Q–My friends and I believe the big sports contracts being given to athletes have ruined things for the average fan. We were debating which professional teams around the country now charge the most for tickets. Can you fill us in?
A–If sports tickets are a part of your family budget, you’ve been feeling a pinch. Professional sports ticket prices during the 1990s have been increasing at a 7 to 8 percent annual rate, according to the Chicago-based Team Marketing Report industry newsletter.
Surprisingly, 1996 ticket prices in the four major professional sports indicate the best-performing teams haven’t necessarily charged the highest amounts. Fan demand for tickets and the ability to sell out stadiums play primary roles.
For example, the highest average ticket price of all is paid by fans of the currently mediocre Boston Bruins hockey team. Other teams with so-so records also hold the No. 1 spots in ticket prices for basketball, football and baseball.
In the National Hockey League, the Bruins average $52.58 a ticket, the St. Louis Blues $49.09 and Philadelphia Flyers $49.02.
In the National Football League, the priciest average ticket has been the Oakland Raiders at $51.41, then San Francisco 49ers at $45 and Philadelphia Eagles at $42.83.
In the National Basketball Association, the highest average ticket price is the Portland Trail Blazers at $47.49, followed by the champion Chicago Bulls at $42.97 and New York Knicks at $42.14.
For professional baseball, the Boston Red Sox were tops at $15.43, the champion New York Yankees $14.58 and Cleveland Indians $14.52.
Most teams have said they’ll raise prices again next season, a decision tied not only to fan demand and escalating player contracts, but often the cost of building new stadiums, according to Team Marketing Report. Prices listed here don’t include sky boxes or luxury suites.
Q–Intel Corp. stock has done so amazingly well that I’d like to know what Wall Street currently thinks about it.
A–Wall Street thinks about Intel constantly, making it one of the stocks most heavily followed by analysts and the shining star in semiconductors.
Despite a smattering of downward revisions recently, Intel remains a consensus “buy” recommendation among the 42 analysts covering it, according to the I/B/E/S International research firm.
The semiconductor industry suffered an estimated 6 percent earnings decline in 1996, while Intel enjoyed a 39 percent increase.
Continuing this trend, the industrywide 22 percent earnings gain expected for 1997 compares to Intel’s projected 41 percent rise. However, that pace should slow a bit in 1998, with a 27 percent industrywide gain and 19 percent Intel increase predicted.
Q–I’ve been a reader of your column for many years and have found it helpful as I make financial decisions. I’d like your opinion of Stein Roe Young Investor Fund for my four grandchildren. The money is for college.
A–They’re fortunate to have such a concerned grandparent.
This fund, which targets the investment future of youngsters like your grandchildren, includes a colorful quarterly educational newsletter about investing for children.
Initiated in mid-1994, the $262 million Stein Roe Young Investor Fund gained 38 percent over the past 12 months to rank in the top 1 percent of growth funds.
It must invest at least 65 percent of assets in stocks issued by companies that “affect the lives of teenagers or children.” This inclusion of firms producing products or services that children or teenagers either use or are interested in is a broad concept encompassing an array of firms.
For example, largest holdings were recently Outdoor Systems, Intel, Eli Lilly, Remedy, Cisco Systems, Johnson & Johnson, Procter & Gamble, Gillette, Boston Scientific and McDonald’s.
This Chicago-based “no-load” (no initial sales charge) fund requires a $2,500 minimum initial investment.
———-
Andrew Leckey, who co-anchors the “Today’s Business” program on the CNBC cable television network each weekday from 5 to 7 a.m., answers questions only through the column. Address inquiries to Andrew Leckey, “Successful Investing,” Suite 367, 76 N. Maple Ave., Ridgewood, N.J.
