KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Chiefs President Mark Donovan said he understands why some fans are angry over perceived ticket price hikes for the 2020 season, but he defended the practice Wednesday during a video conference with reporters.
Kansas City isn’t selling season tickets this year, which means all tickets being sold are at the single-game ticket price.
Donovan said that price is often far higher than the one season ticket members are used to paying as part of their full-season packages, but stressed that the prices shouldn’t come as a surprise.
“In May, when our schedule was released, we announced our ticket prices ...,” Donovan said. “We haven’t changed those prices. Those are single-game prices based on the value in the marketplace.”
Donovan said the Chiefs spend a lot of time on market research to understand the value of a ticket to a game then price them slightly below that market value.
It’s why tickets sell for more money — often significantly more — on the secondary market, but it’s likely cold comfort to season ticket members who were expecting to pay full-season prices for a pod of tickets to upcoming games at Arrowhead.
“We had to figure out a way to give every one of our season ticket members the opportunity (to buy tickets),” Donovan said.
So far, roughly 30% of those members — the longest-tenured season ticket holders — have received offers to purchase pods of tickets for the upcoming season.
But Donovan insisted the single-game ticket prices haven’t been inflated to generate extra income with attendance capped at 22% of capacity.
“The numbers don’t pencil out,” he said. “You can’t really make the numbers work when you’re talking about that amount of tickets.”
The Chiefs were eager to sell tickets, according to Donovan, because they want to be able to share a celebration 50 years in the making with some of Chiefs Kingdom’s most loyal subjects.
“We’re raising a banner on Sept. 10, and we want our fans to be there for that and be a part of that ...,” Donovan said. “It’s going to be different. It’s not going to be exactly what we wanted, but that’s been a big driver for us.”
Kansas City opens the season Sept. 10 against the Houston Texans, which will be televised on 41 Action News.
