We at Sound Of Hockey have been asked on a number of occasions what is happening with Seattle Kraken season tickets for the 2025-26 season, as news about renewals, pricing, and benefits has repeatedly been pushed back by the organization.
We now have some clarity about the teamās plans in this area and got the inside scoop from Kraken senior vice president of marketing and communications, Katie Townsend. Kraken CEO Tod Leiweke also announced these updates to season ticket holders at a fan appreciation event at the 32 Bar and Grill on Tuesday.
A year of reflection for the organization
What Townsend told us is that the organization has been hard at work over the last year, determining what it has done well over its first four years in existence and what it can do better moving forward.
Factoring in survey results, listening sessions, focus groups with fans, and a myriad of other data sources, the Kraken believe theyāve done a strong job of getting both the Kraken and Coachella Valley Firebirds franchises off the ground. They built three state-of-the-art facilitiesāClimate Pledge Arena, Kraken Community Iceplex, and Acrisure Arena in Palm Desert, Calif.āand have had excellent attendance and merchandise sales numbers for both teams.
But they are also realistic that there are things they can (and want) to improve.
āWe looked at all of those areas and said, āHow do we make this better for fans?āā Townsend said. āAnd this comes from [Kraken chair and owner] Samantha Holloway and, I think, her tech background as well, being nimble and making changes. And her saying, āYeah, do these things if they make sense for the business.āā
On-ice struggles and a shift in focus
On the ice, things havenāt quite gone according to plan, aside from Year 2, when the team came up a goal shy of the Western Conference Finals. Now, as the Kraken head into their third extended offseason in four yearsāafter once again missing the postseason by a long shotāthe organization is looking at what it can do to improve its hockey product.
But itās also seeking ways to entice its fanbase to continue buying both season ticket packages and single-game options, beyond simply improving the teamāwhich it also hopes to do this summer.
āEveryone acknowledges this season didnāt go as weād hoped with where our expectations were, but [these changes are] totally unconnected to that,” Townsend said. “This is about how we look at particularly our season ticket members and our offerings.ā
So, what will change exactly?
New approach to pricing and benefits
The team believes season ticket holders want more exclusive benefitsāexperiences that money cannot buyāwhile the broader, ever-evolving fanbase wants more affordable single-game options.
For example, family packs have been seen as a smashing success for getting new fans in the door at Climate Pledge Arena to experience Kraken hockey. These types of packages (thereās a family bundle that includes four tickets, four hot dogs, four sodas, and a popcorn for as low as $150) will be more readily available for next season.
As for season ticket holders, they too will see reduced pricing on a vast majority of seats. According to Leiweke, about 90 percent of season ticket holders will see the per-game price of their seat decrease in 2025-26 compared to what they paid for the same seat in 2024-25 or remain flat. Exactly how much it will decrease (or if it will decrease) will depend on the location of the seat and several other factors, but the Kraken have re-evaluated their pricing models across the board. Some season ticket holders weāve heard from have received their updated pricing for 2025-26 and have seen decreases of up to 25 percent.
āWe felt like the world was a really different place when we did a lot of our initial setting of prices and setting of benefits, partly because of the pandemic and partly just the world that we live in,ā Townsend said. āFor a lot of our fans, they had never been in the arena, and our fanbase has evolved over time.ā
The fan experience and resale reality
I personally do not hold season tickets, since I get into the games as a member of the media. But one thing that has struck me on a number of occasions is that a season ticket holder may have paid $150 or more for their seat for a midweek game against an unexciting opponent in the middle of the season. As the teamās performance went sideways again, so too did demand on the resale marketāespecially for those types of gamesāand prices just before game time would often plummet.
So, although I donāt get too concerned about whether or not fans are able to offload tickets for games they either donāt want to attend or canāt attend (Iāve been a season ticket holder for other teams in the past and always viewed this as part of the price of the packageāyou commit to going to the games and accept the risk that they may go to waste if you canāt go), I do sometimes feel badly for people who paid three times what their neighbors paidāespecially when the season ticket member is the one that has been there almost every game and lived through all the highs and lows.
That does seem unfair to me, and I believe itās related to prices being set too high in the beginning. The team hopes that this exercise of reexamining pricing across the entire arena will help to rectify these types of issues, but how that shakes out remains to be seen. (I also think the team needs to be significantly better next season to ensure that demand remains high throughout the long season, but that’s a topic for another article.)
Regardless, the folks that sell tickets are doing everything they can to show that buying season tickets comes with good value. They are introducing new benefits in addition to the old ones, including a 25 percent discount on food and beverages throughout the arena for season ticket members, and a sort of choose-your-own-adventure calendar of events and experiences to pick from.
Weāve obtained the list of events, and they are as follows:
Signature Events (all season ticket members invited):
- Kraken 5k presented by Virginia Mason Franciscan Health
- Paint the Ice presented by Virginia Mason Franciscan Health
- STM Private practice(s) at Training Camp presented by Starbucks
- Crystal Mountain takeover
- Road Trip Experience in Vancouver
- Kraken Gear Sale
- NHL Draft Party at 32 Bar & Grill
- Development Camp Scrimmage
Chart Your Own Course (choose your own exclusive experience):
- Rookie game
- Season ticket member practice & meet Kraken players
- Kraken holiday photos with Buoy
- Skate at Climate Pledge Arena
- Watch party in player lounge for away game
- Watch party in 32 Bar & Grill with Kraken Hockey Network team
- “Play like a Kraken” adult hockey at Climate Pledge Arena
- āPlay like a Krakenā kids hockey at Climate Pledge Arena
From what we’ve heard, the changes to season ticket memberships are all very positive for fans. Are you a season ticket holder? If so, are you encouraged by these changes? Let us know in the comments.
Darren Brown
Darren Brown is the Chief Content Officer at soundofhockey.com and the host of the Sound Of Hockey Podcast. He is a member of the PHWA and is also usually SOH’s Twitter intern (but please pretend you don’t know that). Follow him @DarrenFunBrown and @sound_hockey or email darren@soundofhockey.com.
Nice work by ownership.
As a season ticket holder from the start, most of these changes were things that many of us gave feedback about on the various surveys the last couple of years. My seat price is going down by 20%… and while I was going to be back no matter what (cause I love hockey), I’m glad ownership was listening and I appreciate the changes that they’ve introduced as they were clearly needed.
Obviously, we all want the on-ice product to improve, but I don’t doubt ownership’s desire to listen to the fan base. Now… about those special teams… : )
We did not get any notice from the Kraken yet about this. I checked our account, and the total “invoice” for next year is very slightly *higher*. It may well be that we are in the 10% of seats that are not getting a decrease. That would not shock me as I think we have the best value seats in the arena (2nd row of Section 201) and seats in our vicinity almost always go above our cost on the secondary market.
Regardless, that 25% discount on concessions is absolutely huge. I did not expect that and it is very nice. Also, my hockey-playing kids would absolutely love the “play like a Kraken” thing. Although I wonder if it will be available for us humble half-seasoners…
Fellow STH since day 1 with seats in the 1st row of 203. I’m surprised to hear the luck you or others have had with resale as I have only been able to sell my seats at face value exactly 1 time. The rest have been at an extremely reduced price or I’ve just given them away. It’s been pretty disheartening to constantly go to a game where I’m sitting next to someone who got their tix for only $50 instead of $130-$140. These recent changes make me feel a lot better. Not only did my tix price go down by 25% but we can shift from a 3 year commitment to just 1 yr. It’s all still a stretch financially but I’m a lifer.
There is a massive difference in per-ticket price between the Row A seats and the Row B seats throughout the 200 level. Cost of the row B tickets is $93. Perhaps the difference has been narrowed a bit.
Oh never mind, I misread something. We did get a discount. I wish I could delete or edit prior posts.
STH from day 1, also got a nice reduction (22.5%). Iām on the 7 year, in section 114, not sure if either of those matter.
In terms of reselling, I try not to do it, but with 2 kids and varying reliability among a couple babysitters, sometimes it canāt be helped.
One thing Iāve done a couple of times is list a couple weekend games against Canadian teams in the fall. Those are the ones Iām able to get near or above face value. If itās last minute, I have to take a serious pay cut.
I know this might be frowned upon (I know I hate it when visiting fans sit near me) but just as often when itās last minute, I simply give them away to friends that are new to hockey and quickly becoming Kraken Fans.
I feel like thatās the best way to come close to breaking even in both the pocket book, and more importantly, in the eyes of the hockey gods.
Go Kraken!! (Except tonight if Boston wins)
I went from $164 to $120ā¦so almost 28%. Iām on the 100-level Row B, have sat in row A a few times and donāt think the Row A premium is worth it because the rail blocks my view at times.
I was definitely going to have to change my seat for next year to something cheaper, but with the reduction, I think I can stay where I am (which makes me happy because itās an awesome seat).
Inaugural season ticket holder and I’m one of the (un)lucky ones whos ticket price actually went up. My renewal is basically just increasing to the same price anyone pays now for those same seats. A bit disappointing considering I’ve talked with friends who’ve received massive discounts in most areas of the arena – especially those that are still in contract. Given the big decreases in other parts of the arena, I’ll be requesting the new seat price breakdown map since I might be able to get better seats now for not much more. Also, if you choose to continue the three-year contract, they say you get a “discount” of $10 per seat, but really you just get to keep the same price you were paying before (bar any per season increases of course) so it’s really an increase of $10 to switch to the one-year contract. Felt that was a bit misleading…
What part of the arena are your seats?
Also, M, are you sure it went up? My initial mistake was checking the (paid) “invoice” for 2024-25 on the account manager site. It was not accurate (not sure why). I went back and checked what the actual cost was for 2024-25 was, and it was higher, and also higher than the 2025-26 invoice by about 9%.
Yeah, I double-checked that as I knew how much my original invoice was before I exchanged seats. I’m in Loge on 100 level below the Space Needle Lounge. Others experienced this too. Not sure why this specific area got an increase (although it’s not much, but it’s the principal of it really).
Definitely double check your invoice. Maybe there’s some section by section differences but my prices dropped about 20 bucks per seat per game including the $10 discount. I’m paying less now than I was during their inaugural year by a decent margin.
Just re-upped my tickets yesterday – went from 90 to 70 per ticket, that feels much more fair and much closer to what the secondary market was going for.
Where are your seats? That’s less than mine and mine were $70 inaugural season, but have gone up since š
Iām really happy for all the folks who got big % reductions, but I was one of the apparently few that barely had any change. I got a measly decrease of $66 for the entire season. It really feels very unfair to have such a huge discrepancy, and Iāll admit it leaves me feeling bitter and unappreciated as an inaugural STH. Why couldnāt they have lessened the reductions just a bit for those getting the biggest discounts and thus allow everyone to get a reduction they could feel satisfied about?? Wouldnāt it make sense to have ALL STHs happy??
I have a thought on this that I feel makes sense. Possibly they are trying to encourage the long term season ticket holders to move to better seats and yes you can get the higher discount if you change seats. This would leave the less desirable seats that the kraken could use for their family bundle tickets deals etc.
Agreed. Just be thankful yours didn’t go UP like mine ha. It’s a minimal increase, but definitely leaves a bad taste in my mouth they increased anyone considering they decreased 80% and left 10% flat. Why ruffle feathers by targeting just 10% and only increasing theirs?
Well if analysis of the secondary market shows the season ticket prices were previously out of whack — i.e. disproportionately overpriced in some areas versus others — and that this was part of what was causing a lot of people to drop their memberships, it makes sense not to do an even, across-the-board decrease. I cannot vouch for whether they actually did a good analysis of the market value versus season ticket prices, but in theory that would make sense. We only got a 9% decrease, but like I said, I think our seats were way less overpriced as compared with others, so I can’t complain. You still have every right to complain, of course, if your seats are among the mere 10% that are going up — not saying you can’t. It would be interesting to see a new, updated pricing map to see how we all compare now. I still doubt we would switch.
Now that weāve got the STH pricing question answeredā¦
Did anything interesting come out of the exit interviews yesterday??? So far, not shocked that McCann was playing injured and that Bylsma admitted to having favorites (and, by obvious default, non-favorites).
Should we be assigning any meaning to the confirmation that Ron Francisā job appears to be safe (which Iām fine with), but that there wasnāt anything similar said about the coaching staff, or is it just wishful thinking on my part that at least some of them are getting booted?
I would imagine Ticketmaster gives them reports on the resale market, which I bet helped guide them when setting the new rates. However, by holding 200 level seats the same they narrowed the premium for buyers to get ābetterā seats. That likely pushes down what 200 STH get when selling. So while we havenāt had a blood bath the last few years like more expensive seats, everyone else will see an improvement but we will see our loses get worse.
As a STH with 4 full season seats in the 200 level, itās a bit annoying to feel again like a 3rd class fan, but honestly I would rather them keep all STH than lose them and then sell more multi packs and family bundles. Those seem to have done more harm than anything else to the resale market. Even in 23/24 without all those I did better when reselling games I couldnāt make and despite similar records this year was way more fun since it almost always felt like we were in the game.
It would be nice for them to give bigger discounts if people would sign up for longer commitments like they originally did. Reset prices lower the longer you commit to. Probably a smart idea to get people locked in before Sonics return and there is a lot more competition for peopleās money.
I think the fans in the 100 level and lower bowl had a significantly larger gap on face vs market value with our tickets vs the 200 level. The seats next to mine were permanently listed in the resale market at $100. Face value was $164 each.
I think Washington (aka Ovi-watch) was the only game they sold even close to face value. They mostly went for closer to $80, so less than half of face value.
They definitely didn’t hold all 200 level seats the same. A friend of mine had a decrease from $82 to $70, but they are also pretty far up there but still centre ice…