Entertainment

[legion]

In the mid-90's, when I first started going to concerts, the "standard" ticket price was $15 - $25. I went to Phish and Jimmy Buffett several times from 95 to 2003. I finally stopped going to Buffett when tickets hit $75 a pop and the price of renting a bus for the night had gone from $300 to $2,400.

Cubs games used to be around $30 IIRC. I remember paying under $20 for nose-bleed White Sox tickets. I think all of those tickets are over $50 now.

What happened? It seems that in the early 2000's sports and concert tickets started going up in price by something like 20% a year--far outpacing inflation. I don't even consider doing these things anymore because what was once "cheap" entertainment quickly became "very expensive" entertainment.

I've never been to an NFL game and won't even consider it for what it costs now. (And the parking ain't cheap either.)

NASCAR isn't cheap either. I pay $250 a year for five races at Chicagoland speedway. (IRL, IndyLites, ARCA, Nationwide Series, Sprint Cup.) The NASCAR Sprint Cup race is over $100 by itself and all of the other races go down in price from there.

It seems like anymore you have to pick what type of entertainment you are "hardcore" about because you can't afford to do (or figure out the logistics for) anything else.

[Pazuzu]

Originally Posted by legion

Cubs games used to be around $30 IIRC.

You musta sat in them there VIP seats

We used to ditch class on Friday afternoon in grad school, ride up 2 stops on the El, and buy walk-up bleachers seats for $8-10.


Last time I wandered by the Field (few years ago) it was $25 for bleachers, and you had to buy a day in advance. Kinda loses it's charm when that happens.

[Porsche-O-Phile]

Whatever the market will bear...

[legion]

Right.

And what will the market bear right now?

I predict "bailouts" for sports teams.

I seem to recall hearing about many Detroit Lions games facing blackouts this season because of lackluster ticket sales.

[Z-man]

Originally Posted by Porsche-O-Phile

Whatever the market will bear...

...and as long as we Americans are obsessed with being entertained, the prices will go up.

If you look at other countries, their form of entertainment means they participate in an activity, rather than spectating. (Soccer fans excluded). While the rest of the world is content with going on a picnic, or a hike, or playing sports, or playing instruments in a small band, we Americans typically need to be sitting on our rumps and watching other people DO stuff, while we watch them. No wonder athletic and artistic talent is diminishing in the US. It is a sad...

-Z-man.

[stomachmonkey]

Same crap with lift tickets. Used to go skiing spur of the moment. Now I need to have 3 meetings with my financial advisor before contemplating it.

[Dueller]

Not just concerts and sporting events. Even a movie date with soft drinks and popcorn runs $40+. Just about have to call the credit union to get a loan. Last time I went to a Saints' game, I had to take out a HELOC.

[legion]

Wow. My wife can still do dinner AND a movie for under $40, depending on where we go for dinner.

[legion]

Does it make me an old curmudgeon that I started a thread to complain about how stuff costs more than it used to?

(Of course, I'm really complaining about how it costs WAY more than it used to, when adjusted for inflation.)

Does anyone else think that the prices on most forms of entertainment are going to have to come down quite a bit?

[Embraer]

Ive been out of college for 5 years, but I still carry my college ID in my wallet. Helps with movie ticket prices.

[Heel n Toe]

Thankfully, we still have our minor league ballpark... it is being used by our Coastal Plain League team, the Columbia Blowfish (yes, the name descended from the band) in the summer and all the seats are cheap... $7 reserved field level, $5 gen. adm., and $4 seniors and kids 12 and under.

http://www.blowfishbaseball.com/
http://www.coastalplain.com/about/today

Excellent local bands playing in a restaurant/lounge is usually only a $5 cover, and if it's a lesser-known national or regional touring band (I'm referring mostly to blues, jazz, or folkie stuff) it might be $10.

More well-known national/regional alternative, punk, hardcore, and similar bands are through here all the time and play in larger "concert venues" (basically clubs that might hold 100-300) and get $15-25 (and sometimes higher) covers. Once in awhile somebody like Charlie Hunter will hit one of these clubs, but the tix are still reasonable... $10, 15 or 25.

We've got a beautiful old 3200-seat concert hall where "larger" acts perform. Still has reasonable prices, IMO. Ryan Adams and the Cardinals will be there in early March and tix are $23-33. Bonnie Raitt will be there on the 21st and tix for her are $45, 55, and 65. Fairly reasonable, but this is a No Nukes benefit. No thanks if you know what I mean.

Then there's the Colonial Center where USC plays its basketball games and where the Monster Truck Jam, The Wiggles, Sesame Street on Ice, Ringling Bros. Circus, and bands like Springsteen, Chesney, Keith, Elton John/Billy Joel, Bette Midler, etc. perform. Their prices are typically as high as anywhere else that hosts bands like that, and I've never been there to see anything since they opened it around 2000 or '01.

Before that, USC played their games in the Frank McGuire Arena, and I've seen loads of concerts there... from bands like Steppenwolf, Guess Who, Delaney, Bonnie, & Friends, Allman Brothers, Butterfield Blues Band, etc. in the days when tix were $5-7 all the way to Springsteen, Willie Nelson, etc. when the tix were $25-30.

[gprsh924]

Originally Posted by legion

Wow. My wife can still do dinner AND a movie for under $40, depending on where we go for dinner.

Wow, where do you go to dinner...even Chilis is about $15 a person and that's without alcohol, only a soda.

[Heel n Toe]

Originally Posted by legion

Does it make me an old curmudgeon that I started a thread to complain about how stuff costs more than it used to?

(Of course, I'm really complaining about how it costs WAY more than it used to, when adjusted for inflation.)

Does anyone else think that the prices on most forms of entertainment are going to have to come down quite a bit?

Chris... come on... of course it doesn't make you a curmudgeon.

Unless you enjoy being a curmudgeon, in which case, I say have at it and enjoy it.

Yes, you're right, some of the prices are way outta line, even adjusted for inflation, but maybe they're including all the Jumbotron costs, union costs, legal costs, etc. and that's a significant element in driving the prices higher.

I think that the prices on some forms of entertainment will have to come down given the current economic landscape... not sure which ones those will be. It'll be interesting to watch, that's for sure.

[K. Roman]

I think maybe it's your taste in music that make you a curmudgeon. You are younger than I!

[scottmandue]

I'm thinking luxury items are going to take a big hit the next couple a years (travel, restaurants, and entertainment)

Those are the things I'm cutting back on to save money.

And yes, concert prices have gone through the roof... like you I remember $10 -$15 shows.

I haven't been to a big concert in years (excluding classical and a tako performance)

Much better to find a band that plays music you like at a bar or small club... I'm not into that being part of a sea of humanity thing anymore.

A lot of bands from my era are playing county fairs etc. = cheap way to see good music... and they have corn dogs... mmmmmmmmmm corn dogs...

[legion]

Originally Posted by gprsh924

Wow, where do you go to dinner...even Chilis is about $15 a person and that's without alcohol, only a soda.

Fiesta Ranchera.

Movie tickets are $15 a pair. Meals are $7-10 a pop. Drinks (alcohol) is $2-3 a drink.

[vash]

just saw a movie this weekend. $21.50 for two.

everything is getting pricey. i joke that none of my hobbies are cheap. the cost of admission for everything i am into is getting annoying.

i will adjust.

[legion]

Last concert I went to was Nickel Creek in Peoria. Great show! The venue was bring-your-own lawnchairs and was $25 a pop.

Nickel Creek is bluegrass on their albums, but in concert they played just about everything. They did some Britney Spears (a pretty comical rendition of "Toxic"), The Band, and Led Zeppelin in addition to their own stuff.

I still need to catch Allison Kraus and Union Station...

[gprsh924]

Every concert I have been to (outside of festival type stuff) has had ticket prices between $30-$40 and then obligatory $20 in convenience, ticketmaster, and other ridiculous charges to put the actual price between $50-$60. The prices have not kept me from seeing any of the bands that I really like, but it has kept me from trying new bands out because I won't spend that much unless I know I am going to have a great time.

[juanbenae]

Originally Posted by legion

Does it make me an old curmudgeon that I started a thread to complain

pretty much always figured that, but a phish concert? what would the GOP think?

t