If there’s one thing we believe here at SeatGeek, it’s that ticketing data contains rich information. Not only on a team’s prominence in a sport, but also the loyalty and sentiment of it’s fanbase.

Using our proprietary data, we are able to answer questions such as:

  • Do the most successful teams have the highest ticket prices?
  • Which teams have the most loyal fanbase (measured in terms of attendance)?
  • Which team’s fans are willing to shell out the most money to attend home games?

In this post, we are going to attempt to answer the last question by calculating a team’s average ticket pricing markup in the secondary market relative to the average face value in the primary market. In particular, we will be focusing this analysis on teams in each of the four major sports league: NBA, NFL, MLB and NHL.

The methodology for this analysis is as follows:

  • Using data on the primary ticket market collected by Team Marketing Report, we are able to determine the average face value of tickets for teams in each major sport during the 2012-13 season
  • We then will use our own proprietary data to extract information on the average prices of tickets for each team in the secondary market
  • Afterwards, we will compare the two numbers and calculate a percentage mark-up in ticket value
  • By the end, we will package our findings and present the top-5 teams with the highest secondary ticket market pricing premiums in each major sport

Below we submit our findings:

* It’s important to remember that these statistics reflect teams with the highest price markups (in percentages), not those with the highest prices (in dollars)

NBA

NBA Ticket Price Markups

  • Memphis takes the crown for the NBA team with the highest ticket markup
  • Despite their team’s struggles, Wizards fans remain loyal to the franchise – on average, fans are willing to pay a higher premium relative to fans of the two-time defending champions, the Miami Heat

NFL

NFL Ticket Price Markups

  • No surprise here as Steelers and Packers fans are known as some of the most passionate out there

NHL

NHL Ticket Price Markups

  • Given their historic run and continued success through the rest of the season, fans of the mighty Blackhawks probably had bigger concerns than paying the highest premiums in the league

 

MLB

MLB Ticket Price Markups

  • Something’s brewing up in San Diego as Padres fan are willing to pay an astonishing higher premium for tickets, even relative to the second-placed Giants.

Write to us – we would love to hear your opinions on these findings. Why do you think these teams’ fans are willing to pay such high premiums? Do you think the data are accurate portrayals of fan sentiment?