At a time when the NFL is trying to entice people to choose to attend games in person, the application of an $80,000 PSL to 1,000 seats in the 49ers forthcoming stadium hasn’t deterred folks from signing up.
According to Scott Ostler of the San Francisco Chronicle, the 1,000 tickets costing $375 per game and 80 large for the lifetime of the stadium are nearly sold out.
Not everyone is reacting well to the new prices. 66-year-old Henry Gross has season tickets on the 50-yard line at Candlestick Monster Park (or whatever they call the place) at $129 per game. To keep the seats, he’ll have to pay $350 per ticket, plus a one-time PSL of $30,000 for each seat.
“The sentimental side of me says, yes, absolutely, even if I had to mortgage my entire estate,” Gross told Ostler. “But the realistic side of me says, why would I do that? So I can tell someone I’m now 65 years as a season-ticket holder? I love and cherish that, but nobody in my family, and none of my friends, think it’s a good investment. Not even the ones that I take to games.
“I took [the 49ers’ proposal] to two people I’m close to, guys who are much wealthier than I am. They had been season-ticket holders in the past. I asked each, independently, would they like the rights? Is it a good deal? Both of them told me it’s horrible.”
Even if Gross thinks it’s a “horrible” deal, the 49ers are banking on enough people with enough money choosing to give enough of that money to the 49ers in order to generate enough of the money necessary to pay for the new stadium.
It’s part of the complex balance between public and private contributions to a new stadium. If the public wants to minimize the contribution, the moral obligation to include large numbers of tickets the public readily can afford is reduced, if such obligation even exists. Either way, the stadium has to be paid for.
Then there’s the reality of economics. Supply. Demand. If people will pay the money, then the price is right. If they won’t, the price point needs to be adjusted.
The more that people want something, the more the price will increase. In a market where plenty of really rich people reside, it’s no surprise that the PSLs are moving -- and it’s no surprise that people who don’t want to pay that much to continue doing what they’ve been doing are upset.
As long as enough people will write the check, it doesn’t matter.