SeatGeek closes hiring contest

by Russpd on October 13, 2011 with Comments Off

Last month we created Work At SeatGeek.com for Director of Communication applicants to showcase their writing and analytic skills. Their posts covered a wide range of topics; some folks analyzed the effect of performing on opening night while others correlated winning and ticket prices among NFL teams. I heartily thank all candidates who took the time to write. Your posts have opened our eyes to new ways we can analyze our unique ticketing data.

One post stood out above the rest. After interviewing the writer, we knew we had found our new Director of Communications and are excited for him to start in a few weeks. We are officially closing the application process and will no longer be reviewing applicants who post here.

Thanks again to all the applicants!

Top Dollar for Top Teams

by Laura M on October 7, 2011 with 17 Comments

To Watch the NFL’s Best, You Have to Be Willing to Spend Money

This Sunday, the Jets and the Patriots will play in the most expensive game of the NFL season. You could attribute the cost to the well-known New York v New England rivalries as well as the Pats-Jets “Spygate” drama. However, it is more likely that the team’s rankings, #2 and #5 respectively, are the reason for Sunday’s average ticket price of $559.

Using ESPN’s 2011 Power Rankings from Week 2 and SeatGeek ticketing data from September 15, 2011, we analyzed the relationship between the average ticket prices of the 2011 season home games and the rank of the respective NFL team. The results panned out to be exactly what we expected; the higher the ranking, the more expensive the tickets.

It should come to no surprise that the top five most expensive games of the season contain the top two ranked teams. The #2 ranked Patriots are playing in three of these games while the #1 ranked Packers are playing in two. The average cost of the top five games is a whopping $430.60 and it doesn’t stop there; the top 10 teams in the NFL have an average ticket price of $244.63 when they play at home. In contrast, the bottom 10 teams have a much cheaper average home ticket price of $133.97.

When you are a fan of a top ranked team, you get to experience more playoff runs but you also must endure higher home ticket prices. Since more fans want to see a superior team play there is much more demand for a limited number of tickets. In comparison, lower ranked teams experience less demand because fans are less likely to shell out big bucks to see a struggling team play.

However, before you start worrying about whether you’ll need to become a Cleveland Browns fan to save on your next ticket, you will want to check out SeatGeek.com. SeatGeek allows you to view all tickets from secondary brokers in one place, saving you time and money. With the help of the SeatGeek Deal Forecaster you will know whether you should buy now or wait based on the ticketing trends and data across the league.

To keep your sanity and stay a fan of your favorite team use SeatGeek to find the best prices in the secondhand ticket market.SeatGeek is a “ticket decision engine” that allows you to get the best ticket prices for live events. Check us out on Twitter and Facebook or drop us a line just to say Hi at hi@seatgeek.com.

Introducing the SeatGeek College Football Top 20

by ms2011 on October 6, 2011 with Comments Off

Big Red Fever: Ticket prices at Nebraska's Memorial Stadium rank #1 on our SeatGeek Top 20

Lacking a true playoff system and subject to the unpredictability of recruiting, NCAA violations and conference realignments, college football provokes endless debates among its fans over who is truly Number One.

But SeatGeek can offer a degree of collegiate pigskin clarity by at least one measure with some revealing statistics about who ranks number one at the ticket gate (which many athletic directors and university presidents might find more satisfying than their win-loss record, anyway). Based on our analysis of the top programs in the country, we’ve produced our own version of the Top 20 rankings, and suffice to say, there are some surprises. Our rankings are based on the top ticket prices for home games at each school.

At the top of our polls is Nebraska, which may be benefiting from a curiosity factor of sorts with a whole new slate of non-traditional opponents in its inaugural season in the Big Ten. The Cornhuskers, ranked 14th in the AP poll and coming off an inhospitable welcome to the their new conference by powerful Wisconsin (a 48-17 humbling in Madison, made even more satisfying for the Badgers thanks to the game’s median ticket price at Camp Randall Stadium of $433), still will rake in an average of $326.75 per game at Memorial Stadium in Lincoln. Administrators are smiling across the conference as Nebraska’s four conference road games will bring their hosts an average of $314.25 per game. In fact, the Big Ten, with its monster stadiums and fierce rivalries, have 7 of the SeatGeek Top 20 average home game ticket prices, despite the fact that 4 of those teams are not ranked nationally.

At #2 Note Dame, suffering through yet another disappointing year, shows that its faithful are, well, faithful – shelling out an average of $269.40 per home game despite a relatively weak home schedule of Air Force, Navy, BC and Maryland (but it does include a home match-up against perennial rival USC: median ticket price: $494). Other surprises in our Top 20 are Texas A&M at #4 (thanks to the highest priced regular season game on our books –the annual war with Texas: $504 a pop), Army at #9 (which is the home team in the traditional Army-Navy game: $319), and Minnesota with a 1-4 record, but ranking 15th on our list with a median home game ticket price of $170.80.

Top Single Games (median ticket price):
Texas @ Texas A&M   (November 24th)  $504
USC @ Notre Dame  (October 22nd)  $494
Texas/Oklahoma (October 8th) $460
LSU @ Alabama (November 5th) $445
Nebraska @ Wisconsin (October 1st) $443
Ohio State @ Nebraska (October 8th) $436
Alabama @ Auburn (November 26th) $410

Do We Pay More for Opening Night?

by dj on October 4, 2011 with 38 Comments

Do you mind going to concerts on Sunday nights?  Traditional touring artists provide opportunities for savings. As long as you have flexibility in your schedule, you can save up to 50% at SeatGeek for artists such as Deadmau5, Mac Miller, Vincente Fernandez, Foster the People and Janet Jackson.

Back in 2009, Sufjan Stevens toured and played only in tiny venues. He played two shows in Philadelphia and I snagged tickets, but I wasn’t stoked at all. The tickets were for the second night. As a huge fan of his effervescent lepidopterous banjo playing, I would’ve paid more to see him opening night. When it comes to buying concerts tickets, does the market also place a premium on opening night? Hopefully I’m not alone in my zeal for being first.

SeatGeek currently has 1,917 listings for concerts. There are thirty-two artists who perform more than one concert at the same venue*.
* Data as of September 15th, 2011, excluding classical, opera, variety show, and music festivals

There is no premium to opening night as prices are driven by the approach of the weekend. The weekend is prime-time for leisure activities such as attending concerts and Thursday and Friday tickets are more accessible than the Wednesday or Thursday night option. Weekend pricing would also explain the 18% drop in Saturday/Sunday ticket pairings.

However, of the forty-six pairs of concerts, there are six events that not only have at least a 20% premium for opening night, but also buck the weekend pricing trend.

Popularity alone cannot account for these prices. If it were based on ticket revenue, Taylor Swift would also be on this chart (much to Kanye’s chagrin). These six events are unique, limited engagements. The Watch the Throne tour features two Coachella alums sharing the stage. The Vegas acts include Rod Stewart’s first Vegas residency and Celine Dion’s (hopefully) last visit to The Colosseum. And to be first to see  Jason Mraz rock out acoustically with Toca Rivera is worth the extra cash.

Let us know who’s worth the extra cash @SeatGeek and follow us for breaking concert and sports event updates!

Totally Unreal Deals: NFL Bargains on SeatGeek You Can’t Afford to Miss

by MotherHucker on October 4, 2011 with 1 Comment

Good fortune: If football was a person, it would be your brooooo!
Bad fortune: If your bank account was a person, it would be one of those crazy bums hustling everyone at the train station – maybe even one that plays bad music

The solution for attending awesome games in person, while living on a shoestring budget? SeatGeek, and today we’re proud to present: Unreal Deals – Top 20 lists of upcoming event tickets – all available at a phenomenal bargain. We’re talking deals so insane it’s questionable if they’re real! Thankfully, for you and your wallet, they *are* real.

But how does this magic work?
Step 1) Find out which games are hot right now – meaning the lowest ticket prices, combined with the highest number of available tickets. Done. We’ve already taken care of this for you. Now all you have to do is pray that your team made the cut. Protip: Buccaneers, 49ers, Chiefs, and Falcons fans, it’s your lucky day!

Step 2) Let’s do this! Snag the deals that work for you- while they’re still hot! Time’s a tickin’ and you wouldn’t want to disappoint YOURSELF by not living up to eternal promises of being a {insert_sports_team_here} superfan, now would you?

Jacksonville Jaguars fan

Jacksonville Jaguars fans are people too (hey, somebody's gotta root for 'em!)

Week of October 3, 2011 Seat Geek Unreal Deals: NFL Edition
~deals so amazing they’re almost unreal~

Several median prices in $80s – substantially affordable as far as football’s concerned
Save at least ten bucks a pop with average NFL ticket prices (middle section)

Top 20, in order by date
Tampa Bay Buccaneers v. San Francisco 49ers 10/9/11

Oakland Raiders v. Houston Texans 10/9/11

St Louis Rams v. Dallas Cowboys 10/23/11

Cleveland Browns v. San Francisco 49ers 10/30/11

Jacksonville Jaguars v. Houston Texans 10/30/11

San Diego Chargers v. Kansas City Chiefs 10/31/11

Seattle Seahawks v. Dallas Cowboys 11/6/11

Cleveland Browns v. Houston Texans 11/6/11

San Francisco 49ers v. Washington Redskins 11/6/11

St Louis Rams v. Arizona Cardinals 11/6/11

Miami Dolphins v. Kansas City Chiefs 11/6/11

New York Giants v. San Francisco 49ers 11/13/11

Buffalo Bills v. Dallas Cowboys 11/13/11

Buffalo Bills v. Miami Dolphins 11/20/11

Arizona Cardinals v. San Francisco 49ers 11/20/11

Tennessee Titans v. Atlanta Falcons 11/20/11

Denver Broncos v. San Diego Chargers 11/27/11

Carolina Panthers v. Houston Texans 12/18/11

Seattle Seahawks v. Arizona Cardinals 1/1/12

Tennessee Titans v. Houston Texans 1/1/12

Unreal Deals are a part of SeatGeek’s ongoing commitment to satisfied customers. Feel free to tap into their power, as they probably beat having to hit the road or foot the bill for the winningest teams with inflated ticket prices.

flickr credit: spellgage

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The Man in the Rhinestone-studded, bubblegum chewing, gold toothed machine…

by Adam Lichtenstein on September 23, 2011 with 14 Comments

On the surface it appears that everything is business as usual. Enrique, & Jay Z are always a sure bet. While Celine Dion in Las Vegas cotinuing the twilight of her career is a shoe-in for tourists looking to lose money and remember how crappy the nineties were. And this is exactly how they want it. Yes them, The Man is glad that only a handful of artists dominate the airwaves.

 

The market has been cornered by institutions like Taylor Swift & The Throne Tour with over sixty percent of ticket counts exceeding 2000. Their not alone either; Katy Perry, & Jason Aldean aim to take the crown. None can match these elite swag sellers.

 

The rest of the business is about “Honkey Tonk” & “WOMP WOMP.” The country music scene is alive and kicking when it comes to putting out live shows with artists like Toby Keith & Lady Antebellum to carry the torch. In addition, indie-music festivals are becoming big business as well. These two are the ultimate juxtaposition except when it comes to concert sales. Large festivals like Bonarroo & Electric Daisy Festival are all over the country and tickets can cost in range of $500+ just to get inside. Hide your checkbooks college moms and dads…

 

Like it or not the cookie cutter image of what a music scene should be has become reality. I concede that music is always creative and there are other acts to see, but I start to wonder what is happening around me when people are disgusted that a band like Arcade Fire would steal a Best Album award from Katy Perry. Regardless of what I think the proof is in the profit and these juggernauts are going to continue the trend for the rest of this year.

MLB Playoffs Approach, and with Price Points Aplenty

by BCforSeatGeek on September 23, 2011 with 1 Comment

The baseball playoffs begin next weekend, and the slate of regular-season wrap-ups features nearly every playoff-bound squad battling within its own division – many against bitter rivals. So suit up and get that glove on, because there are top-quality teams to watch somewhere close (… save for that pesky Pacific Northwest: Seattle’s Mariners are in Texas.)

East Coast Bias means everything in the MLB atmosphere is about to be polluted with omnipresent positioning of Yankees-Red Sox, and that series – on the Yankees’ not-quite-as-hallowed, three-year-old home turf in the Bronx – is this weekend’s top ticket according to SeatGeek.com, with a median price of $185 for the three games.* A borough away, the Mets are settled in at Citi Field for a rare simultaneous home series, hosting the pitching-rich Phillies, who are running away with the best record in the bigs. Want to see NL Cy Young candidate Roy Halladay in his scheduled final appearance of the regular season? Throw down the $56 median for Sunday’s 1:10 p.m. start.
*All data as of September 15.

Fellow NL East denizen Atlanta holds a slim lead in the Wild Card race, and represents the best bargain of all: an astounding $27 median ticket for their home matchup with the Nationals. Their main competition, the Cardinals and Giants, will have you digging deeper: median ticket prices for Cardinals-Cubs and Giants-Diamondbacks will run you $59 each.

Over in the AL, the best value ($43 median) is in the Bay Area, where the Angels – chasing the Red Sox for the Wild Card – are hosting the Athletics. However, it won’t cost much more to see the Central or West Division leaders, whether you watch the Rangers in Arlington ($49) or the Tigers in Baltimore ($52).

MLB Playoff Push Price Points Graph

 

Dubstep: Giving you a Fair Shake

by RKNY on September 22, 2011 with Comments Off

Electronic music has been enjoying an ever increasing spiral of popularity for the last two decades. DJs are the new rock stars, with hordes of groupies donning DeadMau5 t-shirts, screaming “Chro-me-O” and contorting their spines to Skrillex. What hasn’t changed is the price of admission.

People like to talk about trends, making bold claims about what genre is the “new black”. But those of us who danced to Faithless in the 90s, can still enjoy a bass heavy show without being extorted. The price for electric floats around the $100 mark, regardless of the act’s notoriety. Meanwhile rock, hip-hop and pop stars demand triple that, with a huge price disparity between talent tiers.

It comes down to simple economics: technology has made becoming an electronic star more accessible, whilst high ticket prices for other genres has made attending those shows less accessible.

With a mounting presence on the commercial festival scene (Coachella and Lollapalooza to name a few) as well as their own mass gatherings like Ultrafest and Electric Daisy Carnival, you’d expect top electric artists to demand the same ticket price as rock and hip-hop trend setters. But it seems the DJs are all about the fans. Today, kids who aspire to be musical legends aren’t picking up guitars or taking vocal lessons; they’re plugging in their laptops and perfecting their dubstep “Wohm-Wohms”. As long as their heroes remain affordable, I don’t see the movement dying down.

The possibility of saturation exists, of course. Maybe electric music hasn’t reached its apex. Perhaps we have yet to see the DJ divas who will skyrocket ticket prices. If that day ever comes, SeatGeek’s looking glass will be the first to reveal it. But you have to wonder…what will follow? What comes next in the
Rock -> Hip Hop -> Electric popularity train?

As an ever growing crowd of euphoric, glow-stick wielding ninja dancers takes over the party scene, it makes you kind of excited for the next stage of evolution.

NHL Matchups October 2011: What’s Hot & What’s Not

by blh33 on September 22, 2011 with Comments Off

It seems like just yesterday that the Boston Bruins were hoisting the Stanley Cup, after battling the Vancouver Canucks in an epic seven-game series. Yet here we are, just two weeks away from the start of the 2011-2012 NHL season.

To get things started, let’s take a look at the data for the first month of the season. The graphs below show the 10 most and least demanded games during this time period, as determined by median ticket prices on the secondary market. Below each graph are some top-line takeaways.

  • The Penguins vs. Canucks tops the list of October’s most demanded games by median ticket price
  • Nine of the 10 matchups take place in Canada (Canadians and hockey…who knew?)
  • Four of the 10 matchups are home openers
  • The most demanded road team is the Pittsburgh Penguins—they are involved in three of the 10 matchups

 

  • Six of the 10 matchups take place in the state of Florida; three take place in Phoenix
  • The median high temperature for October in the host cities is 86 degrees (Source: Weather.com)
  • There’s a difference of $472 between the median ticket prices of the most and least demanded games in October

As of Sept. 15, the highest median list price for a NHL game during the 2011-2012 season was $1,251. That’s for the 2012 Winter Classic between the New York Rangers and the Philadelphia Flyers, taking place on Monday, Jan. 2 at Citizens Bank Park.  And for the diehard Philly fans out there with a high tolerance for cold weather, you can make it a memorable—albeit freezing—two days by going to see the Eagles take on the Redskins on Sunday, Jan. 1 at The Linc (median ticket price = $218).

Interested in going to one of these or any other NHL games this year? Check out SeatGeek’s NHL page to get the best deals.

(How to) Watch The Throne

by pumpeduptix on September 22, 2011 with 26 Comments

“Sounds so soulful, don’t you agree?”

You’ve listened to every song on Jay-Z and Kanye West’s Watch The Throne, memorized your favorite lines, and now, not content with only listening to the duo known as The Throne, you want to watch The Throne.  As expected, tickets for the highly anticipated Throne Tour have been selling swiftly, but not to worry, as Seatgeek has you covered with this quick guide to this hip-hop extravaganza.

The secondary ticket market offers an array of options for those looking to attend a show, and currently the most economical way to catch Big Pimpin’ is to head down to the Big Easy.  With a median ticket price of $140, the 12/3/11 performance at New Orleans Arena is presently the most inexpensive way to throw your diamonds up, followed closely by the 11/1/11 concert at Baltimore’s 1st Mariner Arena (median ticket price: $141), and the 10/29/11 show at Atlanta’s Philips Arena (median ticket price: $149).

Prices predictably spike as the tour closes in on the NY/NJ metro area, with median price points for the 11/5/11 and 11/6/11 performances at the Izod Center in East Rutherford, NJ approaching the $400 mark.  Hova’s hometown fans can at least take solace in the fact that they are not subject to the most expensive secondary ticket market options on the tour – that honor belongs solely to Toronto’s 11/24/11 show and its majestic median ticket price of $436.

In contrast to Toronto’s sky high secondary market, ‘Ye-Z supporters in the Vancouver area can lay claim to the most affordable tickets north of the border for the 12/18/11 show at Rogers Arena.  Back stateside, Floridian fans should expect to pay in the $250-300 range for the 11/14/11 and 11/15/11 dates, while Chicago area aficionados are currently able to scoop up tickets for Kanye’s 12/1/11 homecoming show for a median price of $216.

Full pricing information is available at Seatgeek - watch the prices to watch The Throne!

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