Agree with all your points above.

The $5 increase must be the NBL finals levy that they said they weren't passing on to the fans in game 1.

That isn't what they said about the levy.

"Firstly, by definition a member has already supported the club all season"

No, not "by definition" at all, considering the Wildcats have sold various forms of partial-season memberships, right down to the "1-game memberships" they were promoting during the Kings game.

Well what did they say Chalmers? Please follow on from that and explain what they did actually say.

All semi-finals games tickets are subject to a $6.50 levy from the NBL. However, in appreciation to you, our members, for your loyalty, we have decided to reduce our finals ticket pricing across all categories. Whilst there will be a slight increase in the price for the third semi-final (if required), please be assured that our prices will be significantly lower than in recent seasons.

Don't always agree with Dazz's posts/ramblings a lot of the time, but I do agree with this.

The NBL needs to do something about how Semi Finals are structured. The smallest crowds of the season shouldn't be in the the semi finals and ticket prices are unbelievable, particularly in Perth.

Yet the crowds are still bigger in Perth than anywhere else !!!

Singlets, I was referring mainly to Perth's crowd being its smallest for the season. But it is a league wide problem in the semi finals.

Of course 8700 is still bigger than most places, but in Perth that's a disappointing crowd.

Also, I would imagine that Perth Arena is an expensive venue. I imagine the "rent" for a game is mostly fixed, perhaps with a small per-head component to cover variable costs. Point is the break-even point is probably much higher than the smaller venues.
Plus, rightly or wrongly, Perth budgets on these ticket sales.

It seems ridiculous that Perth can sell 12,000 seats to some games, and less than 9,000 to a final.

In my case, its just my personal problem at the moment, but it seems to hint at a wider issue.

The long-running issue of SF crowds in the NBL might be helped from 2018 when there are World Cup qualifiers in early February.

I imagine the NBL will have a gap between the end of the regular season and playoffs to accommodate them, which should allow valuable extra time to promote the SFs, rather than the few days they have now for G1 in particular.

I agree with you Dazz, as a member (for 10 years) I am happy to buy my membership tickets each year, before we even know imports , or what is happening with out of contract players coaches etc.

While I understand supply & demand and finals tickets should have a premium attached, I think members should still get their seats for the same price. Reward the loyalty of your members as clearly many, including myself feel priced out of the game come finals. It's that core membership group that make the Wildcats so successful.

I am a loyal fan that watches all regular season games live and finals at home....especially Semis, I will buy my tickets back for GF series.

Sadly as I am a Captains Club member and could see my seats empty for game 1, at the same price I would have been there.

Would be interesting the economics of 12,000 fans at normal prices vs 9000 at finals prices.

I can see both sides, but at the end of the day my wallet has said no.

Season Memberships are quite affordable and good value. I pay for 2 Adult memberships and use the payment plan option so its quite affordable. Finals are a different story. To purchase my 2 seats costs me over $100. To attend 2 semi finals and 2 grand finals would cost me $400 in just over 2-3 weeks.

That's a fair whack for most peoples budget. I attended the first semi but wont be going to tomorrows games because if I wont be able to afford going to the GF should Perth make it.

Finals tickets for members should definitely be a lot cheaper.

Yeah, the playoffs basically cost the same as the regular season, for at least ten fewer games.

Members are generally the people that are buying the most merchandise and paying for food and drinks, cut us some slack and give us cheaper finals tickets would you :P

Yeah, I understand that as the season progresses they sell "X game membership." Bizarrely, even a ONE game membership at the end, so that makes it complicated.
But as a long-standing season member, the finals prices are just too much. Especially when you consider that to get your seats and the discount, you once again have to commit early.
It's always difficult. They want to give members adequate chance to buy their seats, and then have time left to sell the remainder. Watching game one, it seemed there were a lot of empty seats around our area. Maybe the solution is to offer members more incentive.

For two years running, semi-finals have had the lowest attendance all year. Surely that flies in the face of the "higher demand" notion, and indicates that they have not got the pricing correct.

What others need to understand, is that in addition to all the corporate seating, working backwards you have "Courtside," Legends Club, Captains Club, Platinum, and Gold. Then you still have Silver, Bronze, and Nickel. You really need at least Gold to be in what at other venues would be considered "decent seats", and they're around $120.
Nickel seats, which are way up the back on the 4th level, are cheap and they sell out first.

You really need at least Gold to be in what at other venues would be considered "decent seats", and they're around $120.