Judging from some of the pricing schemes we have seen this past spring season, pricing a tournament appears to be one of the trickier things about managing the event. But it needn’t be. The rule is a hard and fast one that has not changed since we began bartering each other for goods and services. Here it is: Price your tournament to what the market will bear.
Something about the rule seems to have been lost in translation, especially pricing for the lower age groups. For example, many events are now offering a 8v8 and 11v11 at a certain age group. From our prespective, the price should be the same since the experience of competing in a tournament is the same and the ability to win a trophy is the same, regardless of the number of players per side. Yet, many events are putting in multi-tiered pricing based on the number per side. This is unnessesarily complicated and violates the primary rule of pricing.
I suspect that much of the pricing discussion runs along the lines of Well, since we have fewer players per team, the cost should be adjusted so the per player cost is consistent or even worse it only cost us one referee pay at 6v6, so we should charge less.
Which brings us to the second rule of pricing: Never price to your costs. Always price to the value you provide.
What many tournaments appear to be forgetting is that the pricing for the lower age groups is designed to create a LOSS LEADER category. Even if you fail to cover your costs for the lower age groups, you will most definately make up for it in merchandise, concessions and repeat business for many more years to come. Younger teams buy more stuff and teams tend to go back to the tournaments they had fun at when they were U8, 9 and 10.
Our Advice: Keep your pricing simple. Most tournament events don’t need more than 2 tiers of pricing; entry level teams that are just starting travel (U8/9-10) and older teams that are looking for more competition. You should be looking to get as much money out of the teams as the market will bear while they should be looking to get as much value out of your tournament as possible. As long as each feels they got a good deal, the price is right. And make sure your younger teams have fun!
Next pricing blog entry: What is your market?