For Jb and others who are getting 'warned', I guess, for flipping too many tickets: is there a point do you decide to punt on your seats totally?
I'm pretty happy only watching the games from home, and have been for a year or two after the Big 3 era started, and it's not as if the broadcast quality has become worse, especially in light of the price increase you all are referencing.
I hope to make it to 8-12 games per year, including playoffs. I like the ticket sales to cover the cost of the entire season, including the games I go to. In the past few years, I've more than covered my costs. If the differential moved against me by more than 10% or so, I'd reconsider, particularly a few years down the line when my son goes to college, since he is my most frequent companion.
I got lucky in a few ways:
1) My first year was 2013-14, when the Celtics sucked and couldn't give the tickets away. So when I get an increase each year, I have to remember that my original base was much lower. My average ticket cost now is about 210% of the lowest average, which I think was the 2014-15 season.
2) When times were bad, we got front row seats in our section, which are now on the aisle after the renovation. It helps with resale.
3) I live on the green line, so if the T ever starts functioning again, I will have an easy commute to the games.
To be entirely fair to the Celtics (and since I'm the one that started this thread), given the resale margin this year, it makes perfect sense that they are trying to keep the differential for themselves, rather than STMs. Where they will run into trouble is if the Celtics ever suck for more than a season. The waitlist will dry up overnight and they'll have to provide more incentives.
One thing I do each year is send a note to the manager of the STM program about how great my rep is. It's good for their careers and engenders some goodwill, since I can be a pain at times (usually only on days ending in -y).
Mike