Season Tickets Half-Price for 2010-11 Season

Jaxbeast · Post #1 » by **Jaxbeast** » Fri Feb 26, 2010 12:55 am

So I noticed that Kahn said season ickets for next year would be half-price(by the way in the current Bil Simmons column he gave him credit for doing this).

My main question is, how much are season tickets currently, and how much would they be with the discount. I'm in no condition right now to buy season tickets, but I was curious anyways. I'd hope to get some once I graduate from college and gather up enough money

Wolves Rube · Post #2 » by **Wolves Rube** » Fri Feb 26, 2010 3:06 pm

The seats I currently have were discounted for the '09-'10 season at about $900. For '10-'11 the tickets will be about $650. These seats are in the corner opposite the opponents bench and just about center of the lower level. (I've enjoyed these seats) Not every section is discounted by 50%, that would be the average of the discounts for all sections.

Regardless of the W-L record, I've enjoyed good basket ball for all but two or three games. The Wolves have been competitive for the majority of the games. I would have liked to see more wins, but didn't expect much from the team, so I wasn't disappointed.

PeeDee · Post #3 » by **PeeDee** » Fri Feb 26, 2010 3:15 pm

I just bought some on the lip of the upper bowl located on center court for $430 ($10 a game). Great seats, stupid cheap price.

post0115 · Post #4 » by **post0115** » Fri Feb 26, 2010 7:29 pm

When can you purchase? I just looked online and they said that they weren't available yet. Are they waiting for season ticket renewals right now?

PeeDee · Post #5 » by **PeeDee** » Fri Feb 26, 2010 7:54 pm

I think they're just doing renewals right now. General public season tix go on sale March 1st I think.

horaceworthy · Post #6 » by **horaceworthy** » Fri Feb 26, 2010 8:07 pm

PeeDee wrote:I just bought some on the lip of the upper bowl located on center court for $430 ($10 a game). Great seats, stupid cheap price.

My family had those seats for a couple years during the Steph/KG days, they're awesome. I liked them better than most of the lower level seats I've sat in. Can't believe they're that cheap.

Timberpups · Post #7 » by **Timberpups** » Mon Mar 1, 2010 7:05 pm

Just bought my season tickets today.

Halfway up the lower level in the corner. I've sat there before and they are pretty good seats.

10 monthly payments of $65. Well worth it...

I'm thinking of blogging next season of all things basketball and non-basketball related of being a season ticket holder and my experiences at the games. If so I'll provide the link for my in-arena insights for those of you that can't make the games.

Foye · Post #8 » by **Foye** » Mon Mar 1, 2010 7:22 pm

I think they shouldn't sell their tickets so low early on. That's a stupid move to make.

Nobody knows which direction the team goes this summer and if we're suddenly really competitive (or land Wall) they gave away the tickets for way less than they are worth. Just my opinion.

horaceworthy · Post #9 » by **horaceworthy** » Mon Mar 1, 2010 8:05 pm

They've been failing to sell tickets for more than they were worth for years, prices needed to come down in order to get people in the building. If they didn't do this, they'd be in danger of losing more season ticketholders than they already have.

shrink · Post #10 » by **shrink** » Mon Mar 1, 2010 8:26 pm

I heard on the radio that the Timberwolves are selling $10/game, lower level season tickets, trying to pack a "Rube" section for next season.

john2jer · Post #11 » by **john2jer** » Mon Mar 1, 2010 9:28 pm

The Wolves could somehow land LeBron and D-Wade this summer and still not pack the Target Center right away. They don't make any money with empty seats. It's better to give away free tickets than to have empty seats. Free tickets still buy concessions, which is where they really make their money on a cost to profit ratio. Think of movie theatres, you know why they charge a bazillion bucks for a bucket of popcorn? Because they don't make squat on the actual movie ticket.

Only thing the Wolves care about is packing that arena. More fans in the building, the more concessions/souveneirs they sell. Also, more fans in the building, the louder it becomes, thus hopefully a selling point for free agents, plus loud crowds would hopefully inspire the team to play better.

What it tells me is Glen Taylor is willing to potentially (most likely) take another loss in the pocket book to make Wolves basketball exciting again. Part of the reason the Wild are exciting to go to is that the games are always sold out, it's normally tough to get tickets. So it's a big deal if you actually get to go to a Wild game. Plus, even in seasons that they haven't been a play-off team, the arena is still rocking, thus improving the experience for the fan. That's what Kahn wants, and clearly Taylor supports this.

Milwaukee has been doing something pretty cool the last year or so. In order to improve the fan experience, and raise the volume in the arena, they've been pointing out fans that are exceptionally loud, and really get into the game. Andrew Bogut has either purchased them season tickets, or at least funded a portion of it to get all those fans in the same section to create kind of a rugby/soccer fan type experience. People just going crazy, loud, and off the wall chants like you'd see in those less-refined sports. It's all about the fan experience, which would hopefully bleed over into pumping up the players. Of course the word "bleed" makes it all ironical when thinking of rugby/soccer fans who will knife you for wearing the wrong color shirt and sitting by them. Them folks be crazy.

I'm strongly considering getting the $10 tickets with a buddy. Only problem is coaching basketball means I'm not always available, but if we got two tickets, he could take his wife on games I can't go, or I could round up some street skank to go with me on days he can't go.

PeeDee · Post #12 » by **PeeDee** » Mon Mar 1, 2010 9:34 pm

Do it!!! Let's pack that piece up next season!

funkatron101 · Post #13 » by **funkatron101** » Mon Mar 1, 2010 10:03 pm

PeeDee wrote:I just bought some on the lip of the upper bowl located on center court for $430 ($10 a game). Great seats, stupid cheap price.

If you go to every game I'll buy you a Klondike bar!

Jaxbeast · Post #14 » by **Jaxbeast** » Tue Mar 2, 2010 12:52 am

funkatron101 wrote:
PeeDee wrote:I just bought some on the lip of the upper bowl located on center court for $430 ($10 a game). Great seats, stupid cheap price.

If you go to every game I'll buy you a Klondike bar!

Surprisingly, they have a promotion that challenges a row of fans during the game, to turn their backs to the court and stair at the back wall until the end of the quarter. If everyone does it, they all get Klondike bars. With how the season has been going, they should give them the bars if they stay to watch the whole game.

shrink · Post #15 » by **shrink** » Tue Mar 2, 2010 3:21 am

A.K. Agikamik wrote:March deal is hard to pass up. $10 a game ($430) gets you Row Q lower level behind basket. $15 ($645) gets you Row E, first row over tunnel. Split this with a Rube and you are paying about the same as League Pass to sit LL for half the games.

dunkonu21 · Post #16 » by **dunkonu21** » Tue Mar 2, 2010 4:03 am

I got an email from Wolveswire:

Hi Matthew,

As it stands now, our win/loss record is 14-47. Here's where we start talking about our Long Term Plan, right?

Except, no. It isn't. This is where we talk about right now.

It's clear that it's not enough to rebuild our team; we need to rebuild our fan base. We need big crowds to win but we can't expect big crowds until we start winning. It's the proverbial chicken-and-egg. Believe it or not, we actually lead the NBA in attendance growth this season, but it's not enough fans to suit us or our plans. So to get you on board right now we're launching the most aggressive fan development program in our history: During the month of March we're cutting season ticket prices for next year up to 50%. Thousands of seats in the lower level will be half price.

We'll do whatever it takes to build a championship-caliber team, and we'll do whatever it takes to make sure you're along for the ride.

Because we are making progress. We're seeing growth in young players such as Kevin Love and Jonny Flynn, both of whom were selected to play in the Rookie/Sophomore game at All-Star Weekend this year. We see validation by Al Jefferson's and Kevin Love's selection to Team USA a few weeks back. We also continue to make decisions that improve our team over the long haul -- from the upcoming draft, where we may have up to three first-round picks, to clearing cap space so that we have maximum flexibility in this year's free agency market, to building a coaching staff that has collected 15 championship rings.

The bandwagon has put on its left blinker and is leaving the curb. This is our way of demonstrating how much we want you on it.

Post #17 » by **Klomp** » Mon Mar 15, 2010 8:00 am

From the Desk of Sid the Kid Hartman:

However, the fans are also reacting with purchases: Timberwolves President Chris Wright reports the franchise has sold 625 new season tickets since the Wolves announced the new policy. In fact, in the first two weeks of the new deal, the Wolves have sold more new lower-level tickets than all last year. There is also is a $10 lower-level ticket. The half-price deal is only for this month.

shrink · Post #18 » by **shrink** » Mon Mar 15, 2010 3:13 pm

I always roll my eyes when I see that line "leading the league in attendance growth."

First, some arenas are sold out, so they have no room to grow.

Second, the Wolves were 27th in the NBA in attendance last year - lots of empty seats they could fill.

Third, the wolves were selling tickets for a fraction of the cost to put butts in the seats.

Finally, MIN's average home attendance has grown from 14,505 to 14,791 .. up 1.97%. I don't believe it anyway .. Kings have a higher increase (though they are still losing money by being only 29th in attendance -- worse than even MIN)

http://espn.go.com/nba/attendance

shrink · Post #19 » by **shrink** » Mon Mar 15, 2010 3:22 pm

I'm not sure I mentioned it here, but I was reading Bill Simmons book (blasphemy?) and he made an interesting point that may apply to us.

His dad was a working class guy, who struggled to afford season tickets for himself and his son. However, when the Celtics bottomed out, they promoted his tickets to lower level. The next year, the Celtics added a player named Larry Bird, and the Simmons' were already locked into their great seats to watch him for years.

It strikes me how its possible that the Wolves could be in a similar situation. Right now, we're awful, and fans have a chance to get good seats cheap for a bad team. However, if they happen to become a good team, those seats could become very valuable. Basketball, like few sports, has the chance to turn around quickly, if a team gets a superstar. I'm not a ticketholder and rarely go to games, but after reading Simmon's story, I have considered buying a pair of tickets simply because they could become valuable.

funkatron101 · Post #20 » by **funkatron101** » Mon Mar 15, 2010 5:38 pm

Jaxbeast wrote:
funkatron101 wrote:
PeeDee wrote:I just bought some on the lip of the upper bowl located on center court for $430 ($10 a game). Great seats, stupid cheap price.

If you go to every game I'll buy you a Klondike bar!

Surprisingly, they have a promotion that challenges a row of fans during the game, to turn their backs to the court and stair at the back wall until the end of the quarter. If everyone does it, they all get Klondike bars. With how the season has been going, they should give them the bars if they stay to watch the whole game.

Lol, Hence why I put that. (Pee Dee and I are season ticket holders)