Los Angeles Clippers owner Steve Ballmer and Seat Bid are promoting the online ticket bidding marketplace by offering fans the chance to bid on two of Ballmer’s baseline courtside seats for the team’s Feb. 15 home game against the Atlanta Hawks.
Ballmer hopes to drum up interest in Seat Bid, which he referred to as the “eBay” of ticking buying during his Conan O’Brien appearance in December. The highest bidder will get to sit with Ballmer in his seats near the Clippers’ bench, sample the all-you-can-eat menu and take advantage of VIP valet parking.
Bidding was set at $10,000 per ticket, but the current high bid is just above $2,000. All of the proceeds will be donated to charity through the L.A. Clippers Foundation.
Seat Bid is one of multiple ticket buying options listed on the Clippers official website. But it is the only online marketplace the team offers without locked-in prices. And the concept is simple: allow fans looking to buy high-priced premium seats the chance to bid on the tickets.
As Ballmer noted in his Conan interview, Seat Bid enables fans to pay less than the asking price for a game against a lower-caliber NBA team. But when the Golden State Warriors come to Staples Center, fans with deep pockets can pay as much as possible for tickets.
“We know then that the fan paid a price they wanted to pay, not too much not too little,” Ballmer said on Conan.
The Clippers’ Seat Bid website is “powered by” Flash Seats. And AXS, which has partnered with the Clippers, L.A. Kings, Houston Rockets and professional teams, helps provide the digital platforms and user data.
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Seat Bid lets the Clippers auction off tickets while fans can bid on, or auction off tickets on Flash Seats’ website or app.
The Cleveland Cavaliers suspended the bidding option on its Flash Seats page before the start of this season. Since then, the bidding option ban has ended.
What would you bid to sit courtside w/ Steve? 🤔