CLEVELAND — Cleveland State University Professor Jim Kahler is doing a final walkthrough of his material for class.
“Gonna remind them of what we talked about on Monday,” he said. “Blanket ticket pricing doesn’t work.”
The lecture of the day is about ticket sales. As a former marketing executive for the Cleveland Cavaliers, he’s learned about the 80/20 rule.
“Eighty percent of a professional sports teams revenue comes from the teams inventory,” Kahler said.
Kahler launched a sport and entertainment management program at CSU this year, and he’s teaching the introductory class.
“My job is to take them behind the scenes and show them the different components behind the sport and entertainment industry,” Kahler said.
Students had to read an article for the class that breaks down Ohio State football’s ticket pricing model, and to see if it hit the 80/20 mark.
“It went to six different seating zones,” Kahler said. “Last year they had how many?”
“Two,” a student said in response.
Senior Johnathan Herbaugh has a takeaway from the exercise.
“I feel like they could have charged tiers one through three way more,” Herbaugh said to Kahler.
“They’re definitely leaving money on the table,” Kahler added.
He said this was an eye opener to how arenas are filled.
“Most people realize you make money from having a bunch of seats,” Herbaugh said. “No one really thought about how the better seats are really how you make your money.”
Kahler said there’s a science to selling a sports game to a fan, and he’s sharing these different approaches with students.
“If they’re future sports marketers, they still have to work towards that ultimate goal of selling out the game or event,” Kahler said.
He said this lesson is important, since ticket sales are the bread and butter of the sports and entertainment business.
