The Oilers Entertainment Group are likely going to learn an...
Robert (Bob) Summers@RJSCity
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Nov 02, 2026
~2 min read
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The Oilers Entertainment Group are likely going to learn an expensive lesson. They tried to push ticket prices to extract the maximum value people would be willing to pay. Not an unreasonable idea in a simplistic market situation. Why let scalpers capture the scarcity profit? /1
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However, the scarcity was a big factor in maintaining a high initial sale price. For years, many season ticket holders have been selling tickets on the resale market at break even or small profit prices. Some sell half or more. The secondary market depends on scarcity. /2
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The OEG pushed prices so high that they appear to have lost a lot of season ticket holders quickly. So scarcity is gone. And if you are a season ticket holder who used to sell half of your tickets or even just 5-10 games you couldn’t attend, you are now taking a huge loss. /3
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My kids just bought $40 tickets to tonight’s game in decent seats. Somebody is losing a lot of $. With that, many season ticket holders are going to decide to drop their season tickets and just buy on the market. Scarcity is gone, and prices are collapsing. /4
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The OEG will have to drop prices to woo folks back, and with the scarcity premium gone, that’s going to require a big drop. They could have maintained a higher price for a long time, but will have to deal with a new lower price equilibrium.
Bad for OEG, but good for fans!
/end
Bad for OEG, but good for fans!
/end
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I'll add that I have no critique of the OEG seeking to maximize return. They are a private business and free to do so. It just seems to me as an outsider that they misread their market and didn't understand the pricing risk they were facing. It's an interesting business case.
