Amare ... giving back

After Amare Stoudemire dominated game 3 of their series against the Lakers to the tune of 42 points, 11 boards ... I came across this story about him today. Great to see him doing his best for his fans.

NBA Star Uses Group Buying to Sell Playoff Tickets on Facebook

Phoenix Sun’s power forward Amar’e Stoudemire has teamed with AtCost.com and Razorgator Tickets to turn his Facebook Page into a group buying hub where fans can purchase discounted playoff tickets. Stoudemire’s group buying store employs a methodology that’s remarkably similar to the ideology that Groupon made popular. The store rewards Stoudemire fans with much cheaper playoff game ticket prices if enough people collectively purchase the tickets within an alloted time.

The first big discounted ticket deal was launched prior to Game 3 of the Lakers vs. Suns playoff match up, and sold out. Now the Game 4 offer is in full swing and offers a pair of tickets that normally retail for $600.00 in Sections 201 – 205 at a reduced price.

The price as of publishing is $302.81, but that price continues to drop as the offer is shared by Facebookers and purchased by more people. The price will continue to fall until the offer sells out or time runs out, with all ticket buyers only accountable to pay the final lowest price. Another bonus is that ticket buyers never have to leave Facebook during the process of the purchase transaction, and they can see how much their social media sharing activities will influence the ticket price.

While the idea behind Stoudemire’s store is not original, the application is still interesting. The notion that an individual athlete can drive bulk ticket sales via Facebook is quite unique. The people behind the strategy and application are proving that the combination of celebrity and social media carries real power measurable in dollars and fan promotion.