Cavs season ticket renewals

[Kingpin74]

Received my first email today regarding renewals. No mention of a price cut beyond the token savings if you renew early(which I think they used to talk about every year anyway). They want an initial deposit by March 25th but now offer the option to pay quarterly or by the month (thanks!). Are they freaking crazy? I've been an absolute diehard Cavs/NBA fan since I was 8 years old and lived through some putrid basketball. I spend a lot of my entertainment dollars on sports and wouldn't even CONSIDER renewing for less than 20% off the current New York Knicks-esque pricing. We were basically strongarmed into paying a big deposit, they reportedly didn't want to play ball and negotiate with anyone on deposits after LeBron left(i.e. not letting people go down to a half season and making them eat 2 grand if they wanted out), and it turned out to be a horrible product. Isn't the payroll going down by a decent amount next year anyway?

This doesn't seem like a way to restore some much needed goodwill with your main customers. Even if I still wanted to go to every game, I can get tickets for half of face value (or less) on Flashseats or from a scalper and at the very worst, pay single game face value for what will surely be a huge amount of available tickets. Why would anyone in their right mind pay big bucks for a full season? Are they really in this much denial on the state of the franchise or are they just resigned to taking a bath and making it up in a few years?

[papacass]

Personally, I don't care about price cuts or freezes anyway. Put a crappy product out there, you can come up with all the discounts and chotchkies you want. I'm not going to the games very often. It's not worth my time or money to watch a team that isn't entertaining, loses frequently, and causes me to leave the stadium/arena in a sulking mood.

I think that's how most people feel, and that's why Dan Gilbert is on the fast track to becoming Stepien 2.0, unless he figures some things out real quick.

[jb]

Is this a Carnac?

[jb]

So don't renew.

You can go to every game easily via Flash Seats for the indefinate future, almost certainly for a deep discount of face value. When they stop sucking, there will be plenty of seasons avaialable.

[GodHatesClevelandSport]

But then someone will call him a fair-weather fan and hurt his feelings.

[swerb]

So don't renew.

You can go to every game easily via Flash Seats for the indefinate future, almost certainly for a deep discount of face value. When they stop sucking, there will be plenty of seasons avaialable.

It's funny, Gilbert created Flash Seats (which he has sold to other teams, which are using it) ... but it's prolly hurting his pocketbook this year.

Even with the exorbitant Flash Seat fees (30%-ish to the buyers) ... you're right, you can get seats at far less than face from all the disgruntled season ticket holders that were forced to buy last Feb, and are trying to get any kind of ROI they can on that investment.

Don't know if there are stats on this, but if there were, the Cavs are going to possibly experience the single biggest year over year drop off of season ticket holders in NBA history, IMO. This year the Cavs have 16,000 season ticket holders. Third in the league, and an astronomical # for a market like this.

What is the # going to be next year?

Think I heard the Cavs are 30 mill under the cap this year. Funny no one busts Gilberts balls about that. But everyone kills the Dolans about it.

Much like Jacobs, Gilbert spent last year ... but pocketed insane amounts of profits as well. Easy to spend when you're making $ hand over fist. Very hard to do it in the wake of operating at a loss.

With the casino coming, the free advertising he was able to do for Flash Seats, Quicken, Fathead ... it's staggering to think about the financial hit Gilbert is going to take from "The Decision".

Enough to make a guy bust out Comic Sans.

[papacass]

And just like that, Gilbert will go from big-spending dream owner to sensible, controlled-spending owner that draws the ire of fans.

In every league but the NFL, the market dictates what you spend as an owner, unless you're Mark Cuban and worth gazillions.

Which goes back to my fairly unpopular theory that if George Steinbrenner had bought the Indians in the early '70s, he would have sold the team by 1980, and the Indians would have won the same jack squat they won anyway. No revenue streams, small market, and the Indians were under the thumb of Modell's horrid stadium lease deal with the city.

The Yankees and their cash made Steinbrenner the uncompromising owner he was, not the other way around. And guess what? The LBJ Cavs made Gilbert, not the other way around.

Gilbert now has to reinvent himself as a small-market owner. Thrifty, patient and sensible. Good luck with that.

[Orenthal]

George did bring Jerry Lucas too the Pipers...???

Buck up fellas. The world isn't ending yet.

[GodHatesClevelandSport]

I wonder how much Gilbert is even making off Flash Seats transfers. I've bought tix off there and people waived the fees. Do those people have to pay the fees, or are there no fees in those instances? I've seen plenty of ads where people say they will waive the fees.

I've also seen several tweets where people are basically begging for someone to give away tickets to. It took a lot less time for The Q to become a don't-go-to destination than it took Progressive Field.

[Kingpin74]

So don't renew.

You can go to every game easily via Flash Seats for the indefinate future, almost certainly for a deep discount of face value. When they stop sucking, there will be plenty of seasons avaialable.

Exactly my point, they're being morons from a business sense. They're not even attempting to make it worth someone's while to buy season tickets. As it is now, there's no freaking way I'd pay full price when I can probably pay a lot less on Flash Seats. But if they offered a 30% discount on the current prices (or maybe a 30% discount over the single game prices) out of the gate, that's a respectable effort on their part and I might consider it.

[jb]

TMLP would pay, but no one will play here.

[swerb]

I wonder how much Gilbert is even making off Flash Seats transfers. I've bought tix off there and people waived the fees. Do those people have to pay the fees, or are there no fees in those instances? I've seen plenty of ads where people say they will waive the fees.

They gotta pay the fees if they waive em.

[Rat_Tail]

Think I heard the Cavs are 30 mill under the cap this year. Funny no one busts Gilberts balls about that. But everyone kills the Dolans about it.

He didn't really have a choice. They're under the cap because LBJ left. Gotta wait and see what he does or doesn't do this offseason.

With the lockout looming it probably won't be much.