Food at Rogers (Question for season ticket holders)

[Stoneman89]

I think hockey tickets at the NHL level stopped being a regular family event a long time ago. Now, it's a major purchase event which makes it maybe once a year, if that. I used to have a full season ticket back in the day, then went to half, and then a quarter, and finally, just figured I would be better off putting my entertainment dollar elsewhere and dropped it altogether. Now, my wife and I may got to possibly one or 2 games a year, including a nice meal beforehand. Bus runs right near our house and takes a block away from the rink, so no parking costs or hassle that way. It can get a bit cold waiting for the bus some nights. I usually lurk on the secondary ticket sites and pick up a deal on drink rail seats

 

[Bryanbryoil]

If I make it back up there during hockey season one of these years while Connor and Leon are still playing and on our team, I'd like to watch them live with my family. That said I wouldn't spend a damn mortgage payment on it.

 

[trick91]

Is there a comparison of concession prices between NHL Canadian cities? Or are the same people bitching for no reason like usual.

Yes hockey games are expensive. Yes concessions are expensive. Have you guys been to a movie theater? Should we complain about that next?

 

[Drivesaitl]

Is there a comparison of concession prices between NHL Canadian cities? Or are the same people bitching for no reason like usual.

Yes hockey games are expensive. Yes concessions are expensive. Have you guys been to a movie theater? Should we complain about that next?

Gee imagine talking about the prices being excessive in a thread exactly on that topic.
Ironic that your complaining about the complaining.

Neither sports concessions or movie concessions was always this high. it is this high because a proportion of people are willing to spend those prices.

Its not even a good business model and I just produced links on previous page showing how the movie theaters are chasing customers away with the concessions pricing. Its not a great model.

 

[trick91]

Gee imagine talking about the prices being excessive in a thread exactly on that topic.
Ironic that your complaining about the complaining.

Neither sports concessions or movie concessions was always this high. it is this high because a proportion of people are willing to spend those prices.

Its not even a good business model and I just produced links on previous page showing how the movie theaters are chasing customers away with the concessions pricing. Its not a great model.

Just not sure what people are expecting. Even when dining at a restaurant, our family ends up with a bill nowhere near what it was 5-10 years ago.

Just seem people are mad cause Katz is a billionaire and players are millionaires.

From what I've read that a new vendor low bid the previous vendor, and now they are making up for it by raising the price on food and drinks.

 

[5 Mins 4 Ftg]

Gee imagine talking about the prices being excessive in a thread exactly on that topic.
Ironic that your complaining about the complaining.

Neither sports concessions or movie concessions was always this high. it is this high because a proportion of people are willing to spend those prices.

Its not even a good business model and I just produced links on previous page showing how the movie theaters are chasing customers away with the concessions pricing. Its not a great model.

Actually the thread was started by someone wondering about where to eat in Rogers when going to the game. Nowhere did he mention price. Just what food was available.

The complaining about price then started by others.

The prices are very high especially for commodity items like pop and popcorn but no higher and in fact much cheaper on most items especially alcohol than many if not most US venues when you convert the dollar and add in the hidden point of sale taxes they ding you in the US.

This is an industry wide issue, not an Oilers issue.

 

[alanschu]

Given the propensity of the board members to disagree on almost anything its truly amazing how unified the response is here.

I was just thinking this, as well as the Oilers+ sentiment hahaha


EDIT: Sounds like it's not unanimous after all XD

 

[Drivesaitl]

Just not sure what people are expecting. Even when dining at a restaurant, our family ends up with a bill nowhere near what it was 5-10 years ago.

Just seem people are mad cause Katz is a billionaire and players are millionaires.

From what I've read that a new vendor low bid the previous vendor, and now they are making up for it by raising the price on food and drinks.

To be fair I don't expect anything because I don't go. I don't go to movies now either.

hey. I remember being able to pile a gang into a vehicle for 10bucks to a drive in and the concession prices being cheap. Great times.

I've attended Stanley cup winning games here for as little as 24bucks. it was great.

people act like the gouging has always been the case. Thats what I was reacting to. Reality is gouging takes place because some people agree to take part in it. Without which the prices would have to come down.

Considering inflation and food prices going up by and large most restos have done a good job keeping meal prices reasonable. I mean there are those that gouge. I don't hit those.

 

[Drivesaitl]

Actually the thread was started by someone wondering about where to eat in Rogers when going to the game. Nowhere did he mention price. Just what food was available.

The complaining about price then started by others.

The prices are very high especially for commodity items like pop and popcorn but no higher and in fact much cheaper on most items especially alcohol than many if not most US venues when you convert the dollar and add in the hidden point of sale taxes they ding you in the US.

This is an industry wide issue, not an Oilers issue.

Somewhat fair but not everywhere is Alberta with a pretty specific collapsed Oil and gas industry on top of inflation, economic woes etc. Most pro sports teams exist in Large cities. Edmonton isn't that. As we can see from attendance figures there aren't enough people to support these kinda prices here so what will the Oil do? Double down on 25buck burgers? Edmonton has always been a working class city. These arent' working class prices. Just because you can gouge some fans in huge markets doesn't mean you can do it here indefinitely and in different economic situations. Could you imagine how bad attendance would be here without McDrai and the new rink novelty?

 

[alanschu]

Just seem people are mad cause Katz is a billionaire and players are millionaires.

Actually I'd like to be clear that I have much less issue now with the players making their bank. At least they're the thing I want to see and support.

I don't materially support the Oilers (or the NHL) in any meaningful fashion for a variety of reasons (biggest is probably NHL level for player safety, but much of what the league provides in value just isn't there for me. But if I were to pay money, I'd definitely prefer as much of it as possible goes to the players.

I think it's unfortunate that ticket prices are as high as they are, because at the ripe old age of 41, the thing I like most about pro sports is providing entertainment for especially kiddos (disclaimer, I have no kids myself fwiw).

I get it, the market says they can sell their tickets at this price. I'm not even overly griping. But if I somehow get tickets, I'd still take my money elsewhere simply because I find that there is better value in doing so.

This is an industry wide issue, not an Oilers issue.

Indeed it is (pro sports in general).

It's funny watching the dramatized Winning Time and them discussing how "if it's a good year we'll maybe pull a million or 2 in profit" though haha.

 

[JustNapalmIt]

Is there a comparison of concession prices between NHL Canadian cities? Or are the same people bitching for no reason like usual.

Yes hockey games are expensive. Yes concessions are expensive. Have you guys been to a movie theater? Should we complain about that next?

Newsflash. An Oilers Board talking about how expensive food is in a thread , shockingly, Titled, about the food at the rink.
And heres another news flash. On a Movie message board, in a thread about the food, I think people would chat about the cost.
My lord, what some will bitch about

 

[gordonhught]

Oilers+ is crap. I subscribed for one day. Then cancelled. Don’t need videos of Tonyworking out.

nacho perogies

 

[alanschu]

Somewhat fair but not everywhere is Alberta with a pretty specific collapsed Oil and gas industry on top of inflation, economic woes etc. Most pro sports teams exist in Large cities. Edmonton isn't that. As we can see from attendance figures there aren't enough people to support these kinda prices here so what will the Oil do? Double down on 25buck burgers? Edmonton has always been a working class city. These arent' working class prices. Just because you can gouge some fans in huge markets doesn't mean you can do it here indefinitely and in different economic situations. Could you imagine how bad attendance would be here without McDrai?

I think the issue is that there's still increasingly stratified income levels in the city (and province) to the point where a few years ago the median household income in Alberta was about $90k, while the cutoff point for the top quintile (i.e. top 20% household incomes) was a whopping $330k which is overwhelmingly in "life changing" income for myself.*

But with continued population growth, there are still indeed tons of people that make much less.

I'm not sure what the top quintile is now, but Edmonton's median household income still continued to grow into 2019 (it did dip in 2016 - graph I saw didn't show 2020 but I suspect it did there as well) and I wouldn't be surprised if the top 20% is still shockingly high. And a lot of those people (plus businesses) will still buy up a lot of the tickets. I'm curious where the breaking point for tickets/concessions will be that it'll start impacting sales but I suspect it might be a bit higher than I'd like.

Now this is household income, and many households are dual income. I believe Edmonton Median Salary is indeed around $45k to $50k, with the average (remember no upper bound, so average tends to be above the median) around $57k. Our cost living is still reasonably lowish (I cry for people wanting houses though, and this isn't much comfort for people on below average income). Career beacon lists the average cost of living as pretty close to the median income for one person at $45k (I think this is likely lagging some of the cost surges we've seen this past year, though). If you classify "middle class" as the 3 middle quintiles (20% to 80% household incomes), there's a very large lower and upper bound on incomes between that 60% band.

Unfortunately minimum wage is about $30k a year and a lot of people we typically classify as "working class" definitely aren't eying Oilers games as regularly events. So yeah, pro sports has increasingly become a thing for better off people.


* Also full disclosure, my wife and I consider ourselves super lucky in that I got a job earlier this year that saw our household income shoot to $165k- that in and of itself was life changing income as typically we were around $100k which we felt pretty comfortable at, especially as we do not have kids and do not own a house (for better or worse with housing costs uncertainty).

 

[5 Mins 4 Ftg]

Somewhat fair but not everywhere is Alberta with a pretty specific collapsed Oil and gas industry on top of inflation, economic woes etc. Most pro sports teams exist in Large cities. Edmonton isn't that. As we can see from attendance figures there aren't enough people to support these kinda prices here so what will the Oil do? Double down on 25buck burgers? Edmonton has always been a working class city. These arent' working class prices. Just because you can gouge some fans in huge markets doesn't mean you can do it here indefinitely and in different economic situations. Could you imagine how bad attendance would be here without McDrai and the new rink novelty?

Was sold out for home opener. Sold out v Calgary. Preseason was nearly sold out for every game. Attendance will be up significantly this year. And not sure how collapsed the oil and gas sector is anymore. It’s busy according to my son who works for one of the majors. They can’t get enough people right now. Friends I speak with in all facets of business just can’t find staff, employees etc.

As for Edmonton being a small market we are larger than many markets in the US as far as paying hockey fans go. Edmonton is in the top 10 easily in terms of revenue generation and is a team that pays into revenue sharing last I checked. We have a very rabid fan base.

Look I’m not defending the prices - I think they are outrageous too - but it is what it is in the sports and entertainment industry. Be it Edmonton, New York or Butthole Nebraska. People complaining about this being an Oiler problem are simply wrong.

And If Oilers concessions sales drop they will have to adjust. Simple as that. If not - well that means the people going to games are paying for it. Based on the last game I’d say most people are begrudgingly paying for it.

Personally I think they should have some reasonably priced items - popcorn, hot dogs, and fountain drinks. Atlanta Falcons have reasonably priced concessions - the only sporting venue that does afaik - and apparently their sales increased!

But it would be nice to have a family deal of 4 hot dogs, 4 fountain drinks and 2 large popcorns for $40 tax in. They’d sell a shit ton of them.

 

[Whyme]

That’s single game price.

Popcorns expensive man.

Seriously 4 tickets $600 minimum probably closer to $800.
3 beers 2 coffees 4 burgers 4 popcorns 4 ice creams probably set you back $175.

Better off to get tickets in the SN section where all the food (buffet style) and non alcoholic drinks are included for about $1000

Thank you! Still don't get the obvious joke in the number in your earlier post, but it's ok. They should really have a way to have especially kids (families) to have the experience for much less. In fact even 300 would be a huge investment for many families, but the absolute maximum for the package I described above should be 500. And that would still leave many out, but I understand they also try to run a business to some extent.

Maybe the answer could be something like family tickets (at least to games that don't sell as well) or discount tickets for children. Of course cheaper food and drinks and maybe some family discount there too.

If you don't have kids and/or go see a game on your own in about every 2nd month you pay for the package maybe 1000-1500 dollars a year. But if you're a family of four and do the same that gets you aeound 4000-5000 dollars a year.

 

[5 Mins 4 Ftg]

Thank you! Still don't get the obvious joke in the number in your earlier post, but it's ok. They should really have a way to have especially kids (families) to have the experience for much less. In fact even 300 would be a huge investment for many families, but the absolute maximum for the package I described above should be 500. And that would still leave many out, but I understand they also try to run a business to some extent.

Maybe the answer could be something like family tickets (at least to games that don't sell as well) or discount tickets for children. Of course cheaper food and drinks and maybe some family discount there too.

If you don't have kids and/or go see a game on your own in about every 2nd month you pay for the package maybe 1000-1500 dollars a year. But if you're a family of four and do the same that gets you aeound 4000-5000 dollars a year.

I just checked Buffalo’s game Tuesday (Buffalo would be a low draw) and resales in the upper section are going for slightly less than $50 per ticket so 4 tickets can be had for $200 plus $175 for the food/drinks so for about $400 a family of four can go to that game.

Calgarys game tonight however the cheapest ticket is $200 per plus fees. So it depends on the team greatly for price.

I just bought 4 tickets to Edm v Mtl in Montreal and the cheapest were $129 per ticket plus fees in the nosebleeds. I paid $450 each plus fees for lower bowl dead center ice about 8 rows up facing the players benches which was a great deal as similar seats were going for $750 each minimum!

Edmontons average ticket prices per the NHL is right down the middle at league average so again like concession prices high ticket prices are an industry issue and not an Oilers issue.

Highest average price right now is Arizona lol.

To @Drivesaitl point of being affordable for the market it seems the Oilers market right now is exactly where they believe it is sustainable but each market has its ebbs and flows. Chicago just lowered their ticket prices as they are in a massive rebuild and their attendance took a dive last year. I think Buffalo and Ottawa did the same and in fact Ottawa removed a few thousand seats even available for purchase a couple of years ago.

Either way it’s an expensive night out for the average family.

 

[Fourier]

Every Tuesday the Jays have Loonie Dog night. Hot dogs are $1. Unfortunately, I did not get to a game this year, but I think this promotion was gold. I wonder if the pricing for food is counter-productive. How many people eat before the game just to avoid concession prices.

 

[5 Mins 4 Ftg]

Every Tuesday the Jays have Loonie Dog night. Hot dogs are $1. Unfortunately, I did not get to a game this year, but I think this promotion was gold. I wonder if the pricing for food is counter-productive. How many people eat before the game just to avoid concession prices.

No question the Atlanta Falcons are onto something if their revenue increased wth lower concession prices. 100% of nothing is still nothing!

 

[Heavy Dee]

heh. Yeah. Most of these DT places are inflated prices. Theres another place in the Marriot that is better for Breakfast, forget the name of it. Braven is more for dinner, but still beware the prices. Ruth Chris is the worst, in my opinion.

I don't really go to these types of places too often.

Not sure if people remember but decades ago there were food options around like Mother Tuckers. You would get your meal with great huge salad bar. Waldens was also around but on the pricey side. Several steak places etc. I think the Restaurant scene in the 70's or 80's was better.

We loved Ponderosa!

 

[Whyme]

I just checked Buffalo’s game Tuesday (Buffalo would be a low draw) and resales in the upper section are going for slightly less than $50 per ticket so 4 tickets can be had for $200 plus $175 for the food/drinks so for about $400 a family of four can go to that game.

Calgarys game tonight however the cheapest ticket is $200 per plus fees. So it depends on the team greatly for price.

I just bought 4 tickets to Edm v Mtl in Montreal and the cheapest were $129 per ticket plus fees in the nosebleeds. I paid $450 each plus fees for lower bowl dead center ice about 8 rows up facing the players benches which was a great deal as similar seats were going for $750 each minimum!

Edmontons average ticket prices per the NHL is right down the middle at league average so again like concession prices high ticket prices are an industry issue and not an Oilers issue.

Highest average price right now is Arizona lol.

To @Drivesaitl point of being affordable for the market it seems the Oilers market right now is exactly where they believe it is sustainable but each market has its ebbs and flows. Chicago just lowered their ticket prices as they are in a massive rebuild and their attendance took a dive last year. I think Buffalo and Ottawa did the same and in fact Ottawa removed a few thousand seats even available for purchase a couple of years ago.

Either way it’s an expensive night out for the average family.

Thank you again! Concession prices are quite ridiculous, which is a shame, but it's great cheaper tickets against less interesting teams can be found. I think 50 dollars is a very fair price and that makes it possible for almost anyone to have the experience at least once. I work hard and am paid for that so I'm not complaining for myself, but I have to admit spending 500-1000 to get my family to see a game would probably make me invest that amount elsewhere. Might of course be different if I wasn't the only Oilers fan in the family

 

[Stoneman89]

Actually the thread was started by someone wondering about where to eat in Rogers when going to the game. Nowhere did he mention price. Just what food was available.

The complaining about price then started by others.

The prices are very high especially for commodity items like pop and popcorn but no higher and in fact much cheaper on most items especially alcohol than many if not most US venues when you convert the dollar and add in the hidden point of sale taxes they ding you in the US.

This is an industry wide issue, not an Oilers issue.

Absolutely on the bolded, but I can only speak to our local product since I haven't been anywhere else. But I agree that it's like this in every single place that has NHL hockey, and a lot of other professional sports. And I think it is in comparison to other forms of entertainment available. Yes, movie tickets are pricey as well, but last I looked, they didn't take you into several hundred dollars to watch a flick for 2-3 hours entertainment. For ourselves, we put the hockey money into Mayfield Inn Stage West season tickets instead. Only 5 shows a year, which suits my schedule, and the entertainment and food is always top notch.

 

[Behind Enemy Lines]

The Oilers are a profit seeking company in monopolistic conditions so they are going to exploit ticket pricing, concession pricing and all revenue centres for maximum benefit. The hockey palace scrimped on some core elements like washrooms, upper level concourse size and access to accommodate a giant indoor beer garden as a priority to extract more dough and showcase sponsors. Best to extinguish the warm fuzzy image of a quaint community centred organization. This is big business folks.

Will note Katz sports and entertainment is also a vertical market company that positions their no cost labour pool of junior hockey talent as their family friendly customer option. Cheaper tickets and price point more accessible to budget conscious families and people. Oilers are as stated premium priced sports entertainment for corporate and adult audiences utilizing their monopolistic conditions within a rabid, coveted market to be among the league leaders in pricing and revenue generation. Edmonton is a highly coveted NHL market for these reasons and the pricing being discussed simply confirms the smart business decision Katz made to stalk the team purchase, leverage the baked in civic pride to subsidize his big business costs and to maximize profit with a new hockey palace to suit the NHL team's need.

The warm, sentimental and romantic association we all have to our sporting teams makes a great lubricant. Choice is ours to accept the costs associated with participating or not in this discretionary activity. Through several lockouts, we know where fans sit when labour disruption happens between billionaire owners and their million dollar workforce. Enjoy the ride this entertainment option provides - just do so with eyes wide shut.

 

[orangewinter]

There is limited food choices at rogers places, when it opened there was more choices.

 

[trick91]

There is limited food choices at rogers places, when it opened there was more choices.

The vendor changed this year. Went from the old one to Compass.

 

[blueandgoldguy]

The only reason Edmonton 's ticket prices appear to be around the NHL average is because of the Canadian/US exchange rate. In reality, Edmonton's ticket prices are approx. 6th highest in the league.