The San Gabriel Mountains overlooking the Granddaddy on the first day of the new year as I munch on a plate of gummy bears from the club seats has been my jam for the last 4 years. I didn’t mind when this past year they bumped my price from $800 to $1,000 a seat. It’s expensive but for a CFP playoff game in Pasadena after a nice morning at the Rose Parade seemed like something fun for my me, my wife, and daughter. Then they announced Hoosiers vs Alabama.
I know you thought I was hyped about Alabama, I was not. I hate being around the fanbase. I probably won’t even keep my fandom once my daughter chooses her college this year. My Dad is dead and I really loathe being down there. Back to the Rose Bowl though. Last year came a gully washer but the Hoosiers were everywhere. They were buying up every ticket and every square inch of Pasadena. It had been so long they were excited. So, they Rose Bowl execs hatched a plan. RAISE THE PRICES 75% next year.
$1,750 in 2027 for what I paid $800 in 2025? Just because the people of the corn had broken their drought. I will probably end up at the game in the lower bowl like I did before but it’s really weird in this economy to think IU making the bowl game is going to catch that phenomena again in 2027. I’m trying to think what fan base could make it that they will willing shell out $1,750 for these seats.
So I guess the Rose Bowl wants a war chest to sue fUCLA into keeping their lease?
Yeah, that amount (and increase) are simply ridiculous. Obviously they need revenue to maintain and upgrade the facilities, and that ain’t cheap. But the truth is the biggest cost is the dark days - those days when the facility is sitting idle; and if the bRuins leave, that number just got bigger. It’s too bad that bRuinfan doesn’t attend games.
Yeah, when the demand is high, supply low (only so many CFP games) and people willing to pay (esp. for a ‘once in a lifetime’ for their team), the original sellers (RB, Peach Bowl) are trying to get their cut instead of the secondary market getting it. Stupid economics happening for all entertainment - sports, concerts, etc. - and it forces out all the everyday fans for corporations or those willing/able to pay those type of prices.
I am a prime target to go watch World Cup in Atlanta. But, paying $3k for nosebleeds was too rich for me. I contemplated an earlier round when a decent ticket was around $850 but $850 for teams I wouldn’t normally drive down the block for was a ‘no-go.’ I make decent money. I am wondering how High a K is this K Shaped economy?
Right?! Getting (or now is) ridiculous. But somehow they still are selling out. I sometimes use a simple formula and feel justified paying about what I make (/2000 for an ‘hourly rate’) but now everything is a multiplier of that. e.g. let’s say $100k is someone’s salary, so $50/hr would mean paying $200 for a football game or $100 for a 2-hr concert would be 'affordable. But the cheap seats for these events are now 2x, 4x, 10x that … This ‘formula’ is now bad advice I guess. Life inflation.
