It’s an exciting time of the year for NHL season ticket holders as their teams begin the journey to vie for the Stanley Cup!
We know most season ticket holders can’t make it out to all the home games in the NHL schedule, so resale is a necessity. That’s understandable – whether it’s weekday NHL games that end too late at night, weekend commitments, or you need to resell the most valuable NHL games to finance your season ticket investment.
On top of that, a multitude of newer ticket resale marketplaces has gained traction with buyers over the incumbent NHL Ticket Exchange. The particular marketplace that you choose to list on may have fewer buyers than it used to. In the best-case scenario, you are only reaching 30% of buyers by listing on only one marketplace, which makes ticket resale more time-intensive, stressful, and challenging. TiqAssist’s technology broadcasts to 10+ marketplaces to reach 4x the buyers.
List Your NHL Tickets As Soon As Possible
Sell at the NHL schedule release to get the best sales
List your tickets as far out from the event as possible. The buyers shopping at the schedule release are willing to pay a high price as they tend to be die-hard fans or planners that want the certainty of having the tickets in hand, particularly for the hottest games of the year. On the flip side, most sellers haven’t gotten around to listing their tickets or are waiting until closer to the game when they know whether they can attend or not. That means at the NHL schedule release, there’s extremely limited supply and very high demand, which leads to a seller’s market!
There are other key reasons to list early. First, you want to sell before key injuries happen on either the home team or the visiting team. Whether it’s a superstar injured or resting, that could reduce the value of the ticket in half or more.
If you are unable to list around the schedule release, we recommend selling at least five weeks in advance of the game. This is because most sellers list one to four weeks before the game, so you’ll want to get out in front of these sellers before they flood the market with inventory.
Also, sellers start feeling the time crunch as the game nears, at which point it’s a race to the bottom as sellers undercut each other.
Sell Monday/Tuesday/Wednesday games or low-resale value opponents first, and price the tickets to sell quickly.
These games tend to see high supply as the game approaches because season ticket holders don’t want to go, and there is rarely any demand on the buyer side. Best to get out ahead of the falling prices and sell early, particularly if you are listing on the NHL Ticket Exchange.
If your team looks like they will fall out of playoff contention, list your tickets asap.
Once the team loses sight of playoffs, fans lose interest which leads to high supply and low demand, and prices tank.
Pricing Tips for NHL Tickets
How do I price my NHL tickets?
First, look at comparable resale listings. Comparable resale listings are seats that are similar or closer in distance to center ice and four rows behind you or closer to the ice. If you have seats on the “home team attacks twice” side, you will not want to compare to the “visiting team attacks twice” side. Find the cheapest seats that meet those criteria, then price above or below based on the below information.
Second, you can gauge the direction of the market and whether to price below or above the competition based on the following attributes. The more negatives apply to the game, the lower you should price your tickets because it’s extremely likely the tickets will drop in price even more.
Negatives:
Selling within one month of the game. The closer the game, the lower the prices will be in general.
Home team is likely not going to the playoffs or underperforming expectations.
Key injuries to either the home team or the visiting team
Monday/Tuesday/Wednesday games. Monday being the worst, Tuesday second worst
Low resale value opponents
Lottery pick team, minimal legacy, doesn’t draw well on the road
Examples (the worst resale teams shown first): Arizona Coyotes, Anaheim Ducks, Carolina Hurricanes, San Jose Sharks, Ottawa Senators, Columbus Blue Jackets, Florida Panthers
The game is part of a home back-to-back, a long homestand, or 3 home games in 4 days type situation
Bad weather
Day games
Games on a Sunday during the NFL season
Positives:
Selling more than one month from the game. The further away from the game, the more you can sell your tickets for in general
Home team is performing to or better than the expectation going into the season
Opponent is performing to or better than the expectation going into the season
Great resale value opponents
Either they are a legacy team, have superstars, a deep fanbase, or are championship contenders.
Examples (the best resale teams shown first): Pittsburgh Penguins, Washington Capitals, Tampa Bay Lightning, Chicago Blackhawks, Boston Bruins, New York Rangers, Toronto Maple Leafs
Friday/Saturday/Sunday games (Saturday being the best)
Rivalry game
Avoid hitting the price floor.
Certain NHL teams employ “price floors”, where you are not allowed to price your tickets below a certain price point. Teams employ this so that season ticket holders don’t undercut the team’s unsold tickets.
If your team does have price floors, all the more reason to price your tickets to move quickly. Oftentimes, the true resale value of your tickets will go below the price floor, and you will be stuck with the tickets.
Your only alternative option is to list your tickets on the marketplaces that are not official resale partners of the team (the NHL Ticket Exchange), as they most likely will not implement the price floor.
Pay Off Your NHL Payment Plan
Payment plans get in the way of you listing your tickets at the right time.
While a 0% interest payment plan seems great on the surface, you can’t list tickets through the NHL Ticket Exchange if the game has not been paid in full. Delaying reselling your listings can cost you significantly in the end via the lower resale prices that you are likely to encounter as the game nears.
List Your Tickets On Every Major Resale Marketplace
You may reach only 15-25% of NHL buyers if you list on one marketplace.
The downside for sellers is that nowadays, buyer demand is split across multiple sites. So if you are only listing on one platform, you might be reaching just 15-25% of buyers out there.
Have professionals sell your tickets for you.
Certain professional ticket resellers have the tools to list on all major platforms simultaneously without the risk of a ticket double-selling. In addition to listing on Ticketmaster, Stubhub, and Seatgeek – professional ticket sellers will also list on other popular sites like VividSeats, Gametime, TickPick, and broker-to-broker exchanges. This allows professional ticket resellers to reach essentially 100% of buyers, increasing their chances at a great sale price.
TiqAssist provides services for season ticket holders looking for a professional to sell games they can’t attend. Between listing your tickets on 10+ resale marketplaces, guaranteeing your tickets will sell, and not having to lift a finger to sell your tickets, you’ll enjoy being a season ticket holder again! Learn more at tiqassist.com.
You may reach only 20% of NBA buyers if you list on one marketplace.
The downside for sellers is that nowadays, buyer demand is split across multiple sites. So if you are only listing on one platform, you might reach just 20% of buyers out there.
Have professionals sell your tickets for you.
Certain professional ticket resellers have the tools to list on all major platforms simultaneously without the risk of a ticket double-selling. In addition to listing on Ticketmaster, Stubhub, and Seatgeek – professional ticket sellers will also list on other popular sites like VividSeats, Gametime, TickPick, and broker-to-broker exchanges. This allows professional ticket resellers to reach essentially 100% of buyers, increasing their chances at a great sale price.
TiqAssist provides services for season ticket holders looking for a professional to sell games they can’t attend. Between listing your tickets on 10+ resale marketplaces, guaranteeing your tickets will sell, and not having to lift a finger to sell your tickets, you’ll enjoy being a season ticket holder again! Learn more at tiqassist.com.
Closing Thoughts
Reselling NHL tickets is a reality for most season ticket holders and has become more challenging over the years as more resale marketplaces have emerged. Your best shot at success is listing as far in advance as possible and following our pricing tips above.
These tips were written by our selling experts. Follow us on social media to get more up-to-date information and the latest tips to give you an edge when selling tickets.
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If you enjoyed this article, you’d love having TiqAssist’s selling experts and technology fully manage your ticket resale for you. Just click “List” for any game on your personalized dashboard, and you’re done!
