Markets in Everything: Dynamic Pricing for Baseball
Baseball Tickets Too Much? Check Back Tomorrow
Because baseball teams set their prices months before opening day and resist changing them later, they have trouble reacting to the unexpected, like the weather, winning and losing teams or, this year, the ferocity of an economic downturn.
The San Francisco Giants are experimenting with a possible solution — software that weighs ticket sales data, weather forecasts, upcoming pitching matchups and other variables to help decide whether the team should raise or lower prices right up until game day. The Giants are the first major league team to test the software, which some industry analysts say could transform the way teams adjust to the ebb and flow of the season, not unlike how airlines, hotels and rental car companies — which also use dynamic pricing — adjust to changes in the travel industry.
NY Times
3 Comments:
I've been thinking about this, and I think that event holders should sell their tickets through reverse auctions. It seems like the fairest and most profitable way to do things. It would also seem like the easiest way to determine if additional showings are warranted for things like concerts.
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The Buffalo Sabres hockey team began variable pricing a couple years ago. Their system isn't as dynamic as this one, but they started to rank games by the opposing team. When Toronto comes to town (lots of Toronto fans here and nearby), the prices are quite high. When, on the other hand, one of those fake southern teams :) is playing -- you can get a pretty good bargain.
It's worked well for them.
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