Zigabid – A Ticket Revolution

This year, face value on tickets ran between $800 and $1200. But most people weren’t fortunate enough to purchase tickets at face. On the secondary market, prices range from $2500 to $15,000 per ticket.  The highest actual sale on Zigabid was over $5000 a ticket.

With that being said, prices are unlikely to drop until the day before the game, when resellers often feel pressured to sell quickly. Last year, the price of the game jumped significantly higher on the day of the game.  The Super Bowl is the most unpredictable of markets.

Buy Super Bowl tickets at Zigabid!

Since the Janet Jackson wardrobe malfunction in 2004, the NFL has played it safe with its Super Bowl halftime performers in the last several year recruiting mostly older classic rock artists.  They started to loosen up at this year’s Super Bowl bringing on the Black Eyed Peas.  This year, rumor has it Madonna will be the halftime entertainment.  Once a controversial performer herself, maybe the NFL thinks age and wisdom will bring a less risqué performance out of the Material Girl (as oppose to choosing a more current and hipper artist like Lady Gaga).

Another question this brings to mind is if we’ll be seeing Madonna tour in 2012? In the last several years performers like The Rolling Stones, Bruce Springsteen, and Paul McCartney had announced tours after their Super Bowl halftime performances.  Rumors spread like crazy about a potential tour for The Who after their Super Bowl performance, but those plans fizzled out after the band felt they were “too old” to hand a lengthy touring schedule.

Madonna has proven time and time again that she still has what it takes and has the fan base to sell out arenas everywhere.  She could be coming back around again in the wake of a successful Super Bowl halftime performance.

Buy Madonna tickets at Zigabid

Where are prices going for the Super Bowl?

There are many options for buying Super Bowl tickets. From buying a tour package or a DIY package using Kayak.com and Stubhub. Neither option is best if you are looking to save money. With packages, you are paying for the convenience of not having to put together the whole trip yourself. The tickets in tour packages are priced at whatever they are going for on the secondary market when the teams playing are decided. For example, if tickets are going for $2,500 after the teams are announced, they are priced into the package at that price. If the price is $1,200 for the same seat a few days before the game, you are still locked in at a cost of $2,500, meaning you spent $2,600 too much. This is actually a good thing when the market goes up like it did at this year’s BCS Championship game. The second option should save you money on airfare and hotel but ties you in to one of the highest priced resellers of tickets.

There are 3 reasons the price of Super Bowl tickets are on the decline:

1. More and more tickets are showing up on the market and not many are being bought.
2. The capacity of Cowboys Stadium is over 90,000 people.
3. The Steelers have been to 3 of the last 6 Super Bowls.

The market for tickets is not moving. Every time one looks at the broker boards, there are an additional 20-30 tickets showing up. When supply goes up we all know the price goes down. This game is the exact opposite of the BCS game, where the price started low and then went up. RARELY do events start high and stay high or go higher.

Football games in smaller stadiums generally do well. All the recent championship games that have been held in stadiums in the 70,000 capacity range have managed to hold the initial price, while stadiums in the 80-90,000 range generally leave too many extra tickets on the market.

The more often a team is good, the less urgency there is among the faithful to spend thousands of dollars on a ticket and travel package.

Economist.com – Classic article that doesn’t really do any research on the business and basically regurgitates the talking points of AEG and Live Nation.

Forbes Business Blog – Super Bowl Ticket prices are really this high? Not really, they are just listed high. But what goes up must come down. Even with the Bears and Jets in the game, don’t expect the worst tickets to be over $1800-$2000 each.

CNN Blog – Is it really fair to count tickets sold for a viewing party as admittance to the game? Just so Jerry can have his precious attendance record?

CNBC – History of Super Bowl Face Value. Make sure to check out our video on How to Buy Super Bowl Tickets.

San Diego Reader – Developing story: Bill Silva no longer has non compete clause in San Diego. 10-15 years ago, Clear Channel bought out all the local promoters around the country and they all signed non compete agreements. Larry Magid has started a competition in Philly. Silva will be strong competition in Southern California.

Austin American Statesman – QCue, a technology company that helps teams price tickets, has signed another baseball deal. Is it fair for teams to charge some fans more or less than others directly on the primary market? How would you feel if the person next to you on the airplane bought their ticket after you did, but paid 15%-25% less?

LA Times – The first reactions to the Coachella lineup were mixed to say the best. Upon more reflection, the strength of the lineup is showing through top to bottom, even if the headliners are a little dissapointing.