From the Sports Desk: Don't price out the true fans

Like many people in the Greater Sacramento area, I have been thoroughly impressed and excited from what I have seen the Sacramento Kings accomplish in the 2022-23 National Basketball Association (NBA) season. While I'm personally a Golden State Warriors fan, seeing my "hometown" team go from 30 wins last season to 48 this season, including their first postseason appearance since 2006, has been very impressive to witness. I have had the pleasure of going to more than 10 home games this season and it's easy to notice the change in atmosphere inside the Golden 1 Center from previous seasons. It has truly felt magical. This level of success has many fans eager to see how far the Kings can go in the postseason with many fans wanting to witness a home playoff game. Unfortunately, many people won't even have the opportunity to get that experience as the cheapest ticket for the first game of the Western Conference quarterfinals in Sacramento is currently more than $551. Even the second game is outrageously expensive, ranging from $399 to $456 on Ticketmaster and SeatGeek after fees, and that's for the nosebleeds. According to the United States Census Bureau, the median household income is $76,422 ($6,368.50 per month) in Sacramento County and $99,734 ($8,311 per month) in Placer County. If a family of four were to experience a playoff game and paid $500 per ticket, they would be spending anywhere between 24 percent to 31 percent of their monthly income, and that's not even including food and parking. A working-class family shouldn't have to break the bank to attend a playoff game. Let me be clear, this is not only a Sacramento Kings playoff issue or even an NBA issue, it's a sports issue in general. Even in golf, last weekend's Masters Tournament tickets were more than $700 on the secondary market. The only way to get tickets on the primary market is by entering the Augusta National ticket lottery where there's only a .55 percent chance of getting selected, according to bookies.com. The NBA has nearly tripled its total league revenue from $3.68 billion at the end of the 2012 season to more than $10 billion at the end of the 2022 season while the National Football League (NFL) hit a record of $11 billion in 2021, the most recent data available. Much of that revenue comes from TV deals and licensing, but depending on the league, ticket sales and merchandise can make up anywhere between 10 to 40 percent of total revenue. If a majority of the revenue that teams make comes from outside of ticketing, concessions and merchandise, then why are franchises setting prices so high? The answer is because they can. According to a 2023 article by Fortune, the average net worth of an NBA owner is $16.5-billion while the average net worth of an NFL owner is $8.5-billion. Another problem is ticket scalpers and how they drive up the price for people who actually want to attend the events. The secondary ticket market is worth roughly $15-billion as consumers mark up tickets by an average of 158 percent. For example, if you go to most events on TicketMaster right now, you will see that a majority of tickets are listed as "verified resale tickets." There are even articles online and YouTube videos of people bragging about how much money they made by driving up ticket prices for regular people. It's truly a disgusting system. With ticket prices based on demand, it obviously makes sense as to why a ticket would cost more in the playoffs than during the regular season, but at some point, there needs to be a cap. While franchises can charge an arm and a leg for a ticket, it doesn't mean it's morally right to do so. At some point, people need to draw a line as sporting events are rapidly outpacing what lower- and middle-class families can afford. It would be quite unfortunate if this trend were to continue and live events simply become a rich man's game.