Lots of dollars with no sense

After being a sports fan for approximately 20 years and after having worked in the industry for seven years, there are few things that surprise me anymore. There are, however, quite a few things that make me shake my head in disgust.

To a lot of people, college basketball is a major sport. Virtually every night of the week, you can find a college game on tv, ranging from the big conferences and holiday tournaments to the obscure I-AA teams doing battle in front of 28 fans. March Madness alone is a multi-billion dollar industry and single-handedly responsible for turning office secretaries and mail room boys into ESPN-level prognosicators.

But because seeing 18-24 year olds hit the hardwood is big business doesn't mean you have to price your tickets like a Harvard education. Boston's TD Banknorth Garden is hosting the Hartford Hall of Fame Showcase in early-December, featuring games between Gonzaga and UConn and Providence and Boston College. Mind you, it's two games and not a mini-tournament. A ticket to see both games? $252.50, $177.50, $127.50, $77.50, $52.50 and $27.50.

Yikes. Again, it's college basketball. If you do the math, it's an average ticket price of $119, meaning the total gate could be upwards of $2 million. $252 for two college games? Never mind that...$77.50? It seems the promoters are pricing the day as two separate events, but come on. Talk about ridiculous!

But even worse is another TD Banknorth event (sorry, Boston) happening in November. It's even worse because the industry is boxing who needs more help than even the NHL these days, but they continue to keep charging exorbitant pay-per-view costs and praying that the industry simply takes care of itself. Boxing promoters are notorious for being shady and in the face of a growing UFC phenomenon and an apathetic audience, you would think they'd try to appeal to fans by putting some good fights on free tv. However, the industry is very short-sighted and prefers to think for the now, rather than the future.

The November event is for the finale of the ESPN series, The Contender. Initially on NBC, the show features 12 boxers fighting for a shot to become a major player and win a tournament-style competition. Essentially, it's a boxing reality show that got low ratings despite a really entertaining first season. ESPN picked it up and airs the finale fight live on tv. (I'm surprised this actually wasn't on PPV and my guess is that the idea was at least bantered around. A series on free tv with a finale you charge for seems apropos for boxing).

So the total night will be five fights: the main event, a third-place bout and three additional fights. The ticket average jumps to $151 with $302.50, $202.50, $127.50, $77.50, $47.50 as your prices. My guess is that the venue won't sell out and hopefully, these costs are to blame. It's irritating to see an industry continually blunder and stumble when the obvious answers are in front of them.

Ticket prices are an obvious flashpoint for fans upset at the escalating costs of attending sporting events. I would love to hear the justifications for these two events.

Josh Nason is the Director of Marketing for Pro Sports Media and writes for several blogs, including Small White Ball.