Kings to introduce variable ticket pricing

¹²³ · Sep 20, 2010

The Kings winning more games would certainly attract more fans to Arco Arena.

But six weeks before the regular season begins, the front office is already doing all it can to entice fans to buy tickets.

The Kings will announce today they will introduce variable pricing when individual game tickets go on sale Oct. 2.

That means ticket prices will be market-driven. So games likely to be in high demand – the Los Angeles Lakers and Miami Heat – will be priced higher than games not so high in demand – the Los Angeles Clippers or New Jersey Nets.

The Kings sought out consumers' opinions on how to bring them back to Arco, and variable pricing is the latest response to fans' concerns.

"We've talked to our season-ticket holders at length, both in person and through a lot of surveys, and the NBA," said Kings vice president of marketing and communications Mitch Germann. "A lot of NBA teams are going to do (variable pricing), too. I know in Major League Baseball some teams have been doing it for a while."

Prices could go up or down based on demand, so purchasing tickets early is still encouraged. But chances are a sub-.500 team on a weeknight won't cost as much as seeing the new-look Heat.

The variable pricing announcement comes after the Kings announced 500 season-ticket plans for $440 – the lowest season-ticket package the team has ever had. More than 400 had been sold as of Friday.

"We realize that all games are not created equal," said Kings president of business operations Matina Kolokotronis. "Similar to the successful model used by the hotel and airline industries, we are aligning our pricing to better match the demand set by the market."

When Kolokotronis took over for John Thomas in March, the Kings restructured the business side of team operations. Atop the priority list was coming up with creative marketing ideas to draw fans back to Arco.

Along with more affordable ticket packages, the Kings – like many other teams around the NBA – are also highlighting big-name opposition coming to Arco Arena in those packages.

The Kings are hoping an improved product and the chance to see some of the biggest stars in the NBA will result in more than the team's three sellouts in the 2009-10 season.

Now it appears the Kings are working with their fans to get them back to Arco. That, coupled with optimism about the season, has yielded increased interest from fans.

"The response has been real positive," Germann said. "I think they can tell we're trying to do different things to make the games accessible. The goal is to have a plan for every fan."
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