The Los Angeles Chargers will play in by far the NFL’s smallest stadium this year, a soccer stadium with just 30,000 seats. And the Chargers plan to profit from scarcity pricing.
When the Chargers announced ticket prices this week, the average ticket came out to about about $192 a game at the StubHub Center. That’s by far the highest ticket price in the NFL: The Bears are expected to have the second-most expensive ticket, at about $135 a game. The price is also a huge increase from an average ticket price of $84.55 in San Diego last year, according to Team Marketing Report.
The Chargers had an average home attendance of 57,024 last season, which means the average gate for a home game was about $4.8 million. To top that this year in Los Angeles, the Chargers would only have to sell about 26,000 tickets a game at $192 a ticket.
Even though the Chargers’ welcome in Los Angeles has been lukewarm at best, selling 26,000 tickets a game should be no problem. This is, after all, NFL football. Even as NFL attendance declines, 26,000 tickets is nothing. The Chargers have said they expect their season ticket inventory to sell out.
Obviously, the Chargers think they’re going to make more money in Los Angeles in the long term, once the new stadium they’re sharing with the Rams is built. That’s why they’re moving. But even in the short term, in their tiny stadium in Carson, the Chargers will make more money from fewer fans.
