ORANGE COUNTY PERSPECTIVE : Don’t Forget the Little Guy

The Mighty Ducks of Anaheim are getting some of their ducks in a row for their inaugural hockey season, but not all of them.

They have just announced the hiring of a general manager to begin to pull it all together by October. But already, before a single puck has been dropped in Anaheim Arena, there is justifiable restiveness in the potential fan pool over the pricing of tickets.

The first thing to be said is that hockey ticket prices in general, like prices for so many professional sporting events nowadays, are awfully expensive. They increasingly strain the budgets of the very families for which the games ostensibly are put on.

Overall, the season and single-game prices that the Walt Disney Co. announced this month fall between the least and most expensive in the National Hockey League, and they are not out of line with recent expansion team pricing.

However, after all of the corporate expense account seats and those for people of means are taken into account, somebody should consider those regular folks seeking a night out in the cheap seats. That’s especially so for an expansion franchise, and especially so again for an owner that is so conspicuously in the family entertainment business.

The initial announcements of $16 for low-end season subscription tickets and $18 for tickets bought over the counter caused potential buyers to gasp.

Such prices are a step short of enticing. After all, comparable seats at the Forum to see the established Kings are $10 and $11, respectively. So what will the expansion Ducks be offering in a wobbly first season that makes them worth the extra bucks?

This week, Disney appeared to back off somewhat from the initial shocker by saying that some tickets may be held out of the season ticket offering for charity or youth giveaways, and for fans who stand in line on game day for a limited and unspecified number of discount tickets at an unspecified price.

So until there is more satisfactory information on both accounts--the number and cost--the average fan is left to contemplate low-end seats at too high a price.