Why Being a Charlotte Hornets Season Ticket Holder Might Be a Good Financial Move

First off let me say that when selling your seats you will very rarely get back what you have paid for the seats. The being a good financial move comes in when you discover how much it costs to purchase seats for the nights when the best teams in the league come to town.

The above picture is a screen capture from the arenas Ticketmaster site that shows the seats for sale for the 12/31/2016 Hornets vs The Cavaliers game. Blue dots represent being sold by the arena and Red dots represent being sold by a season ticket holder. THERE ARE NO AVAILABLE SEATS IN THE 6 LOWER PREMIUM SEATS SECTIONS that are being sold by the arena. All the seats for sale are being sold by presumably greedy season ticket holders. 

My seats are in section 106 row R and the the closest seats for comparison that a season ticket holder is trying to resale are in section 106  row O. That season ticket holder paid $198 for two seats a game and is asking $794 + tax for two seats. This person most likely will get around $500 for the pair of seats if they have the tickets also for sale on a aftermarket site like StubHub or eBay.

All the best games will cost you serious money to sit in great lower area seats if you are not a season ticket holder. The cost of going to the best games would be approximately the cost of  being a season ticket holder.

EXAMPLE

10/29/2016 Hornets vs Boston = $350 + tax and fees

11/11/2016 Hornets vs Toronto = $210 + tax and fees

11/26/2016 Hornets vs Knicks = $440 + tax and fees

12/23/2016 Hornets vs Bulls = $370 + tax and fees

12/31/2016 Hornets vs Cavs = $752 + tax and fees

01/04/2017 Hornets vs OKC = $288 + tax and fees

01/25/2017 Hornets vs Warriors = $1020 + tax and fees

2/11/2017 Hornets vs Clippers = $376 + tax and fees

3/24/2017 Hornets vs Cavs = $600 + tax and fees

The above prices came from the cheapest place to get tickets StubHub. The selection of games are the games I will be going to this season. The prices are the lowest prices for 2 seats anywhere in section 106 which is the visitors bench section. If I paid for individual games on the aftermarket going to 9 games during the season would cost me $4406 + taxes and fees approx. $4700 for the season. The cheapest season seats in section 106 are $8457 for a pair of seats. $8457 (43 home games) - $4700 (9 home games) = $3757 (Price difference). $3757 is a lot of money over what you would have paid to by aftermarket seats but if you sell the nights you don't go to the games you will make back most of the left over cost, get season ticket holder perks ( I got comped court side seats for the season opener ) and not have to hunt for seats to the games you really want to go to. So far this season I have sold 23 of the 33 games I won't be going to and averaged a price of $143.34 for a pair of seats a game. Some of the bigger games were sold for more and some of the crap games were sold for way less but all of the games were sold to fans who hopefully appreciated the reasonable ticket prices. If I sold the remaining seats for $100 a piece I would have got back a little over $4000 of the money I spent for my season seats. 

If you are a big NBA fan and you can afford to front the money then be a season ticket holder it made sense for me. 

UPDATE
12/22/2016
After selling all the nights I didn't go to games and getting back the money I paid upfront I spent $3730 to go to 8 games in a premium area and have season ticket holder benefits. 


UPDATE
1/20/2017

This season 2016/2017 two seats in section 106 row R costs me $8,456.22 to be paid in full or on a 9 month payment plan that was around $940 a month for the 9 months. After selling the games I didn't go to and making back some of my money the season cost me $3730. The upcoming 2017/2018 season was going to cost me $9348.18 to be paid in full or a 12 month payment plan that was around $780 a month for the 12 months. That's about a 10% increase. I'm going to really think about renewing.

I averaged selling the nights we didn't go for $140.46 when I paid $200. The actual cost of the season was $3730 for 8 of the biggest games of the season. I got lots of benefits like I was behind the visitor’s bench, I was in the same seats every game, I received in seat service up to the start of the game, I had access to the Front Court Club and I was steps away from bathrooms and refreshments in the sections 104-105-106 Private North Club lounge and my wife and I love the whole experience.  

UPDATE
1/22/2017
After talking to my Hornets Account Manager, really thinking about how much I ended up paying after I sold the nights we didn't go and really thinking about all the fun my wife and I have at the games I'm renewing and I might be looking for a season partner that would share in the payments with me. A season partner might be hard to find because my wife and I go to the games on holidays and when the NBA stars come to town. Oh well if we can't find a partner then I'll be selling seats again. Selling seats is not fun and you have to be disciplined to do it right but it works. 
We are renewing our season seats.

UPDATE
1/23/2017
PRICE CHECK

I've noticed that the closer you get to a game the lower the season seat holders will lower their prices. Back in 11/2016 I got my example prices from StubHub getting the cheapest 2 seats in the premium club sections. With 3 more games that I am going to I wanted to see if my season ticket holder prices and benefits are still better than the purchasing of aftermarket tickets.

Lowest Price on 11/2016 - Hornets vs Warriors = $1020 + tax and fees

Lowest Price on 01/2017 - Hornets vs Warriors = $727.60 includes tax and fees

The fees alone are $129.60

My season seats still hold up

Lowest Price on 11/2016 - Hornets vs Clippers = $376 + tax and fees

Lowest Price on 01/2017 - Hornets vs Clippers = $474 includes tax and fees

The  fees alone are $74

My season seats till hold up 

(although this is a great deal for Row C right behind the Hornets bench)

Lowest Price on 11/2016 - Hornets vs Cavs = $600 + tax and fees

Lowest Price on 01/2017 - Hornets vs Cavs = $804.30 includes tax and fees

The fees alone are $124.30

My season seats till hold up

After selling the nights I didn't go to games for and average price of $140.46 a game for 2 seats and making back $4726 I end up paying $466.25 (for 2 seats) a game for 8 of the biggest games of the season in the premium club area with season ticket holders privileges and benefits. It's 2 days before the Warriors game and I am still doing better than buying from a aftermarket source. 

If you can afford to front the money, being a season ticket holder will work out for you.

UPDATE
1/26/2017
I made back $4726 from the selling of seats during the 2016/2017 season. For the upcoming season I have 6 of my 12 payments already taken care of leaving my 2017/2018 season costing me $4616.18 for the full season. I should be able to sell the nights I don't go during the upcoming season and make the upcoming season cost me nothing.