Sims calls Brewer out on Parking Issue

[jbrown84]

Saw on News 9 tonight Frank Sims being interviewed saying he was worried about Brewer's parking lots price gauging for the tournament. They are charging $10 and if I understood right, that's not an all-day pass. And Brewer sent his son to respond.

So $10 bucks? Too much?

[Spartan]

Who wants to take bets that the money will go to a good use.

[BDP]

So $10 bucks? Too much?

It's still cheaper than in most places and there are a lot of places to park downtown that are much cheaper than that. All this shows is that people are more location sensitive than they are price sensitive. If they really don't like the price of Brewer's lots, then park elsewhere. If Brewer sees that the cheaper lots are hurting his volume, he will lower his prices to get the volume he wants.

Honestly, with the abundance of parking downtown, our lots should be cheaper. But, the Oklahoma market puts a premium on not having to walk and Brewer simply seems to have those premium lots.

Personally, there is no way I would pay $10 a session in downtown Oklahoma City, but that's because I will walk (especially in this weather). All that's going on here is that people are reinforcing the premium parking market.

Now, if there was evidence of collusion of all the parking lots, then I'd cry foul. But the consumer does have options and, while I don't like the price, it's not Brewer's fault that some choose to pay more for parking in close proximity to their destination.

The News9 piece try to insinuate that such pricing would hurt OKC's chances for another tournament and make it a big scandal (Headline: Price Gouging). However, they failed to mention the cost of parking in Dallas or KC during these events. Without that information and without comment from the Big 12, that insinuation is specious and meaningless and borderline irresponsible. If they can show that those prices are non-competitive, then maybe they have a point.

BTW, yu can access the video piece via newsok.com

[jbrown84]

Well, The Oklahoman did a survey and we got an F on parking costs.

It's one thing to expect locals to find the cheap parking, but you can't expect visitors to know the best kept secrets of cheaper parking.

[writerranger]

Well, The Oklahoman did a survey and we got an F on parking costs.

It's one thing to expect locals to find the cheap parking, but you can't expect visitors to know the best kept secrets of cheaper parking.

Exactly. Visitors should find the obvious places to park charging reasonable amounts. $20.00 a day (okay, $10 per session) is ridiculous. They can't expect to know the "secrets" of parking here or there and then walking there, hop a trolley here and get off there.

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[BDP]

Well, The Oklahoman did a survey and...

So? What was their sample? How was it given? How did they compute that F? What are the costs of parking within 3 blocks of the venues in Dallas and Kansas City? What were their "grades" of those cities by the Oklahoman? Do parking fees ever get an 'A'?

Personally, I'd give 20/day an F, too, but I'd do it by parking somewhere else. There are tons of other options in OKC. Way more than in any other CBD I've been to. Honestly, if they paid that amount and gave it an F, then they're stupid. If people weren't filling the $20 lots, those prices would come down. If there weren't any other options, I'd say the Oklahoman might have a point, but they are drawing conclusions on the issue based on only about 1/3 of this story just to rile up some people, because they know people in OKC have a parking complex. It's obviously working.

EDIT: Ok, another thread on the OKC board had the details. Here were the parking grades of that "survey":

•Parking availability: A: 8, B: 3, C: 1, F:1
•Parking prices: A: 12, C: 3, D:4, F: 5

That's 61% of the people giving it an 'A' for availability and 50% giving it an 'A' on price. Less than 16% combined of those who answered the parking questions failed it. The combined GPAs would be 3.08 for availability and 2.41 for pricing. That's actually extremely good ratings on both, given the issue. At worst, their own survey actually gives us an above average rating on parking during this event. This is classic manipulation of their own data to support what I can only guess was a predawn conclusion. The bias is blatantly obvious if you compare their data to their conclusions.

[jbrown84]

I don't have a parking complex, I'm just concerned that some of the vistitors may have been upset about it.

[BDP]

I didn't mean to say you did, but many people and media seem fixated on making parking out to be a problem when it clearly is not, as many visitors and many successful events have proven.

[allseeingeye]

If a parking lot charges $5 on a typical friday or saturday, they should charge $5 for the Big XII Tourney.

That being said, you want price gouging, go to an OU football game and pay between $20 & $30 to park on someone's lawn. Now that's ridiculous. The city of Norman needs to pass an ordinance, capping the price home owners can charge to let people park on their property during games.

[johnnyboyokc]

listen we live in a world that is about free enterprise end of story

[johnnyboyokc]

did anyone notice that tim brassfield said that 10 dollars per session was a bargin......i paid 50 dollars to park at aa arena in dallas for justin timberlake

[AFCM]

You actually paid $50 to park, just to see a Justin Timberlake concert?!! Does anyone else remember the movie '40 Year Old Virgin'. where the two guys are playing video games and they're playing that little, "You know how I know you're...", game? Insert: Justin Timberlake comment.

[jbrown84]

You actually paid $50 to park, just to see a Justin Timberlake concert?!! Does anyone else remember the movie '40 Year Old Virgin'. where the two guys are playing video games and they're playing that little, "You know how I know you're...", game? Insert: Justin Timberlake comment.

I thought the same thing.

[Drake]

The last year it was in KC the main parking area was $25.00, and it wasn't a parkimg lot. An open field by the RR tracks that had one exit.

[BDP]

Thanks, Drake, for posting a relevant comparison, which is something the Oklahoman and News9 couldn't seem to do before insinuating that we will never see the event again because of a few $20 lots.