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Did anybody else get this email?


Mike Brown

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Dear Michael,

Each season I have felt that it is important to communicate with you, our Devils Plan Holders, about our continued path towards growing our base. First, I’d like to let you know that as a Devils Plan Holder we appreciate your continued support and consider you a partner in the growth we are experiencing.

One topic of conversation that I’ve discussed with many of you recently, surrounds home game attendance. I feel that it is important to let you know where we have been, where we currently are and where we are headed. Over the past three seasons the Devils Full Season Ticket Holder base has seen steady growth. Since the 2009-10 season the Full Season Ticket Holder base has grown over 4,000 total seats, to bring us to over 10,000 Full Season Ticket Holders for the 2013-14 season! On top of that, we have grown to over 1,000 Partial Plan seat holders per game, which brings our total base to over 11,000 Devils Plan Holders per night. This is a great tribute to you, our most dedicated fans.

So, why doesn't the plan holder growth mean that every game is a sell out?

In previous seasons I openly communicated with you about discounted ticket offers we would be providing for select games in select areas of the arena, in an effort to introduce new casual fans to our games. Casual fans often act on "special offers" to try out a product. Due to the growth of our Devils Plan Holder base referenced above, we no longer feel there is a need to create these specially discounted offers through external group aggregators, or our internal super group links. Our philosophy is focused specifically on long term value for you, Devils Plan Holders, and not short term "value-focused" fans in seats. Additionally, for three seasons now, we have made every effort to cease the sale of plans to new broker/reseller accounts. Our commitment to you, our loyal Plan Holders, is to protect your value and provide you with extra benefits that are exclusive. 

We will continue to work through other channels to grow the Devils casual fan base. This will be done through a few different methods, including aggressive activation in our Group Sales department with custom experiences for fans that want to attend a game with a traditional group of 20 or more. You will also see a greater marketing presence with a digital focus to reach new people in our region who have not traditionally made Devils hockey part of their routine. Historically the early months of the hockey season have come with challenges in our market (which we were not presented with last season due to the late start in January). We are committed to protecting your value, as opposed to just putting extra fans in seats at heavy discounts for these early season games. 

We believe that Devils games provide the best entertainment value around and if you personally know someone that needs to be part of the Devils family as we begin this amazing new era, complete with new ownership and management, we would love to hear from you! These new casual fans will be brought in through all the efforts mentioned above, and converted to Devils Plan Holders to join you. In the coming seasons we will grow our Devils family far past the 11,000 plan holders we currently have.

We are working hard to create a home ice advantage that is second to none. We appreciate your commitment and role in striving to be the best.

Thank you and we look forward to hearing from you!

Eric Kussin

Edited by Mike Brown
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blah blah blah yada yada yada... hmm should i go out and buy season tickets when i can go to almost every game for just about the same price or should i go out and buy partial plan tickets when i could again go out and attend every game for even less then what theyre offering their partial plans for.. such a hard decision. Seems like they cant cut their box office prices down far enough to sell them and if they start selling/making deals for games too cheap to compete with the secondary market they will run their sth away from re purchasing.. devils tickets are not in any sort of high demand, not sure who they are joking when we all know this.

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Yea I did, but I think it's ridiculous that they're just throwing non-plan holders under the bus. That arena can hold about 17,625 people, and they only have 11,000 plan holders. They're saying that almost half of the attendance comes from "short term "value-focused" fans in seats." It's classless of them to say those extra 6 or 7 thousand people mean squat to the organization...

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Yea I did, but I think it's ridiculous that they're just throwing non-plan holders under the bus. That arena can hold about 17,625 people, and they only have 11,000 plan holders. They're saying that almost half of the attendance comes from "short term "value-focused" fans in seats." It's classless of them to say those extra 6 or 7 thousand people mean squat to the organization...

they can say whatever they want but when i can go to week day games for less then what their "plan" is why would i ever consider buying one? well that wouldnt make much sense... ive only missed one home game this season i think that shows im a pretty dedicated fan and i love seeing the team.. but when i can literally go to a lot of these games so far and sit in the balcony for $13.50 they can shove their plans up their asses and say whatever they want about non plan holders doesnt bother me any... find a new way to attract suckers.
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Yea I did, but I think it's ridiculous that they're just throwing non-plan holders under the bus. That arena can hold about 17,625 people, and they only have 11,000 plan holders. They're saying that almost half of the attendance comes from "short term "value-focused" fans in seats." It's classless of them to say those extra 6 or 7 thousand people mean squat to the organization...

 

I don't think 17,625 is the official seating capacity anymore.  But I've not been able to confirm this.

they can say whatever they want but when i can go to week day games for less then what their "plan" is why would i ever consider buying one? well that wouldnt make much sense... ive only missed one home game this season i think that shows im a pretty dedicated fan and i love seeing the team.. but when i can literally go to a lot of these games so far and sit in the balcony for $13.50 they can shove their plans up their asses and say whatever they want about non plan holders doesnt bother me any... find a new way to attract suckers.

 

Do you use stubhub?

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Yea I did, but I think it's ridiculous that they're just throwing non-plan holders under the bus. That arena can hold about 17,625 people, and they only have 11,000 plan holders. They're saying that almost half of the attendance comes from "short term "value-focused" fans in seats." It's classless of them to say those extra 6 or 7 thousand people mean squat to the organization...

They're not saying the non-plan holders mean squat, they're saying that they are trying to get those people to buy plans by increasing the value of owning one so that you don't have thousands of people deciding not to get season tickets because they could use discounts to attend a bunch of games at a lower price than they would as plan holders.

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I don't think 17,625 is the official seating capacity anymore.  But I've not been able to confirm this.

 

Do you use stubhub?

i do for every game.. highest ive ever paid were last saturdays game $32.50 ticket for balconies (actually these were from a sth off forum) and opening night i paid like $50 or $45 to sit in balcony other then that its been cheap cheap.. they ran my buddy $35 a seat in 232 on his partial plan. Doesnt make any sense at all to do that when you can save a lot more then that for a better location
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i do for every game.. highest ive ever paid were last saturdays game $32.50 ticket for balconies (actually these were from a sth off forum) and opening night i paid like $50 or $45 to sit in balcony other then that its been cheap cheap.. they ran my buddy $35 a seat in 232 on his partial plan. Doesnt make any sense at all to do that when you can save a lot more then that for a better location

 

Yea people who aren't plan holders will go the SH route simply because it is cheaper.  If they wanna reduce the stubhub users, they should really just lower their damn prices.  It's a shame because we have very rich owners now.  I'm not sure why they're trying so hard to maximize ticket profit.  The whole idea of owning a sports franchise isn't to make profit for yourself.  You don't make profit off the team until you sell the team to a new owner.

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Yea people who aren't plan holders will go the SH route simply because it is cheaper.  If they wanna reduce the stubhub users, they should really just lower their damn prices.  It's a shame because we have very rich owners now.  I'm not sure why they're trying so hard to maximize ticket profit.  The whole idea of owning a sports franchise isn't to make profit for yourself.  You don't make profit off the team until you sell the team to a new owner.

part of the problem is they can only lower so much until its not worth it for these plan holders to be plan holders anymore
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i'm surprised that they haven't kept the discounted single plans, but just increased benefits to season ticket holders.

 

i'm a full STH as many of you know - for years, i got a season ticket holder gift (tiffany glasses, marty 552 plaque, desk plaque, etc), 4 private arena events, bonus present (e.g. suite for a game) and after game specials (picture on bench, skate on ice after game, etc). this year, it seems like they've cut back on a lot of that.

 

i felt that those perks made being a STH worth it. these things don't cost the devils all that much in the end. that there's no gift, questionable on the team skate session, and my bonus present was an invitation to the "sweet suite for desert during the game", is a little disappointing.

 

i'm really not sure what they're going for. i really thought 2 years ago was the best job they did - they did plenty of packages that kept the building packed with single game purchasers and mini-plans and gave their STH a bunch of perks.

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i'm surprised that they haven't kept the discounted single plans, but just increased benefits to season ticket holders.

 

i'm a full STH as many of you know - for years, i got a season ticket holder gift (tiffany glasses, marty 552 plaque, desk plaque, etc), 4 private arena events, bonus present (e.g. suite for a game) and after game specials (picture on bench, skate on ice after game, etc). this year, it seems like they've cut back on a lot of that.

 

i felt that those perks made being a STH worth it. these things don't cost the devils all that much in the end. that there's no gift, questionable on the team skate session, and my bonus present was an invitation to the "sweet suite for desert during the game", is a little disappointing.

 

i'm really not sure what they're going for. i really thought 2 years ago was the best job they did - they did plenty of packages that kept the building packed with single game purchasers and mini-plans and gave their STH a bunch of perks.

they werent even going to offer flex plans this year then they came out with something.. i mean why would you not want to make the flex plan an option to try to get more tickets sold
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The "traditional group of 20 or more"? On what planet is a usual group of friends 20 or more? What a terrible job by the marketing department yet again.

They feel like they need to cut out ticket deals and focus more on getting people to buy season tickets. So let me get this straight. They expect people to just start shelling out thousands of dollars instead of 50 because theres no more ticket deals. Good. Solid plan. The building is at 68% full for a stanley cup rematch game and they think theyre headed in the right direction? Send Eric Kussin an email back and tell him hes a dunce.

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The "traditional group of 20 or more"? On what planet is a usual group of friends 20 or more? What a terrible job by the marketing department yet again.

They feel like they need to cut out ticket deals and focus more on getting people to buy season tickets. So let me get this straight. They expect people to just start shelling out thousands of dollars instead of 50 because theres no more ticket deals. Good. Solid plan. The building is at 68% full for a stanley cup rematch game and they think theyre headed in the right direction? Send Eric Kussin an email back and tell him hes a dunce.

just chiming in on the 20 or more group sale... the ranger devil home game we had this season it was my buddys birthday he had a ticket rep he has been dealing with for the past few seasons so he continues to use this one guy..calls him to inquire about getting this 20 ticket package says he needs them all with in a couple section of each other at most.. rep calls him back a couple days later says he cant do it the best he can do is just scatter them threw out the upper ring..which would be pointless to get a group of friends together for a birthday. A few days later one of my cousins friends call a ticket rep (they are all ranger fans) and they were able to get there 20 seats all in the same section together.. now i dont know how this happened im going to say it was the reps fault here..but that wasnt right especially because the majority in our group were all devil fans(not that they care most likely who sits in their building as a sale is a sale) but it was just the point.
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I usually attend between 15-20 games a year for the past four or five years now. This obviously has made me a prime target of their various ticket reps and have gotten many calls over the years trying to entice me to buy partial or full plans. Every time I get a new one I explain to them that I will sign up for full season tickets if I can get the same prices as what they have posted on stubhub. I even said we can do it after stubhub fees and each time the ticket rep has no answer except saying I won't then get the perks like tickets to the BBQ which I don't care about, practice that I also don't care about, the non existent equipment sale and same seats every game. I tell them every time I don't need or want the perks and I don't care where I sit I just want value. That pretty much ends it.

The devils really are shooting themselves in their own foot. This devils who have historically have trouble drawing a crowd and now this season with the loss the two stars, a crowd favorite as well as missing the playoffs the last two of three years they should be begging to get a warm body in the arena instead of acting as those game by game buyers like me don't matter in the long run.

This email is insulting and the devils can cram this email up their asses and I will and have always had no problem buying tickets on stubhub for a fraction of the price at the expense of not being able to go the their cheesy fan events.

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I usually attend between 15-20 games a year for the past four or five years now. This obviously has made me a prime target of their various ticket reps and have gotten many calls over the years trying to entice me to buy partial or full plans. Every time I get a new one I explain to them that I will sign up for full season tickets if I can get the same prices as what they have posted on stubhub. I even said we can do it after stubhub fees and each time the ticket rep has no answer except saying I won't then get the perks like tickets to the BBQ which I don't care about, practice that I also don't care about, the non existent equipment sale and same seats every game. I tell them every time I don't need or want the perks and I don't care where I sit I just want value. That pretty much ends it.

The devils really are shooting themselves in their own foot. This devils who have historically have trouble drawing a crowd and now this season with the loss the two stars, a crowd favorite as well as missing the playoffs the last two of three years they should be begging to get a warm body in the arena instead of acting as those game by game buyers like me don't matter in the long run.

This email is insulting and the devils can cram this email up their asses and I will and have always had no problem buying tickets on stubhub for a fraction of the price at the expense of not being able to go the their cheesy fan events.

doesnt make us any less of fans brotha! they can say what they want
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I usually attend between 15-20 games a year for the past four or five years now. This obviously has made me a prime target of their various ticket reps and have gotten many calls over the years trying to entice me to buy partial or full plans. Every time I get a new one I explain to them that I will sign up for full season tickets if I can get the same prices as what they have posted on stubhub. I even said we can do it after stubhub fees and each time the ticket rep has no answer except saying I won't then get the perks like tickets to the BBQ which I don't care about, practice that I also don't care about, the non existent equipment sale and same seats every game. I tell them every time I don't need or want the perks and I don't care where I sit I just want value. That pretty much ends it.

The devils really are shooting themselves in their own foot. This devils who have historically have trouble drawing a crowd and now this season with the loss the two stars, a crowd favorite as well as missing the playoffs the last two of three years they should be begging to get a warm body in the arena instead of acting as those game by game buyers like me don't matter in the long run.

This email is insulting and the devils can cram this email up their asses and I will and have always had no problem buying tickets on stubhub for a fraction of the price at the expense of not being able to go the their cheesy fan events.

 

I agree with much of this post.  I think they should get asses in the building.  Money off of merchandise and food makes a good chink of a team's revenue.  There's a limit on ticket sales.  There's practically no limit on concession sales.  But you need to have people in the building to take advantage of that.  Obviously I'm not suggesting they give tickets away for free.  Although this too hasn't worked as it shows with the food drive game.  Despite the quality of the team last season, all the games were pretty enjoyable.  To sellout 18 of 24 games, and have all but 2 games above 16,000 people made for a fun season.  They should look at what they did last year.

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No team as successful as us should have these attendance problems.  Of all the other teams with attendance problems, it's mostly because that team has been bad for a long time.  I look at a team like Boston.  From 96-97 (the 2nd year of the Fleet Center / TD Garden) to 07-08 they averaged less than 17,000 people.  From 08-09 to now, they're averaging well over 17,000 people.  The past 4 years alone they've sold out every game.

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This is very odd. It's seems like it's the exact opposite of what the Sixers were doing after Harris bought the team. The Sixers got attendance up from 14k to 17k, but by discounting heavily, or at least that's what I've read.

I don't know, maybe they're experimenting with two opposite strategies to see what ultimately benefits the bottom line the most.

It's a good thing that supposedly Bettmans and Dalys kids are Devils fans and that Cablevision ought to make money off the Devils. Otherwise I would feel we have Rachel Phelps as our new owner.

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

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This is very odd. It's seems like it's the exact opposite of what the Sixers were doing after Harris bought the team. The Sixers got attendance up from 14k to 17k, but by discounting heavily, or at least that's what I've read.

I don't know, maybe they're experimenting with two opposite strategies to see what ultimately benefits the bottom line the most.

It's a good thing that supposedly Bettmans and Dalys kids are Devils fans and that Cablevision ought to make money off the Devils. Otherwise I would feel we have Rachel Phelps as our new owner.

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

 

We can hate Bettman all we want, but he's very committed to making sure teams that are viable stay right where they are.  This franchise actually turns a profit which is something Phoenix, Florida, and among others cannot say.  He knows the Devils bring in top 10-15 revenue every year.  There's no way he would think about moving us.

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I emailed my agent about this and said its a bad idea and the team should always focus on getting more butts in the seats. I don't mean give away free tickets but our game prices are way too expensive. Yes we are a New York market but we don't have the demand. Our prices should be on the same level as hurricane lighting and stars games IMO. That kings game on Friday said it all, way too expensive.

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I'm not one to make mountains out of molehills, so I won't blow this out of proportion, but I'm definitely a little ticked off that my (previously) broke college student status somehow made me less of a fan to the management, just because I sought out good deals so I could go to games and afford my rent.

Edited by Devilsfan118
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Ive been a STH a couple times and probably wont do it again. It's just not worth it. As mentioned, you can just go on stubhub and get cheaper seats. Only time it really benefits is big market games and playoffs.

 

That's the rub.  People harp on saving money in November because you can always do so with the current pricing but don't take into account the potential of having a good seat for the playoffs and not having to worry about playing the secondary market in April and May to buy crappier, more expensive seats.  Part of the reason is we've only had one deep playoff run in eleven years...obviously it's not a guaranteed perk.  

 

But I know when I was buying individual seats I paid $750 for five tickets in the last two rounds of the '03 playoffs (granted, this included a $350 lower-level seat to Game 7).  In '12 I paid around $400 for six tickets to the last two rounds as a sth.

I'm not one to make mountains out of molehills, so I won't blow this out of proportion, but I'm definitely a little ticked off that my (previously) broke college student status somehow made me less of a fan to the management, just because I sought out good deals so I could go to games and afford my rent.

 

Yeah they really should have the college nights, I don't think any sth would object to that.  The number of discounts in recent years had gotten comical on the whole though.

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