By Alex Szczesny, Marketing Director

Season ticket holders are used to a few perks that most fans don’t get.  In addition to lower prices per game, teams usually give some sort of merchandise or exclusive memorabilia to their loyal customers as a “thank you” for spending their hard earned money.  Many factors however, have contributed to smaller season ticket bases on average for the four major sports leagues.

Rising season ticket prices, teamed with a struggling economy have most people watching their favorite teams from home rather than in the arenas nationwide.  Some people cannot justify spending thousands on a season ticket package along with their other expenses in today’s world.  The secondary ticket market is also a good alternative for people who don’t have the dollars to spend on a full schedule or people who have the time to attend every event.  Instead of signing up for an 82 game hockey and basketball season, people are picking out the few games they want to see and getting seats from the box office or ticket companies such as VIPSeats.com.

What can teams offer to bring people back?  How can an organization make it worthwhile for someone to spend that entertainment dollar on themselves instead of a big TV to watch every game from their living room? The obvious answer is of course, winning.  Winning cures all ills, so they say, but a championship team cannot be built at the snap of someone’s finger…

Two teams, Tampa Bay Lightning of the NHL, and the Detroit Pistons of the NBA, have resorted to cutting edge technology to lure people back as season ticket holders.  At the beginning of the 2011-12 season and coinciding with the release of their new jerseys, the Lightning included a microchip in the sleeve every new jersey they gave free to each season ticket holder.  This microchip provides the ticket holder with exclusive discounts at merchandise and concession stands.  The Detroit Pistons will incorporate the new technology into team track jackets for the upcoming 2012-13 season.

The initial response was overwhelmingly positive for the Bolts.  In addition to outfitting the most loyal fans with a new jersey (no small giveaway for sure), the fan could customize it with ANY name and number on the back, plus receive discounts all around Tampa Bay Times Forum.  The microchip idea, aided by Tampa’s success the previous season, doubled the season ticket base from nearly 5,000 to 11,000.  The Pistons potential growth in ticket numbers remains to be seen.  Also, the Bolts were one period away from the Stanley Cup Finals while the Pistons finished 10 games out of the playoffs.

If the Pistons success comes anywhere near that of the Lightning, perhaps more organizations will use this new technology to give season ticket holders an incentive to keep their business with the team.  Getting a large item like a jacket or even a jersey sure beats smaller, cheaper giveaways like a picture or bumper sticker.  Throw in the discounts and it’s becoming more attractive than ever to buy a season package.  It never hurts to try something new and these two teams could be pioneers in rewarding their loyal fans. 

By: Alexander Szczesny, Marketing Director

In today’s world, the secondary ticket market is widely accepted and has become commonplace for consumers looking for exclusive seats for sports, concerts, or theater events.  Of course, this was not always the case as when VIP Seats was formed.  Back in 1993, any resale of tickets was considered taboo and only associated with scalpers on the corner of a street. 

As times changed and the internet brought the global economy to new grounds, new marketplaces began to form that allowed the buying and selling of seats for any event imaginable.  At the forefront of all of this was the San Francisco Company, StubHub.  Stubhub is the largest ticket resale marketplace on the internet today. 

A few years ago, Major League Baseball teamed up with Stubhub to promote easy ticket resale for both buyers and sellers.  In addition to MLB, Stubhub has affiliations with other pro sports teams and venues such as the Buffalo Sabres and First Niagara Center.  On the surface, the MLB-Stubhub relationship should seem fine, but each organization in the league has different feelings about the secondary ticket market.  Some enjoy the ability to pack the house and sell more merchandise etc. while others have issues with unsold or undersold seats.

The unique facet of the ticket resale business is the ability to set the price of a seat based off the day of the week, quality of opponent, or even promotional giveaways.  At first, teams did not like all the money that was made over box office prices, essentially money left on the table and into the pockets of resellers and not the teams themselves.   Several teams in all major sports implemented some sort of variable pricing (different prices for different games/opponents) in order to increase profits. 

Teams now have a problem selling tickets for mid-week games, often against weak opponents because the secondary market can offer similar seats for a fraction of the price. “Sports teams or promoters can’t have their cake and eat it too!” says Nick Giammusso, president of VIP Seats.   “They cry foul (excuse the pun) when they lose revenue by underpricing their tickets and they sell in the secondary market for 5 times face price.” Giammusso adds, “On the flip side, they complain when they over price the early games and they’re losing revenue when the consumer has a better option to buy from the secondary market rather than the box office.”

Last minute buyers are often left with the decision of paying $45 from the box office or picking up the same thing online for $20. MLB Teams, such as the New York Yankees are trying to pressure Stubhub into a minimum seat price in order to assure a few more sales of tickets from the box office.

Numbers show season ticket sales up across the board as people often list extra games for sale online.  These teams do not argue about moving more season packages to ticket brokers or fans with an entrepreneurial edge. They will instead blame weak sales of single games on the secondary market, or roll out pricing structures that make it difficult for a family of 4 to enjoy a simple night out.  Giammusso has a simple message for teams at odds with the secondary market; “Be fair and let the market decide ticket prices on the secondary side of things. Any pricing restrictions usually hurt the average fan.”

By Alex Szczesny, Marketing Director

For a fan cheering an NFL team, a winning season may end up being a double edged sword.  On one hand, there is the excitement of a playoff push and the overall good feelings around town.  Remember though, sports, like any other company, are still a business, and with more demand for a product (tickets in this case), prices may increase.  It’s a common tale as prices rise as long as a team keeps winning, until they reach a breaking point: either the tickets don’t sell out because the cost is too high, or the team starts to lose and demand is diminished.  What changes can we expect with 2012 NFL Season Ticket prices?

According to Sports Business Journal, ten out of the 32 NFL teams will be increasing season ticket prices from last year.  Of course it should come as no surprise that seven of these teams sporting higher prices went to the playoffs a year ago.  Often times, the percent increase in cost isn’t too much to deter fans.  In the case of a few teams with higher prices like Detroit, Tennessee and Houston, their prices were already among the cheapest in the NFL.  For a team that went 10+ years without the post season, most fans won’t mind paying a few more pennies to finally see a winning product. Other teams to charge more in 2012 include Atlanta, Chicago, Denver, Green Bay, New England, Pittsburgh and Seattle.

On the flip side, a disappointing season may bring a decrease in ticket prices.  In order to bring fans back to the stadium and avoid a possible blackout (another topic for another time), certain organizations will drop costs to lure people back.  The NFL teams dropping season ticket prices for 2012 include Buffalo, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Jacksonville, Kansas City, Miami and Tampa Bay.  In certain cases, and off-season spending spree can make teams dropping season ticket prices and attractive buy!  The Buffalo Bills sealed the deal on more than 4,000 season ticket packages (between new customers and renewals) in the 72 hours after signing Defensive End Mario Williams.  Before a mid-season collapse, the Bills were among the hottest NFL teams.  Also, things didn’t go too well in Tampa Bay last year, but after bringing in Free Agents like Vincent Jackson, Amobi Okoye and Eric Wright, people are hopeful for a quick turnaround under a new coach.

 
Trends like this happen each and every off-season.  Season ticket prices move in cycles as clubs rack up the wins and suffer through the losses.  Keep in mind, exact prices aren’t readily available and everything mentioned in this article reflects season ticket prices and not single game prices at the box office.  We are just weeks away from the NFL draft. Each team believes it can be a contender, but will you be there to see it all LIVE?

By Alex Szczesny, Marketing Director

Many people are surprised to find out that in addition to buying premium event tickets, VIP Seats can also help you sell your extra seats and earn a little bit of cash! Listing your seats in a worldwide marketplace can be intimidating and we understand that you may have some questions.  Let us put our nearly 20 years of experience to work for you!!!

To get started, click “Sell Tickets” in the upper right hand corner of the page, or call one of our ticket specialists right away at 1-800-371-6323.  You will of course want to get the most back for your extra seats, but it’s sometimes tough to know what to list them for.  This is where the personal touch of VIP Seats comes in handy!  You can either do your homework on our very own site, or speak to us in person/over the phone and we’ll give you a rundown of the market and honest opinions about how to ensure a quick, easy sale.

When listing your seats with VIP Seats you get MAXIMUM EXPOSURE! Instead of fiddling with one or a few websites, VIP Seats cannot only manage your listing (in terms of pricing) but we use our resources to get you on nearly every Ticket Website or Exchange in the World! With tons of exposure and a great list price, we can usually come through for our clients in a timely manner.

A full list of specific questions can be found here, or to get started, call our offices or fill out our form online.  We are confident VIP Seats can take the stress out of selling your tickets and with our quick payments; you’ll want to use us again and again!

By Ethan Brooks
Taken from Ticket News Tues 3/27/12

Twitter is a growing news source for people who are on the go. Customizable, portable, and to the point, users can stay up-to-date by "following" their favorite friends, celebrities, and companies, whose updates — limited to 140 characters — are delivered directly to a user's phone. Keeping up with friends is important, but Twitter can be leveraged as a work-horse too. In this case, to make sure you never miss a concert again. Whether you are a long-time concert lover, or are just getting into the music scene, use these tips to make sure you don't miss out on your favorite bands coming to town.

With more than a hundred-million users it's difficult to decide whom to follow. Too few people, and you risk missing important information, too many, and you can't possibly see it all. The key lies in finding the fewest, most important accounts, and becoming a loyal reader.

Follow Your Favorite Venues

Start with the basics: your local venues. Forget the places you swore you'd never go to again, and anywhere you wouldn't drive to on a half-hour's notice. Worried about missing your favorite artist's performance that's happening in the next state over? We'll get to that later. For now, choose just a few accounts, so that you can hear who is coming to town, receive reminders of when tickets go on sale, and get notified of cancellations and/or date changes.

Follow Your Favorite Radio Stations

Follow the station, not the individual shows. Station accounts will announce opportunities across the board, tweeting ticket sales, contests, and events that all of their radio personalities are hosting. On the other hand, individual show accounts usually only focus on fan interaction, and will clutter your newsfeed with anecdotes about that day's segments.

Follow Your Favorite Bands

Don't follow every artist on your iPod, just the ones you'd drive 3+ hours to see. For these, you qualify as a die-hard fan, so you'll appreciate the bonus info, like back-stage pictures, stories from the road, and television appearance announcements. Of course, your favorite artists' feeds also keep you posted on new tour dates and locations, so you'll know just when to fuel up the fan-van.

While you're at it, follow us @VIPSeats as well!

By Alex Szczesny, Marketing Director

Part of what makes the NCAA Tournament so special is the fact that anything can happen.  Any plucky underdog has a chance to knock off a top seed and make waves across the sporting world.  This is something unique to college sports, more so, the NCAA Basketball Tournament.  Part of the mystique is lost in professional sports when one team of millionaires “upsets” another group of millionaires.  In the off season, pro athletes can jump ship to other teams and with little to no loyalty, as men become glorified mercenaries.

Last weekend was a perfect example of “March Madness” as millions of Americans tore up their brackets and ended up cursing names they’ve never even spoke a week before like “Lehigh” and “Norfolk State.”  Should we really be surprised that top teams went down? Each spring a few 3 or 4-seeds go down as the “bracket busters” like George Mason or VCU come from nowhere.  With advances in coaching and training, there aren’t many differences between and national powerhouse and a mid-major school.  In fact with plenty of chances to see top teams on television each week, the smaller schools have an edge on scouting their tournament opponents. 

As we approach another weekend of upsets, favorites, and buzzer-beaters take a moment to reflect on the tournament as a whole.  Isn’t this what makes sports great?  Doesn’t everyone love the Cinderella story?  Aren’t we usually cheering for David to beat Goliath?

For as much as we cheer for the little guy, the big guy always wins in the end.  Ohio and Cincinnati (to a lesser extent) make a great early story but in the end we are talking about a team like Kentucky or Ohio State.  Tournament aside, the passion and emotion of the players are what make NCAA sports great.  When watching this weekend, keep in mind most of these kids are playing for the love of the game and very few will move on to the pros.  It’s that passion at the end of the season that makes it all worthwhile for them. 

By Alex Szczesny, Marketing Director

When Terry Pegula took over the Buffalo Sabres last February, he made an immediate impact both on and off the ice.  Pegula spared no expensie on improving his team, their facilities and even his fans relationship with the club. 

Within weeks of the purchase, new Sabres President Ted Black announced the “Sabres Suggestion Box,” which was an online forum where fans were allowed to make suggestions on everything related to the Blue & Gold.  Fans shared their input on everything from game experience, arena improvements and even what food items they wanted to see at the concession stands.

As the Sabres climbed the standings, the good feelings in Western New York reached a peak with “Fan Appreciation Night” as the team celebrated by inviting every alumnus from the past 40 seasons to make an appearance.  Both Pegula and Black stressed that they wanted to involve alumni more with the fans in the future.  I was lucky enough to have such an experience last night. 

The Sabres have been reaching out to fans more with social media this season.  The Sabres run fan photo contests on Facebook and even accept song requests through Twitter.  Prior to the 3/12 contest vs Montreal, the Sabres offered fans the chance to meet former player and TSN analyst Brad May.  I sent a tweet and didn’t expect much in return.  Imagine my surprise when I received a message back informing me to meet by account services one hour before the game.

Meeting Brad May meant a lot to me personally as I was a fan of his growing up.  As a little kid, his “May Day” goal made huge a huge impression on me as much as his aggressive attitude and crazy fights.  My first year of hockey, I even chose #27 because of Brad May.  After being escorted through the bowels of First Niagara Center, a group of about 30 of us were corralled into an open area near the visitor’s locker room.  We saw up-and-coming defenseman PK Subban of Montreal warming up just  prior to May’s arrival.

I can’t say enough about Brad May’s interaction with the fans.  May accommodated everyone’s request for autographs and pictures while making small talk and hearing everyone’s stories.  You can just tell when people are being genuine and he could not have been happier to be there.  I relayed my story of picking #27 and how I tried kissing my stick for luck (as May did before his goal) to no avail.  Brad May laughed and told me that he signed my hat with #27 especially for me because of my story.  I got a picture with him and I thought that was the end of my VIP Sabres experience.

Anybody that knows me and my love of the Buffalo Sabres is aware that I believe Doug Allen is the best anthem singer in the league.  He has a great voice, gets through the anthems quick and I cannot get enough of “The Point” after he’s done.  I was in disbelief when before being led up the elevator back to the 100 level, who should walk in the side entrance but Mr. Doug Allen!  Beside myself with excitement, I was able to nab a picture and even an autograph qucikly.  Again, I can’t say enough about how nice Doug Allen was to everyone.  Here is a regular guy just doing his job, and he seemed taken aback that many people love him and what he does.

I want to thank the Sabres for going above and beyond with their fans and allowing people like myself the chance to meet someone they watched growing up.  I love the interaction from the organization and its players with their fan base this year.  It says a lot about how much this community embraces the team and how the team is going out of its way to embrace us back.  I attended my first Sabres game before I was even a year old and my whole life has been interwoven with Sabres hockey.  Now with most of my Sabres bucket list crossed off, the only things to do now are to throw a cap onto the ice for a hat trick, meet Terry Pegula and celebrate a Stanley Cup win!!!

by Nick Giammusso

Once upon a time in the mid 80's I helped run a ticket office inside the lobby of the old Buffalo Memorial Auditorium.  Pate Ticket Ageny took over empty space across the hall from the Buffalo Sabres.  The Buffalo Braves and Stallions once used the space as their box office back in the day.  I quickly realized why a box office was called a box office.  Our new digs offered cramped space with no windows to the outside world.  

In those early days, buying and selling tickets was primitive.  There were no computers that kept track of inventory.  Tickets were all pre-printed from a local printer, organized in racks, and when sold, the seats were pulled and filled one by one.

Our ticket office ran as efficiently as it could without the use of today's technology of course.   The business model back then was sell the tickets and ship them out the door.  We were not able to provide great customer service like we can today.  God forbid a client walked up to the window with tickets they couldn't use.

John Mayer will be strutting his stuff on stage at Shea's Theater in Buffalo, NY on Saturday, April 21st, 2012.  Tickets go on sale Friday, March 2nd at 10AM.

We are excited to announce the first dates of the 2012 Spring Tour.  All tickets for most shows will go on sale this Friday, March 2nd and Saturday, March 3rd. In order to accommodate as many concertgoers as possible and provide an equal opportunity for purchasing tickets, there will be no pre-sale ticketing period. Please find details on this and other new ticketing policies below or at johnmayer.com.

Kacey Musgraves will support all shows unless otherwise noted.  Ticket onsale times and more information for each show are posted on the John Mayer tour page.

Important

Many of the venues on the tour will utilize Paperless Ticketing for all seats.  Instead of receiving tickets before the event, the credit card used to make the purchase will serve as your ticket.  Paperless tickets can be bought and sold via Ticketmaster TicketExchange (resale prices for tickets can be no more than 20% above face value).  It is very important to review all of the policies of Paperless Ticketing before completing your purchase- details and helpful FAQ can be found here.

VIP Seats Restrictive Ticketing Comments

VIP Seats is against the use of Restricted Tickets!  Ticketing giant TicketMaster, Paciolan and Vertix use Paperless Ticketing to control the lucrative secondary market.  TicketMaster has been known for outrageous service charges, convenience fees and shipping charges and now they want to restrict where you can buy and resell your tickets.  For more information you can visit www.fanfreedom.org/about. 

Doubt us?  Just google "Ticketmaster lawsuits".  There appears to be a conflict of interest when a company operates in both the primary and secondary markets and furthers claims about the negative implications on Ticketmaster's monoloply on ordinary consumers. See this story in Rolling Stone Magazine regarding Ticketmaster's alleged deceptive practices.

by Nick Giammusso

From day one, Sabres owner Terry Pegula proclaimed: "From this day forward, the Buffalo Sabres reason for existence is to win a Stanley Cup!".  Expectations too high?  There are many who believe that the Sabres woes this season are a direct result from that bold statement.  There are some that believe that those words have added extra pressure on everyone in the organization from the top down.  So the Sabres find themselves again scratching and clawing their way towards the 8th and final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference this season.  There are 20 games left on the schedule and the Sabres find themselves six points out.  Do they have a chance?

Sabres fans have voiced their displeasure blaming everyone from Terry Pegula, to GM Regier, to head coach Lindy Ruff and just about every player that has laced them up for the blue n' gold this season.  I'm surprised that I haven't heard the naysayers cry out to trade Sabretooth for a bag of pucks!

As they say, Rome wasn't built in one day!  

Terry Pegula never said that the Sabres would win THIS YEAR or next year for that matter.  He just said the Sabres will win a Stanley Cup!  Any successful business owner or athlete will tell you that success almost never happens overnight.  What Terry Pegula set out to do with his now infamous "From this day forward..." speech was to set the goal while simutaneously raising the bar across the entire Sabres organization.  You see, successful people think big and set direction!  All the trials and tribulations along the way are mere obstacles to the ultimate goal they know deep down in their gut is attainable.  

Fans are still buying Buffalo Sabres tickets, TV ratings are through the roof, merchandise sales are at a franchise all-time high and 15,000 people downloaded the Sabres App the very first day it was released (better than any other team in the NHL)!  How many people downloaded the Stanley Cup champion Boston Bruins App on its' first day of availability?  Less than 5,000!

So it infuriates me to to hear the naysayers who want to fire Lindy Ruff or Darcy Regier when the going gets tough.  What does Terry Pegula do to silence his critics?  Nothing!  He has decided to stay the course.  I would bet that even if the Sabres fail to qualify for the Playoffs this season that there will not be a change at GM or behind the bench.  I was fortunate to learn at an early age that people are not always going to like you.  In fact, they'll do anything to criticize you and yet offer no real solutions.  Who would you rather have behind the Sabres bench if not Lindy Ruff?  In my opinion, Terry Pegula is showing his loyalty and belief in his Head Coach.  As an example, the NY Giants won Super Bowl XLVI and a few weeks before Giants fans were crying out for Head Coach Tom Coughlin's head!  Sound familiar?  

So, will the Sabres make the playoffs?  It's possible.  What I can guarantee is that Terry Pegula and his Buffalo Sabres will win the Stanley Cup!  It all starts with a goal.