The Detroit Lions are expected today to unveil a pricing plan for 2014 that will make them the first NFL team to implement variable ticket pricing for the regular season and that slashes the price of tickets for their preseason games by 70 percent, Daniel Kaplan reports in Sports Business Journal.
Kaplan writes:
The NBA, NHL and MLB all have teams that offer different prices for individual game tickets based on the perceived marketability of the opponent, but teams in those leagues have much more ticket inventory to sell each year than NFL clubs — NBA and NHL teams with 41 home dates each, and MLB clubs with 81 dates, compared with NFL teams having only eight regular-season games apiece.
The NFL, though, has struggled in recent years with providing value to fans for attending games compared with the at-home entertainment experience. The league has focused on offering amenities to fans, and it recently began discussions about implementing variable ticket pricing.
Detroit becomes the first team to act on those talks.
