants were very successful in
their attempt to penetrate the Secondary Market, and are seen as pioneers. Many teams
and universities have followed in the Giants footsteps with similar strategies after seeing
their success. DTP and VTP have allowed the universities to increase their revenue and
are now becoming more popular with D1 schools in the United States, with various
members of both mid-major and Power 5 conferences utilizing them. A substantial
amount of universities have utilized DTP or VTP in recent years, in an attempt to keep
their fans and season ticket holders while also finding the perfect balance between the
Primary and Secondary Markets.
Many D1 schools in the United States utilize VTP in an attempt to predetermine
the perfect balance between ticket prices and the demand for that game. With the
application of VTP, institutions are altering their ticket prices for individual games based
on a variety of factors, including but not limited to: the time of year, the opponent and the
day of the week. Pennsylvania State University (PSU) have recently started using VTP,
and claim they are doing it for their fans. According to the PSU website, they
3. O’Day 2
implemented this because their fans asked for it and it was the PSU fans’ idea.1 This may
seem unusual, however PSU is attempting to receive a positive response to their
alteration of their ticket prices, and attempting to put a unique spin on it. The University
of Michigan (UM) implemented a DTP recently, and failed miserably. Even though the
two schools utilized different strategies, PSU have made it clear that their version of VTP
is not like that of UM to keep their season ticket holders and fans happy. A lot people
hate change, so keeping your fans and season ticket holders is essential. PSU states on
their website that they are not only not using the same pricing model as MU but, “Penn
State season ticket holders can post tickets from their package on our Ticket Exchange
for up to 15 times (15x) the face value.”2 Both of the aforementioned statements are
intended to keep their fans and season ticket holders happy. To be successful with
implementing a new ticketing system, ensuring that your fans are happy is vital.
DTP has become very popular in recent years for D1 schools because of the
success it has given a variety of teams and organizations; however it can be erratic and is
not always successful, as seem with UM. DTP helps determine the price of a ticket based
on an algorithm and the prices are constantly changing. For DTP to be successful, the
organization must be extremely flexible with what they are willing to sell each ticket for.
In recent years many D1 schools, both mid-major and Power 5 members have
implemented a form of DTP. One example is the Fresno State University (FSU) football
program, a member of the Mountain West Conference, who used a DTP in 2014.3 FSU
saw what other organizations were doing and decided to give DTP to generate more
revenue for their program. Paul Ladwig, Fresno State senior Associate Athletic Director
for External Relations, stated in 2014 that "The dynamic ticket pricing strategies
developed for the Nebraska game have worked perfectly” and “The monies generated
1 Pennsylvania State University, “Penn State Variable Pricing,”
http://www.gopsusports.com/tickets/m-footbl-tickets-variable-pricing-faq.html, accessed
April 2015.
2 Ibid.
3 John Solomon, “Dynamic Ticket Pricing Gains Traction in College Football,” CBS
Sports, October 1, 2014, http://www.cbssports.com/collegefootball/writer/jon-
solomon/24730405/dynamic-ticket-pricing-gains-traction-in-college-football,
accessed April 2015.
4. O’Day 3
from these tickets stay right here in the Fresno State Athletic department.”4 By tapping
into the Secondary market, FSU now keeps money generated from ticket sales in their
Athletic Department, which has given FSU the ability to increase their revenue. Next
year, FSU will be able to analyze the data from the Secondary Market to assess their
success in pricing their tickets, and maybe they will be able to get closer to the perfect
relationship between the two markets.
The perfect relationship between the Primary and Secondary Markets would
involve eliminating the consumer surplus as much as possible for resellers; yet still
provide the opportunity for resellers to be active on Secondary Markets for data purposes,
and also keeping season ticket holders and fans happy. Those three goals are difficult to
achieve simultaneously, as the less consumer surplus there is for resellers, the weaker the
Secondary Market will be. If the Secondary Market is too weak, there may not be enough
data to analyze. Having data to compare the Primary and Secondary Markets is essential
because it will allow an organization to understand how they did in pricing their tickets.
So to obtain the perfect relationship between the two markets, an organization will want
to sell their tickets at a similar price to their market value on the Secondary Market, but
not the exact same price, to allow for a Secondary Market to exist. If an organization can
sell their tickets at near the market price in the Primary Market, then that organization
will have almost maximized their revenue by minimizing the consumer surplus for
resellers. However, they will not want to fully eliminate the Secondary Market. The
Secondary Market provides a significant amount of important data for organizations,
because it shows them how effective they were at pricing their tickets and the
organization can use this information for the pricing of future events. Maximizing
revenue from the Primary Market, while also allowing the Secondary Market to exist to
analytical reasons to attain the perfect relationship between the two markets.
To be successful at implementing DTP and VTP, universities must try to find the
right balance between the Primary and Secondary Markets, while also keeping their fans
and season ticket holders happy. The closer a university comes to the perfect balance, the
4 John Solomon, “Dynamic Ticket Pricing Gains Traction in College Football,” CBS
Sports, October 1, 2014, http://www.cbssports.com/collegefootball/writer/jon-
solomon/24730405/dynamic-ticket-pricing-gains-traction-in-college-football, accessed
April 2015.
5. O’Day 4
better of they will be. DTP and VTP have their differences, but both require a lot of
attention and must be implemented correctly for a university to be successful. PSU and
FSU have both done a good job so far with their implementation, however, UM has
shown that it is no easy task. PSU has done a great job of keeping their fans happy while
FSU has generated more revenue. Each of the two schools have a part of the perfect
balance down, however, only time will tell if they can attain the perfect overall balance. It
is no secret that universities and companies are changing their these ticketing strategies to
increase their revenue, however, to succeed, the respective university must show their
fans and season ticket holders that they are benefitting from the change as well. If the
university can do this, and have their Primary Market prices near those of the Secondary
Market, then they will be as close to the perfect balance as possible and succeed with
their changes.