Updated throughout the day with quick takes from staff.
The New Jersey Devils have slightly raised ticket prices for next season, according to John Fischer at SB Nation's Devils blog, In Lou We Trust.
The New Jersey Devils' official website has all of the pertinent information up now. While the plans are phrased as "Frozen Over," that's not a reference for the ticket prices. Compared to this season's prices, they've actually went up a bit.
Last year, when the 2009-10 ticket prices were released, I found that the Devils significantly cut prices throughout most of the arena. My initial reaction to these prices was that the Devils are "tinkering." This is understandable, as they need to find the right price that will draw fans to buy tickets but at the same time make them as much money as possible. This shouldn't be news as this has always been a professional hockey team.
The Devils are in the middle of the road this season when it comes to average ticket prices around the league. Toronto leads the pack with an average price of $117.49 in 2009-10, while Dallas ranks 30th with an average price of $35.66. New Jersey ranks 16th at $48.05, just below the league average of $51.41.
Will fans be irked by this slight raise, though? Back to ILWT...
That said, I can certainly understand why some fans could be or will be upset about this. The New Jersey economy hasn't really got back to where it once was; so price increases are especially undesirable. For example, according to NJ.com, some people are very upset over fare hikes on NJ Transit lines. Granted, the Devils aren't increasing prices by 25% and people don't rely on Devils hockey like they might on mass transit; but I get the sense that a lot of the anger is over the fact that fares are just increasing when times are tough. I get that. Going back to the Devils, while none of the ticket increases are over $6 - at the box office or for season tickets - compared to this season's prices, I can see why some would be unhappy about this development.
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