One of the biggest money-makers for the NCAA is the NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Tournament. Many know this as March Madness.
For those of you who don’t know, a quick setup. Sunday night, the NCAA will announce 68 Division I teams that will compete for the National Championship. It’s all over television and they sell out every arena that they are in. However, is what they’re selling really that great?
This year’s National Championship and Final Four will be held in Indianapolis at Lucas Oil Stadium. The capacity is over 70,000. In the past years, the National Championship has moved to bigger arenas and stadiums. This is compared to many arenas that held it in the past, with capacities around 25,000.
Now this begs the question, what exactly are they selling? Yes, the NCAA is selling tickets to the game(s). However, to setup 70,000 seats to watch the same game that 25,000 people used to watch creates problems. The tickets now buy you a ticket to a game, which are more expensive now, where you have to sit further away or higher above the floor than ever before. To make it even worse, you have to enter a lottery just to get a chance to buy the tickets. That includes a non-refundable deposit.
So the NCAA is selling a less-convenient ticket, to more people, at a higher price. Don’t get me wrong, it’s an awesome experience to be there, but it’s like watching ants run around on a piece of bark. Is it really worth it?
BoweryJE22
Honestly here I see the reverse of selling concept #2 No Mutual Mystification. Rather than the seller hearing what they want to hear, the BUYER in this case hears “NCAA National Tournament” and thinks “I need a ticket.” They are not taking the time to really think through the deal or discover what you will get, if you even get a ticket. I agree that it would be a great experience and for some sitting in the last row in the corner may be all they want but for others they are expecting to get mid court seats when this is clearly not the case.
The NCAA is cheating people out of their money. They are attempting to make more money and losing the importance of what they are doing…. Basketball. If you have to sit way up high there is no way to see the game and at that point is being there actually worth it?