I was reading yesterday (on the great Biz of Baseball site) about variable pricing. Last year the Giants (who supposedly played in NYC at a place called “Polo Grounds” but I don’t believe it) experimented with demand-based pricing.
Here’s how it might work:
It’s a Saturday and the Wilpons wake up and see that it’s going to be 83 degrees, sunny, and Santana is pitching for the first place Mets. Prices go up on the fly. Like what airlines do on three day weekends.
Conversely (and hopefully) when half the team is injured and Pat Misch is starting on a 34 degree night against the Nationals (who by the way have some players now) the Mets would discount the half empty stadium.
The thought of variable pricing scares me and I worry that the discounting wouldn’t actually happen. I miss the days of one price for all games, but teams like the Cubs and Red Sox see what’s happening on Stubhub. I’m really not sure what is fair.
In theory a business should charge whatever they can get, but I’m sure I’d be the loudest complainer about Santana gouging and I hated what the Cubs did last week. I guess deep down I have bought into the great lie that baseball belongs to the fans and to the cities, and you’d think we would have all learned a lesson in 1957.
Why do you think about variable pricing?