The Rams are trying to sell fewer tickets this year. And the plan does not include simply showing highlights of the 2016 Rams.
According to Vincent Bonsignore of the Orange County Register, the Rams are trying to cap ticket sales in the 70,000 per game range, to alleviate crowding at concession stands and in parking lots.
The Rams sold more than 70,000 season tickets last year, and made 80,000 or more tickets available to games last year. That’s far from capacity at the Coliseum (93,607), but the Rams heard from their customers that the “fan experience” was compromised by the sheer amount of people.
“The environment in the building was spectacular,”Rams vice president of ticket sales Jake Bye said. “But what we learned was that the tradeoff at times came in ways that sometimes compromised the fan experience. The ability to purchase concessions in a quick orderly manner. Or the challenge of parking around the building, which was strained by putting that many people in the building.
“Now that we have a year’s worth of research in that building and seeing how NFL fans behave and when they arrive and what gates they are going through and what items they are buying at concessions stands, we can really take all that information and be so much smarter in how we approach the building and delivering the best experience in year two compared to year one.”
The Rams drew more than 80,000 for five games, and more than 90,000 for the opener. And they’re keeping the option to sell more tickets for certain opponents (i.e. the ones people want to see).
But trying to rein in the number of tickets available should help keep the supply and demand in control, and also give them a chance to head off talk that a potentially bad product simply isn’t going to bring fans in the gate, since it’s not new and shiny anymore.