I've been throwing around the idea of securing my place in line for season tickets, even though I'm about 500 miles away, and will be moving even farther away in the near future.  I was trying to find out how long the Waiting List was for tickets, and nobody seemed to have a definitive answer.  On Sunday, I found my answer.  I read an article in the Indiana Business Journal, asking the question: "Is Lucas Oil Stadium too small already?"  I'll get to that part later.

There was a table in the article that had the numbers for each of the 3 wait lists:

I finally have my answer, and it is much bigger than I was expecting.  25,000 is a very healthy waiting list.  I'm sure if we looked at the number pre-Super Bowl, it would be less than 10,000.  It's good to have a decent sized waiting list, and Larry DeGaris, director of academic sports marketing programs at the University of Indianapolis, agrees with this:

“It doesn’t hurt the team to create a sense of scarcity,” DeGaris added. “If you have excess supply, that’s not good for a team. You devalue your entire product.”

 As great a run the Colts have experienced over the past 7-8 years, it seems unrealistic for the franchise to continue to win 12 games a year for 20 years and beyond.  There will be a slow period, and that wait list will be down to 0.  DeGaris also gave an example of this phenomenon, in a slightly larger market than Indianapolis:

“The New York Knicks had a waiting list of 15,000 for season tickets until 2005,” DeGaris said. “When that team hit hard times, the waiting list evaporated. Knicks officials went through the entire list, and still couldn’t fill Madison Square Garden.”

You always want the product to be good enough to stay on the "demand" side of the supply/demand curve.  Demand is obviously very high right now, and should continue at least until #18 hangs them up.   That's why I don't agree that the Luke is too small.  Sure they may be losing some money right now, especially with the luxury boxes.  For a city the size of Indianapolis, which is still primarily a basketball-first city and state, the overall size is perfect. 

For information on joining the Colt's waiting list, see this website.  I should have gotten in before they went out and won the Super Bowl.  Oh well, I guess I'll get in line with all the other Colts fans who want to sit in the nose bleeds of the new digs.