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President Obama weighs in on the high price of sports tickets
President Barack Obama, an avid basketball player and sports fan, said in an interview televised this week that he would like to see professional sports leagues consider more ways to lower the price of tickets.
The President did not elaborate on the ways leagues could lower prices, but he said officials need to consider how average fans can afford to pay for tickets. The interview centered on the National Basketball Association and the President's basketball background, and it was conducted by long-time basketball commentator Marv Albert for TNT and NBA.com. See the video below.
"The Commissioner [David Stern] needs to figure out how to price tickets so that ordinary people can go to the games," President Obama said. "I mean, I think that ticket prices have gotten so high, and I understand that if salaries are high ticket prices are going to be high, but you hate to think that the only person who can go to a game is someone with a corporate account."
"And, that's something I'd love all professional sports, that's not just the NBA but all professional sports, to be thinking about a little more," he added.
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I think the title says it all. I'm really happy our president has time for important things like filling out tournament brackets, predicting playoff winners, and now worrying about ticket prices. Hey, what does Barrack pay when he watches the Wizards play the Bulls courtside at Verizon Center? Oh, wait, he doesn't have to pay.
Yes, I think that everyone should get in for that price!
Thanks for helping with the prices by allowing LiveNation and Ticketmaster to merge.
Maybe he should ask Ram Emanuel to ask his brother (who is on the board of LiveNation) to help with it.
I am sure they had few conversations before the merger was approved.
Even the Bush Administration would have had some shame approving this merger.
Your last line is hilarious!!! The Bush Administration rubber stamped practically EVERY merger that was sent to the DOJ, which is one of the reasons we had banks and insurance companies who were "too big to fail." I may not like the Live Nation/Ticketmaster merger, but it went through far more scrutiny than anything that the DOJ saw from 2001-09. There's nothing wrong with being a partisan hack, but at least do your research next time so you don't look like such a fool when you voice your opinion.
I think Cadillac's should be priced lower so that the average driver can afford one. And caviar, so that the average citizen can have it. And filet mignon, diamond necklaces and massages. I hate to think not everyone can afford those things.
Let's get the necessities like food, clothing, housing and oil affordable . . . . then we can worry about the luxury items. And let's not forget that just like we can't all drive a Cadillac, we can't all sit courtside for an NBA game, either. Although last I checked, balcony seats were plenty affordable.
That's a completely different case--Most of the stadiums are funded by taxpayers living in that area. So, in my opinion, local residents should be able to get affordable ticket to get into the stadium and enjoy what their money bought. Otherwise, what's the point of having a team?
We all know the city rarely ever fully recoups their initial investment. And of course, I have heard about the added value stadium bring to the city through increased economic development, but that's grossly over estimated and doesn't account for local residents' spending. Because if you look at it from the prospective of locals attending the events; they must pay higher city taxes to pay for the building, then pay high ticket fees to--in essence-- pay themselves back, and so they are always left with a loss.
However, if the private team fully funded their own stadiums, then this won't be a problem. Only the Taxpayers that attend the events would need to pay high ticket costs to cover the cost of the building, but not have to pay high city taxes on top of that. That is a more rational appoarch to this whole issue. In fact, it will make sure the team stays in the city to recoup their loses, instead of leaving before the building is repaid and using lawyers and litigation to break leasing agreements--forever sticking the city with the bill and vacant building.