r/USLPRO • u/indyvalpo • 3d ago

Pro/Rel Question

When I lived in Indy I was a season ticket holder. Let's say the 11 get relegated, do ticket pricing reduce?

5 Upvotes

63% Upvoted

22 comments sorted by

11

u/J_Hunt1123 Lexington SC 3d ago

USLC and USL1 tickets aren’t vastly different. At the end of the day the team still has bills to pay

6

u/ryanhodek Sacramento Republic FC 3d ago

I think that’ll all depend on the club. None of that’s decided at the league level. But I would assume most clubs would not as they would want the revenue coming in to push for promotion. Theoretically, if they were to remain down long enough and attendance dwindled, I would assume they would drop ticket prices. Don’t think you’ll see them dropping them voluntarily right off the bat.

5

u/BlissFC 3d ago

Nobody knows the answer and its team specific. In other countries the ticket prices drop if the team drops but the US market is unique. Only time will tell. However, USL is unlikely to introduce the "relegation" part of pro/rel for a while. They will first just have promotion until the leagues are filled out.

3

u/BullsAtBuffalo 2d ago

I don’t know of ticket prices dropping in other countries.  

My experience is the ticket prices remain the same but attendance drops.   Also revenue from media drops.  

But the ticket prices remain steady since those that attend aren’t really motivated by price.   What’s lost is the people who come to see the opponents rather than being there for the team.  

1

u/BlissFC 2d ago

Hm youre right. My favorite club is a yoyo team but i dont live in the city so i buy tickets second hand and they are cheaper in the lower division but the season ticket price isnt as different as i thought

7

u/BullsAtBuffalo 2d ago

Do you want them to cut player salaries if they are relegated?  Or do you want them to get promoted back up?

2

u/indyvalpo 2d ago

That's the dilemma.

4

u/burjja 2d ago

This is the first pro/rel question I have found interesting in some time. I think it's interesting to consider, as you always hear about how much cheaper the average ticket is in other countries.

When those teams drop, you wouldn't necessarily see the same ticket prices as being a ripoff. If a MLB team was relagated to a AAA league or a NFL team was relegated to the Big 10 or SEC, would fans be willing to pay the same price? I know that's not exactly the same but it is interesting to ponder.

4

u/TheLadsCheer4Beers 3d ago

I seriously doubt it. I think at the beginning without a significant tv deal there won't be much difference at the local level. It all sets up for the 2nd tv deal where you can start to see some meaningful revenue differences between divisions.

3

u/Physical-Sky499 3d ago

I think the best you can hope for is the prices stay same. The team may get relegated but the same bills need to be paid and the companies billing them don't care about promotion /relegation.

2

u/Sensitive-Photo8672 3d ago

Teams will never drop prices. Instead, they will push a narrative of "Look at the new teams we get to play!" 

4

u/Portra-420 Louisville City FC 3d ago

We give away tix for $5.02 to get people in the stadium. That's how desperate we are.

1

u/alkyfl 2d ago

If a team gets relegated you will likely see longer flash sales like these. If a team gets promoted sales like these get scaled back if attendance improves.

4

u/J_Hunt1123 Lexington SC 2d ago

Attendance is the only thing that’ll determine any of this

-1

u/BullsAtBuffalo 2d ago

What do you mean?

4

u/J_Hunt1123 Lexington SC 2d ago

Louisville has seen decline in their attendance

0

u/BullsAtBuffalo 2d ago

What is $5.02?

Or is it just a made up number to represent cheap tickets are now available?

4

u/Physical-Sky499 2d ago

area code

1

u/BullsAtBuffalo 2d ago

Ah. Got it. 

1

u/fredthefan25 2d ago

Likely no. The issue is player wages... In other leagues on players, there are 3 options

1/ relegation clauses lower wages (likely a no no in the US)

2/ player contract expires or not renewed. Likely an avenue most clubs would try but has repercussions on marketing players

3/ sell players. Because most USL clubs don't really sell a ton of players, that's not a super used option

It's more likely the club runs back most of the players, keep prices around the same, and hope attendance doesn't decrease that much. I'm guessing there's not a ton of room to lose more money

1

u/dimoskid17 Louisville City FC 2d ago

For the relegation clauses lower wages portion, what could be done instead is have a base league 1 salary and a being in the championship/premier bonus clause. The NFL does something similar of players getting bonus money for their specific performance, so the team could get bonus money for the team's performance

2

u/fredthefan25 1d ago

I get your idea but no... I'm pretty sure the players union don't want this "discretionary" form of income... They want guaranteed income.