Below are photos from Wayne’s 2009 Fantasy Camp.  Click here to order official Fantasy Camp VII photos provided by Bruce Bennett Studios.

Mick Kern appears courtesy of Live From Wayne Gretzky’s

So I’m reading Sports Illustrated on the long subway ride home, when I come across this small article about the San Francisco Giants of the National League, and how they’re going to unveil something they’re calling “dynamic ticket pricing” for the upcoming baseball season.

Which basically means this…depending on some complex algorithm that was developed by a couple of eggheads from the University of Texas, 2,000 of the least-desirable tickets way up in the nosebleeds will be sold are varying prices, depending on what formula the computer spits out after considering 20 variables.

And those variables include what team the Giants are playing, the weather, who’s pitching that game, how fresh the hot dogs are, and whether-or-not Barry Bonds has been jailed.

According to SI, that means the cheapest 7 dollar ticket could suddenly be had for, say, 12 dollars, or, the most expensive cheapest ticket, normally yours for a mere 30 dollars, could rise as high as 80 bucks.  Well, not right away.  The tickets could only fluctuate 50 cents per day.

Meaning, the suddenly poverty-stricken Giants could reap an additional $810,000 in ticket revenue this upcoming season.

(Which they’ll probably squander on some burnt-out, steroid-laden pitcher who’s released at mid-season).

Good plan.  If, of course, anyone even wants these tickets in the first place.  The Giants didn’t exactly set the NL on fire last season, though they are expected to be much better in 2009.

Why this relates to hockey is obvious; anything pro sports teams can do to squeeze a few extra bucks out of sports-mad fans, well, the other teams will fall over themselves rushing to copy each other.

Remember personal seat licenses?  One of the most disgusting concepts in the long-rotten history of attempting to fleece the consumer.

Let’s see.  You pay us for the season tickets to watch the Amityville Horrors.  But…first…you have to pay us just for the right to buy those season tickets.

But get this…that seat, the one your oversized bum will settle in for 81 painful home games?  That seat is now YOURS!!!!

You can’t rip it up and take it with you after the season is over, or paint it your favourite colour, but you could sell the rights to putting your butt in that seat to someone else.

See, creative capitalism can be fun!

Here in Toronto, the Maple Leafs have rarely had a problem selling tickets in Maple Leaf Gardens or the Air Canada Centre, though the myth of every ticket being sold for decades is exactly that, a myth.  During some of the franchises darker days in the mid-80’s, larger-than-life owner Harold Ballard was known for buying up some of the unsold seats himself, in order to keep that myth alive.

Regardless, the Leafs are a tough ticket.  Even though the team recently alluded to the fact even they’ve been somewhat impacted by the tough economic times gripping the globe, the franchise is in no danger of having to hold a fire sale, and moving to Kitchener-Waterloo.

Their sporting neighbors across the way, the once-proud Toronto Blue Jays, cannot say the same thing.  During their heyday’s of the early 90’s, the Jays won back-to-back World Series Championships, scooped up most of the glitzy free agents, and were the first MLB team to draw over 4 million fans to their ballpark in one season.

It seemed like the good times would never end, and the franchise developed an arrogance that took them years to shed, even after the party had been over for a while.

Now, the team regularly papers the house, and they’re one of many MLB franchises that have gone the route of variable pricing for their home games.

For instance, everyone knows the New York Yankees, and the Boston Red Sox, always attract more fans, whether they be from out-of-town/out-of-country, or merely curious Torontonians who don’t really care about baseball, but wanna gawk at A-Rod and Jeter.

So, most of them folk won’t mind, or even notice, if their tickets are jacked up, say, 10 extra dollars for these “premium” games.

And why stop there?  Everyone knows that Opening Day is one of the time-honoured Rites of Spring; any team is practically guaranteed to pack the house.  Heck, the Montreal Expos even were able to coerce 40,000 souls to show up for Opening Day, only to see attendence settle back into the 5,000-7,500 range for the next two games of the same series.

So, a team raises the price for the Yanks, and the Bosox, and Opening Day, and, saaaaay, what about Saturday and Sunday afternoon games?

You know the ones that families can actually get to with their brood?  They’re probably good for the additional money, because most families won’t be attending weekdays games that might end at 10:20 pm, if they’re lucky.

Throw into that mix whatever team is the “hot” team that year (the Angels?  interleague games against the Philllies?), and presto, you have just created for your team additional revenue sources without doing a darn thing.

Brilliant.

If…people actually buy the tickets.

You see, that’s the thing.  Regardless of price, people still have to want to attend your event.  You could offer me Toronto Raptor tickets in the nosebleeds for 10 bucks a pop, and I might take my young son with me to see a game or two, but that’s the extend of my interest.  It would be a novelty.  I care not a bit for basketball, and affordable tickets will not change my mind.

It might work with those that have never been exposed to a game, say, like NHL hockey, in what we all call non-traditional markets, so it might be worth a try.

Cheap tickets, that is.  Just this week, the ever-amusing Tampa Bay Lightning announced really cheap, and I mean, REALLY CHEAP season ticket packages for the 2009-10 season.  And they were widely ridiculed for it, one pundit even comparing the Lighting to a WHA team, which is rather accurate, come to think of it.

I don’t think what the Lightning are doing concerning cheap tickets is a joke, but it contains an inherent risk.  If you greatly devalue your product, in an effort to attract more paying customers, unless you completely hook them, what you’ve effectively done is cheapen your own product, maybe permanently.

If a couple buys 2009-10 season tickets for the Bolts, and actually end up becoming fans of the team, well, unless they’ve got considerable disposable income (which it appears more and more of us don’t have), how will you convince them to upgrade their tickets to a pricing range that will be much more economically beneficial to your team?

You can’t very well turn around and say, okay, next season, these same tickets will have a price increase of 300%.  Or can you?  It all depends on how many people re-up, contrasted with how many give you the middle finger.  Churn, I believe we call it…as in, go sit on a butter churn and rotate.

The Lightning may not have a choice in the matter.  The NHL is very much a gate-driven league.  A couple of people attending a Tuesday night game on cheap tickets, who would have to pay for parking, and overpriced popcorn, and watered-down soft drinks, and maybe an ad-filled program, and if the kids are along, a stupid foam finger ((believe me, we have a couple of them littering our house), and maybe a souvenir puck…well, that’s better than not having those folks pass through your doors.

Other markets can afford not to dance with the discount devil.  In their cases, variable pricing may be exactly what the market can bear.  Because, after all, tickets to a pro sporting event is not a basic human right.  It is a luxury, even if it’s a reasonable price.  It’s the circuses part of Bread and Circuses.  If your local pro sports team prices itself out of the market, and have to leave town or fold, well, yes, it’s sad, because we’re all sports fans, but except for the employees of the team, it’s really not that big of a deal.  Your city will not fold up.  There are other things to do.  Read a book.  Heck, learn to read.

Yes, some would lose their jobs, yet most of the jobs lost would be of the low-paying, low skill set variety.  I’m not suggesting these jobs are not important, but people are not making a decent living off them, and often these jobs are seasonal anyhow.  These low-paying jobs are not reason enough to give public money to pro sports teams.

And here’s the thing pro sports swindlers try to trick you with every time a team threatens to move.  Yes, there are spinoff financial benefits that come with having a pro sports team in your town.  For example, the adjacent restaurants and bars are filled the nights the home team is home, and often when the home team is on the road, so they benefit from having that team remain in place.

But if that pro sports team backs in the Mayflower vans and leave, they’re not taking the community’s money with them.  In some cases, it has been argued, the community actually come out ahead financially, after not having to shell out for sweetheart deals to keep said team in town.

The money that Mom and Dad and kid and sister spent to see the Amnityville Horrors will be spent somewhere else.  Maybe at the movies, or at the hardware store, or at the local arcade, or at whatever other entertainment choices their city boasts.

The pro sports teams does not have a secret vacuum that will suck your money along with them.  Oh sure, some out-of-town visitors won’t drop by to cheer on their team, but when you do the math, more-often-than not, the money spent in order to keep a pro sports team happy, is not made up by this out-of-town revenue.

It’s the same thing when teams argue that public money should be used to fully or partially fund the building of a new arena, or ballpark, or football field.  “Think of all the concerts that’ll come to town and the money they’ll generate”.  That’s a common line.

Yeah, money for other people.  These carpetbaggers can convince me if they were to argue sports is part of the city’s culture, as important as the ballet, or the symphony, or even a museum, and I’m willing to swallow that.  But it’s always interesting to watch staunch capitalists turn into cultural socialists overnight if it means they can tap into public funds.  It’s so blatant, it’s shameful, yet it continues.

Did Springfield really need a Monorail?

Want a evocative sports read?  Then pick up a copy of Field of Schemes by Joanna Cagan and Neil deMause.  They throughly deconstruct the simple-minded arguments that a city gains financially by giving into the demands of a caterwauling sports team.  It’s worthy reading, particularly in these times when so many common folk (meaning you and me and most of us) are worried losing their jobs, and keeping their house.

With that in mind, it made for great reading last month when one of the bigwigs of the New York Yankees wrote a newspaper piece on why public money was not wasted when it was poured into the new playpen for the Bronx Bombers.  It read much like the propaganda from the mid-90’s that attempted to convince people that personal seat licenses were a liberating thing for sports fans, not a cash grab by greedy owners who know a cash cow when they see one.

Sure, the civic pride takes a bit of a hit when a big league team pulls up stakes.  Here in Toronto, only Canada’s largest city, and one of the major media markets in North America, the same cast of characters continually talk of “putting Toronto on the map” by chasing after big money dreams like the Olympics, or the NFL.  And, you’ll notice, most of these folk who dream these impossible dreams want to use your money to fund their dream…and then they’ll sell it back to you as “Our Dream”.

It’s called bribing you with your own money.  And sadly, it usually works.

(In that case, you’re damn right it’s a basic human right to get tickets to the Opening Ceremonies or the Gold Medal Game; after all, my tax money paid for it).

So now that we’ve established that attending pro sporting events is not a human right, why should any of us care what a particular team wants to charge for a ticket?  They can be shortsighted and price themselves out of the market, or they can be shortsighted and devalue their product in a desperate attempt to get you to go out with them.

But I have a suggestion to add to what the San Francisco Giants, and no doubt other teams, are going to do this year.

The variable pricing model?  Why stop at pre-game pricing?

How about in-game variable pricing?

Let’s take what I’m calling the Kern Kash (C) model and apply it to pro hockey.

Before the game starts, we’ll copy what the Giants are doing, and come up with some 20-point checklist to determine how much a ticket for a specific game should cost.  For example, here are some of the factors we’ll weight before determing how much you’ll have to fork over for a ticket:

- where is the seat located?

- how close is it to a washroom?

- how close is it to a clean washroom?

- will “Wally The Beer Guy” show up more than once-a-game?

- who’s the opponent that night?

- weekend or weeknight game?

- pleasant or terrible weather outside?

- who are the starting goaltenders?

- is Pierre McGuire between-the-benches that night?  (that’s good for an extra 5 bucks a ticket)

- who’s singing the National Anthem(s)?

- do fans promise not to do The Wave?

For argument’s sake, let’s say the Amnityville Ice Dogs are playing the visiting Hartford Jets.  The Jets are second in the division, and are starting hot-shot rookie goalie Scary Price in net.  Factor all that together, and your second-level blue-line ticket will cost your 85 dollars.

But wait!  Here’s where the Kern Kash (C) model gets interesting.  Depending on how the game unfolds, and how other in-game experiences go, you either will be refunded a portion of your initial ticket price, or will have your credit card charged for an additional fee, when you leave the arena that night.

But never more than 10 dollars either way.  Trust me, though, as the priniciple owner of the Ice Dogs, I’ll make sure we collect more than we refund; after all, this is a business.

After the first period, the Jets hold a 3-1 lead, thanks in part to a shorthanded goal by 58-year-old Claude Lemieux, attempting yet another comeback.

Since the home team is playing poorly, all ticket holders in the variable pricing areas of the arena are immediately credited with 5 dollars.

Halfway through the second period, some drunk in Section B spills his beer all over seats 1-5 in row 14.  These good folk are credited an additional 5 bucks, keeping in mind this part of the promotion might be swiftly discontinued when fans clue into the fact that spilling your beer, on purpose, on the good folk in front of you, will lower ticket prices.

Then again, REAL fans would never spill their beer.  Even our watered-down swill.

Third period is underway.  Goaltender Scary Price is sensational, stoning the home team, and the visiting Jets win 5-1.

Now, normally, the home team losing would be a bad thing, and everyone is attendence would receive a two-dollar credit, but tonight, the opposing goaltender is an emerging superstar, and you were lucky enough to see him turn in a virtuoso performance, and such artistry has a price, so everyone in attendence now owes an additional ten dollars on their ticket.

Which means your 85 dollar ticket that you bought to enter the Ice Dog House will now end up costing you 90 dollars, unless you were doused with beer.  Oh, and Pierrre McGuire was between-the-benches, so that’s 95 buckets, buddy, and be thankful it was only that much.  Don’t you know we have a ticket waiting list 25 years long?

Now that would truly be variable pricing.  Let the market bear what the market can afford, but on a period-by-period basis.

And, of course, every game will be on the club-owned pay-per-view cable station.

And, if you don’t like it, keep this in mind.

You don’t have to buy a ticket.

- Mick Kern

Mick Kern appears courtesy of Live From Wayne Gretzky’s

Click here to order official Fantasy Camp VII photos.  Photography of Wayne’s camp is provided by Bruce Bennett Studios.  Enter password gretfan7 for access.  Gallery

Effort. That’s it.  That’s all there is to say.  Effort.  Hear more on this with Wayne from right after the game.

St. Louis awaits on Saturday night on Fox Sports Arizona.

- Todd

Scouts Walter Gretzky, Charlie Henry and John Muckler selected the 4 teams that competed for the 2009 Gretzky Cup.  Review each roster along with the pros that played on each team.  Rosters

Campers were treated to a surprise guest after practice on Day 2 at Wayne’s fantasy camp.  None other than Mr. Hockey, Gordie Howe joined Walter Gretzky to host a private event at WG Authentic’s new warehouse office in Scottsdale, Arizona.

Gordie joined the 2009 participants as they cheered on Wayne while his Coyotes were on the road in Nashville. Team rosters were also announced as the chase for the Gretzky Cup begins.

Camp News

Wayne Gretzky Fantasy Camp VII
Team Rosters

Team A
Coaches: Walter Gretzky, Charlie Henry
Pros: Courtnall, Pang
Pos.   No.     Name
G     29     Hambleton, Jason
F      17     Balkan, Rick
F      91     Benoit, Michael
F      24     Burton, Dean
F      44     Dennis, Gord
F      56     Ehrenworth, Brian
F      11     Gauthier, Craig
F        1     Howland, Rob
F      10     Johnson, Mike
F      11     Kniep, Brad
F      16     Konecsni, Aaron
F      78     Lachance, Adrian
F        9     O’Toole, Dan
F      17     Oracheski, James
F        9     Symons, Scott
D      22    Brown, Bobby
D        7    Morris, Steve
D        6    Mandrusiak, Chris
D      33    Sim, Al

Team B
Coaches: Cap Raeder, Colin Brownlie
Pros: DeBrusk, Maloney, Ciaccio, Mio
Pos.   No.     Name
G     30     Maclean, Chris
F      12     Christianson, Brooke
F      26     Christianson, Blair
F        9     Christianson, Cam
F      15     Clarke, Chris
F        9     Hoac, Len
F      33     Hollands, Roy
F        9     Knaus, Steven
F        9     Macdonald, Mark
F      82     McDonald, Lowell
F      11     McDowell, Monique
F      17     So, Allan
F        9     Tjostheim, Trevor
F      17     Wilson, Jonathan
F        8     Yarkie, Greg
D      91    Block, Gary
D      27    Mitropoulos, Gus
D        7    Rossiter, Paul
D        8    Wilkinson, Darren

Team C
Coaches: John Muckler, Marty McSorley
Pros: Fleury, Samuelsson, Fuhr
Pos.   No.     Name
G      31     Mihaychuk, Craig
F         8     Brescia, Steve
F       71     Evans, Mark
F       26     Evtushevski, Greg
F         8     Farrell, Kevin
F       91     Free, Kevin
F       12     Goodhue, Neil
F       11     Gretzky, Ty
F       19     Hansvall, Tex
F         8     Kong, Kenny
F       46     Lymer, Brent
F       27     McCarthy, Mike
F         3     O’Flynn, Terry
F       77     Phillips, Darrin
F       13     Sealy, Chris
D      77     Crysdale, Geoff
D      14     Richardson, Brad
D      75     Rammelt, David
D      21     Wong, Kenny

Team D
Coaches: Glen Gretzky, Joe Lama
Pros: B. Gretzky, Robinson, Sulliman
Pos.     No.    Name
G         1    Ducasse, Don
G       29    Kohler, Ian
F        17    Carder, Tim
F        11    Champagne, Daniel
F          7    Dewinetz, Troy
F        91    Edmonstone, Sandy
F          2    Green, Darrell
F        33    Hartigan, Colin
F        55    Jensen, Peter
F        15    Lauridsen, Torben
F          9    Mori, Derek
F          8    Nicholson, Graham
F        19    Patry, Denis
F        10    Pomerleau, Dean
F          9    Serediak, Leanne
F          3    Siklos, Andy
D       22    Dickey, Ryan
D       44    George, Mark
D       11    Giles, Marty
D         6    Unruh, Dale

So is it a good thing that your team hasn’t taken any penalties in the last couple of games, or is it a bad thing? That is the question. The answer?

Click to listen:

The other question will be answered later tonight. Can the Coyotes come with up the timely goal. The huge power play goal at the critical moment when it is needed most.  The problem? Nashville has given up just one ppg in six of their last 7 games.

Check it all out tonight on AZ TV!

- Todd

Who gets the start in goal tomorrow?  How should a young team handle the pressure of trade deadline day? And will Wayne take the stage with Nickelback tonight here in Nashville?

Listen carefully…

And incase you couldn’t hear Wayne, here is Panger…

See ya in Nashville on Thursday night on AZTV.

- Todd

Listed is a tentative schedule for this year’s camp.  Note – all times are in Mountain Standard Time.

Wednesday, February 25

10:00am – 6:00pm:  Arrival/Registration
6:00pm:  Fantasy Camp VII Kick-off Reception

Thursday, February 26

6:00am-10:00am:  Breakfast
7:30am:  Group 1 departs for practice
8:30am:  Group 1 practice begins
9:15am:  Group 2 departs for practice
9:45am:  Group 1 practice ends
10:00am:  Group 2 practice begins
10:45am:  Group 1 returns to hotel
11:15am:  Group 2 practice ends
12:15pm:  Group 2 returns to hotel
5:30pm:  All Depart for a special Fantasy Camp party hosted by WG Authentic
9:00pm:  Return to Hotel

Friday, February 27 – GRETZKY CUP Begins…

6:00am-10:00am:  Breakfast

7:30am:  Teams A and B depart for Alltel Ice Den
8:30am:  Team A vs Team B
Teams C and D depart for Alltel Ice Den
10:15am:  Teams C vs D
11:00am:  Teams A and B return to hotel
12:30pm:  Teams C and D return to Hotel

Open night for Campers to enjoy the Scottsdale area.

Saturday, February 28

6:00am-10:00am:  Breakfast
10:45am:  Teams A and C depart for Jobing.com Arena
11:45am:  Teams B and D depart for Jobing.com Arena
12:45pm:  Teams A vs C
2:15pm:  Teams B vs D
3:00pm:  Bus departs for Xona Resort Suites.

Campers can also stay to watch second game and remain at Westgate prior to the Coyotes vs St. Louis Blues game at 7:00pm.  Bus departs Xona Resort Suites for the Coyotes game at 7:00pm

Immediately after the Coyote’s game the buses will depart for the Xona Resort Suites.

Sunday, March 1

6:00am-10:00am:  Breakfast
8:30am:  Teams B and C depart for Jobing.com Arena
10:00am:  Teams A and D depart for Jobing.com Arena
10:00am:  Teams B vs C
11:30am:  Teams A vs D

1:30pm:  Consolation Game
3:00pm:  Championship Game
5:00pm:  Buses depart for the Xona Resort Suites
7:00pm:  Awards Banquet hosted by No. 99

Monday, March 2

6:00am-10:00am:  Breakfast, Departure Day