Golden Knights’ High Ticket Costs Mean Hockey Fans Face Hard Decisions

By ALAN SNEL
LVSportsBiz.com

 

Expensive hockey tickets sometimes have unexpected consequences.

 

The obvious result is that fans just don’t buy the tickets in the first place because the cost is beyond their budget.

 

Sometimes, fans do buy the tickets and cut back on other potential expenditures.

 

Consider the case of married couple/hockey fans Tyrel Mortensen and Laura Vlam from Salt Lake City. who circled today on the calendar to visit Las Vegas because the duo wanted to see the Vegas Golden Knights host the New Jersey Devils. Mortsensen, a programmer, is a Devils fan for 25 years and was wearing a red Devils jersey, while wife Vlam, a graphics designer, is a new hockey fan who adopted the Golden Knights as her hockey club.

 

Mortsensen bought a pair of $200 tickets off Flash Seats to sit four rows off the ice in one of the corners. On top of the $400 for the tickets, there was another $100 in fees and purchase charges, he noted. About $500, in all, he said.

 

Vlam, wearing a white Golden Knights jersey and just-purchased VGK scarf and socks, said the couple could have stayed another night in Las Vegas if the tickets weren’t so expensive. The couple stayed Saturday night at New York-New York hotel-casino and planned to take off after the VGK-Devils game to follow I-15 back to Salt Lake City instead of staying on the Strip another night Sunday. Listen to the LVSportsBiz.com interview with the couple.

 

The Salt lake City couple watched the Golden Knights hang on to defeat the New Jersey Devils, 3-2, after the New Jersey club grabbed a 2-0 lead in the first period. Attendance was 18,103, which was actually below the average of 18,284 after 20 home dates. The Golden Knights host the New York Rangers at 7 p.m. Tuesday and division rival San Jose Sharks at 7 p.m. Thursday.

 

Here’s Alex Tuch after the game.

And here’s Golden Knights forward Max Pacioretty postgame, too.

 

The Golden Knights’ average ticket costs have increased for season two and the 2018-19 ticket demand has put the Vegas franchise in the catbird’s seat to ask for premium ticket prices. Let’s take a look at how the Golden Knights’ prices rank in the NHL. Here’s the Vivid Seats chart on the average ticket costs and price change increases.

 

And Ticket Club ranked the Golden Knights at the top of best-selling NHL teams for 2018-19, according to its chart.

 

Golden Knights season ticket holders who had one-year deals in the inaugural season faced a five percent ticket cost increase plus a $3 per game ticket charge for arena improvements in 2018-19.

 

As we stated, the Golden Knights clearly have the leverage to ask for high ticket prices given that season tickets are sold out and there’s a healthy waiting list for season tickets.

 

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The ticket revenues are one reason why the Golden Knights are expected to do very well financially this season.  LVSportsBiz.com has reported during the past year about the Golden Knights’ strong ticket sales, corporate sponsorships  and merchandise sales. And Forbes recently confirmed the excellent revenues and operating income in a recent story: “The Knights took in $180 million in revenue in the past year—the tenth highest in hockey—and $53 million in operating income, the fifth highest among the league’s 31 teams. The Knights are now worth $575 million, 15% more than their expansion fee.”

 

Figure the Golden Knights draw 18,000 fans a game paying $150 per ticket and that’s $2.7 million per home game and multiply that by 41 home games and you’re talking $110.7 million in ticket revenues. Impressive.

 

With the Salt Lake City couple not staying overnight Sunday, it’s likely their room on the Strip was likely occupied by a visitor connected to the huge CES (Consumer Electronics Show) this week, the biggest industry trade show in Las Vegas annually. The trade show has sites across the Strip, from the Sands Expo and Las Vegas convention centers to events at Mandalay Bay and the Aria.

 

LVSportsBiz.com will be reporting sports angles from the CES show this week, so look for our coverage.

 

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