Abstract des Autors

Football clubs usually generate revenues from three different sources: broadcasting, commercial activities, and ticket sales (Bühler & Nufer; 2010). In contrast to clubs in the English Premier League, teams in the Bundesliga are unable to capitalize on ticket sales (Nufer & Fischer, 2013). Until now ticket prices in the Bundesliga have been the lowest among Europe’s top five leagues despite its clubs having the highest stadium attendance in European football (Nufer & Fischer, 2013). Yet, revenues from ticket sales are the most controllable stream of income for football clubs, and charging a higher price for tickets can drive revenues without any upfront investment (Nufer & Fischer, 2013). Hence, the optimization of ticket revenues represents a major opportunity for sport clubs of the Bundesliga to cope with increasing financial obligations like rising player salaries, transfer fees, or stadium maintenance costs (Bundesliga Report, 2014; Drayer, Shapiro, & Lee, 2012). While in recent years all Bundesliga clubs have implemented some form of variable ticket pricing, the new developed pricing strategy of dynamic ticket pricing has not been applied thus far by football clubs in Germany.