From the Windup: Whining About Ticket Prices? Get Your Facts Straight

From the Windup is Matt Snyder's extended look at some aspect of America's pastime each Thursday.

First things first, I should probably tweak the little italicized intro here, because baseball isn't America's pastime anymore. Complaining is now the favorite pastime of too many Americans, especially the ugly woe is me type of whining that infests every message board and comment section across the Internet. One in particular got me going this week, and it wasn't an outlier. It's become far too common to see this ill-informed cry: "I can't afford to attend baseball games anymore."

I know it's easy to complain about money these days, and to those who have fallen unemployed, my heart goes out to you. I would also like to believe the truly unfortunate have much better things to worry about than whining about Major League Baseball's ticket prices on an Internet message board. Like looking for a source of income. If I was unemployed and trying to figure out how to feed my two kids, you can bet I'd be spending all my time looking for ways to make money instead of worrying about how much baseball players make.

Secondly, if you don't want to attend a baseball game for reasons other than price, that's your prerogative. I'm not going to sit here and tell people how to spend their money. You couldn't force me into the ballet or a WNBA game, so I'm not going to proclaim you have to like baseball. Everyone has their tastes.

This piece is intended as a rebuttal to the people who claim they used to go to games and can no longer afford it. It's in response to people who talk about "these escalating prices" and how "ridiculous" they are. It's to bring the real truth to light about the readily available and affordable tickets Major League Baseball has to offer. The only thing I have to gain here is my own sanity, so you can save those accusations about me being paid off by Bud Selig -- and I doubt he'd ever give me a dime.

Here's a list of each ballpark and the cheapest full grouping of tickets:

Chase Field, Arizona Diamondbacks: $5
Turner Field, Atlanta Braves: $6
Oriole Park at Camden Yards, Baltimore Orioles: $8
Fenway Park, Boston Red Sox: $12
Wrigley Field, Chicago Cubs: $9
US Cellular Field, Chicago White Sox: $9.50
Great American Ball Park, Cincinnati Reds: $7
Progressive Field, Cleveland Indians: $8
Coors Field, Colorado Rockies: $4
Comerica Park, Detroit Tigers: $5
Land Shark Stadium, Florida Marlins: $9
Minute Maid Park, Houston Astros: $7
Kauffman Stadium, Kansas City Royals: $9
Angel Stadium of Anaheim, Los Angeles Angels: $12
Dodger Stadium, Los Angeles Dodgers: $9
Miller Park, Milwaukee Brewers: $8
Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome, Minnesota Twins: $8
Citi Field, New York Mets: $11
Yankee Stadium, New York Yankees: $14
Oakland Coliseum, Oakland A's: $9
Citizen's Bank Park, Philadelphia Phillies: $16
PNC Park, Pittsburgh Pirates: $9
Petco Park, San Diego Padres: $9
AT&T Park, San Francisco Giants: $10
Safeco Field, Seattle Mariners: $7
Busch Stadium, St. Louis Cardinals: $16
Tropicana Field, Tampa Bay Rays: $10
Rangers Ballpark at Arlington, Texas Rangers: $6
Rogers Centre, Toronto Blue Jays: $5 (US dollars)
Nationals Park, Washington Nationals: $5

Five dollars? That's a fast food value meal, if you get one of the cheaper options. Nine bucks? Seen a movie lately? Sixteen bones? DVD or CD, anyone? Of course, musicians and actors seem to get a free pass when the masses are whining about athletes who "play a kids game to make millions of dollars," so I wouldn't expect movies or music would come to mind as a comparison. Have you seen the earnings estimates of Will Smith or Brad Pitt recently? They make Albert Pujols look like a pauper. Elvis Presley made approximately $49 million in royalties last year, and he's been dead for almost 32 years. That's more than Tim Wakefield has made in his entire 17-year career. Do you think Donald Trump would trade his annual earnings with those of Mark Teixeira or CC Sabathia?

But, somehow, it's more horrifying to the masses that an athlete make lots of money. I don't get it -- other than simply accusing the complainers of jealousy, but shouldn't the jealousy still be redirected to the richest of the rich? Anyway, I digress.

To those complaining about prices, I'd simply like to ask if you've done any legwork on the deals each team has available.

The Astros currently have a deal going where you can buy a 10-game ticket for $20. Two dollars per game, per ticket. Say you have a family of four, and you are friends with a few families. Split it up. You could be taking your family to four Astros games for $32 plus parking.

Turner Field (Braves) has two sections in what Knox Bardeen called "the stratosphere" (sections 437 and 422) where they sell seats for $1. Also in Atlanta, they have a promotion called Two-for-One Tuesdays, where you can buy two tickets in the upper-reserved portion of the stadium for a total of $8. Four dollars per ticket, math majors.

It only costs $4 per seat every game all season in Colorado's "Rock Pile."

There are deals like this all over baseball. If you really want to attend a game and thought -- due to the all-too-popular misconception -- tickets were out of your monetary reach, I urge you to visit Fan Value Corner on MLB.com's tickets section and click on your favorite team. You just might find something within your budget.

Now, of course people are going to complain about how the cheapest seats aren't good enough. It's supply and demand. The better seats cost more, because they are in more demand, and, therefore, people are willing to pay more for them. If you can't afford to pay more, well, that's no different than any other walk of life. I don't drive an Escalade, I'm sorry to say, but I'm not about to go screaming from the mountaintops about how unfair life is that I'm stuck with a Pacifica. Life's perfectly fair. We've all made choices and have had to live with them. If you want to go to a baseball game and the $9 seats are the best you can do, you can either buy those or stay home -- but if you stay home, it's by choice.

Plus, have you been in those so-called bad seats before? I can tell you from experience the cheapest seats in Wrigley Field and Great American Ball Park are still just fine. You can see the entire playing surface and can always tell what is going on in the game. The photo below was taken by my FanHouse colleague Adam Gretz -- from the second-to-last row in Pittsburgh's PNC Park. His ticket cost him $16. He says, from personal experience, these seats are a better view of the entire field of action than the club seats (which cost $55).

Most stadiums' worst seats are like this. These aren't 100,000 seat football venues. In the ones that have extreme nosebleed sections, including football stadiums like in Oakland and Florida, the entire upper deck is usually a barren wasteland of empty seats. Buy the ticket, move down and sit in one of the front few rows of the upper deck. You can see the entire field and enjoy some peace you couldn't in an overcrowded section.

Next, we're sure to hear about the parking fees. There are ways to make it happen without just driving up and paying what you deem to be too much. Typically, you can park for $15 or cheaper right next to any stadium. In stadiums in the middle of city streets, you can park a few blocks away for a third of the cost, as long as you don't mind walking. The overwhelming majority of stadiums are accessible through various forms of public transportation. For example, you could park somewhere in a nice area of Chicago for roughly $5, and then, for an additional $2, board the Red Line (an elevated train or subway, depending upon where you board it) and get to Wrigley Field. Chicago isn't exactly a cheap city, either, so seven dollars is very reasonable. Gretz informed me he paid $5 to park right next to PNC before attending the game where he took the above picture.

Finally, let's attack the whining about concessions. I agree that most stadiums charge way too much for food and drink -- especially beer. If you don't want to pay exorbitant prices for food, pack a lunch and eat it on the way to the game. Dine at the fast food joint in the area. Bring a picnic basket or cooler and tailgate. If you live close enough, eat before you leave home or when you return from the game. There are options. It's not mandatory to purchase anything but a ticket to gain admission to a game. Everything else is your choice.

The figures listed above obviously get more expensive if the games are sold out and you have to go to a broker or scalper, but that isn't really happening too often around the league. Unless you are a fan of the Red Sox, Phillies or Cubs, there are pretty much always seats available. In fact, only 11 teams in the league are averaging more than 3/4ths capacity per game. More than half the league averages less than 60 percent of their capacity in home attendance.

Again, do you actually want to attend the games, or do you just want to complain?

There was one complainer in particular whose comments stuck with me. He said he lives within walking distance (read: Doesn't have to pay for parking) to Pittsburgh's PNC Park and can't afford tickets. Said he's never been to a Major League Baseball game.

Really? You can buy $9 tickets right now for Friday's Pirates game against the Giants. Those are outfield seats, which is a fun way to view a major league game. If you are reading this, kind sir, and you really can't scrape together $9, leave a comment about it, I'll email you and we'll discuss how I can help you attend what will allegedly be the first baseball game of your life. I'm dead serious (impostors, I still have the guy's email address, so don't flood with ticket requests; it won't do any good).

The problem, though, is that it's most likely not the nine bucks. It's the anonymous complaining. I have no idea why it's so popular to whine like a baby on a public forum about how society has wronged each of us, but that's the way of the masses nowadays. It's much easier to complain about how rough you have it instead of doing something about it. It's more convenient to say baseball doesn't make it possible for you to see a game at a cheap price than it is to seek out a deal that works for you and make it happen. This kind of laziness and mindless negative banter makes me sick. That, to me, is much more troubling than player salaries. Either come up with a legitimate reason to avoid baseball games -- "I'm boycotting because of steroids" or "I just don't like baseball" are two -- or start taking advantage of the reasonable deals out there. Whatever the decision is, quit blaming ticket prices. They are quite reasonable -- even in Yankee Stadium (check both grandstands and bleachers).

Hat-tip on cheapest seat figures: FlipFlopFlyin

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

7-09-2009 @ 12:29PM

Chris said...

Great job with ticket prices. You list the Cubs cheapest tickets as $9. That would be great if those $9 tickets were for more than 6-8 games a year, most of which are in April during the middle of the day on a Tuesday or Wednesday. That makes it real easy for people to go. I am refusing to pay for anymore tickets to Wrigley this year because for the 6th straight year the Cubs have raised ticket prices again. Why don't you look at the average cheap ticket price for most teams instead of the cheapest tickets available. Those cheap $9 tickets double in cost for most games and triple for most games that people actually want/can go to.

7-09-2009 @ 12:45PM

Matt Snyder said...

Cubs tickets, like Red Sox and Phillies -- as I mentioned -- are pretty irrelevant anyway, because they are sold out pretty much all year. They raise ticket prices because people are buying their product. That's economics 101. If you don't raise prices to where people will still pay for them, you are costing yourself money. It would be bad business not to.

Again, supply and demand. If people want to pay higher prices, they are free to charge them. Yeah, it sucks if you can't get tickets when want you them, but that's a whole different issue than saying the prices are too high, right? The games are sold out!

7-09-2009 @ 12:58PM

greebs said...

Sing it, sister!

Well done. I agree that of all the reasons folks give for not going to games, complaining about the prices is just silly. It can get crazy expensive if you don't watch yourself, as you mention, but it's controllable. In fact, of all the major sports, baseball makes it the MOST affordable. If you ran a ticket price for the NFL teams, you would be looking at 10x the numbers you posted.

7-09-2009 @ 1:03PM

Thanks Greebs.

I agree about not watching yourself. But here's the thing, I went to Kings Island (roller coaster park in Cincinnati) with my wife a few weeks ago. Our DISCOUNT admission tickets were $28.99 each and we spent about $100 in addition to that with parking, food, etc.

Yet, baseball is the great American spacegoat.

7-09-2009 @ 1:21PM

Odie said...

I can't speak for any teams ticket prices other than my hometown favorite, but your listing is somewhat suspect for its generalization. The $9.50 listed is for 1/2 priced Mondays (I'm sure you can figure out what team I'm talking about) of which they have 8 Monday home games. Those 8 then get cut down because if the Red Sox or a division rival comes in town on that day, it goes back to Premium prices.
I feel fortunate to have a job in this economic time, but my job does not afford me the luxury of making any of these games, thus my cheapest option goes up to $19, add in the family going and we are now talking a decent chunk of change. And I'm not even going to bring outside costs because I can take public trans and don't need to spend extra on beer and food, but the ticket cost alone adds up.
But I digress, because this is not woe is me, everyone feel bad for me because I can't attend the games. My issue is with the teams increasing their ticket prices by as much as 20% between seasons when this does not come close to matching inflation increases or go in proportion with cost of living. Then in my particular case, the team owners and GM tell fans they are hamstrung with player salaries because we as fans do not show up to the ballpark. How can a team charge more when demand at that price range is not there, and then complain that the stadium is half empty.
I regularly attended 15-20 games as recently as 4 seasons ago, but when the team started winning, the fan base was rewarded with higher ticket prices, making it harder for fans in my scenario to attend as often. I'm sure fans around baseball have experienced this unless, as you said, you cheer for the Red Sox, Yankees, Cubs who are on a different planet when it comes to ticket sales. I do not care what the players make, that is not my concern, but in many cases lower ticket prices will bring more people in, the quantity of tickets sold will offset the loss in revenue from higher ticket prices. Keeping the fans happy and filling the seats will increase revenue not only in ticket sales, but in concessions, t-shirts, hats, and any other team paraphernalia. Obviously I can't see the teams bottom line figures, and I'm sure their are people much more intelligent than I making the financial decisions, but sometimes you have to wonder.
And yes, I probably will not attend a single game this year because of financial constraints and it sucks, but aw well, there are more important things in life. Maybe next year.

7-09-2009 @ 1:26PM

Good comment. Yeah, there will always be circumstances. Thanks for the well-educated input.

7-09-2009 @ 1:22PM

Briock said...

Showing those prices and saying the tickets are cheap and affordable, and going to the games is affordable, is not the whole truth by far, Matt. Take Dodger Stadium. Yeah, you can get an outfield or upper deck seat for about $9.00, but you fail to mention the almost $20.00 parking fee. And if you want something to drink, whether it be a watered down soda or a watered down beer, it will cost you as much as your ticket for a small cup. And the "Dodger Dog", which resembles a burnt twig more than a hot dog these days, will also cost you almost as much as your cheap ticket. And it is an average 3 inning wait in line to get your drinks and/or hot dog. And now every Dodger game has an average of 3-4 fights, which never used to happen back in the day. Walter O' Malley is spinning in his grave!

7-09-2009 @ 1:25PM

Apparently you stopped reading after the price listings.

7-09-2009 @ 1:43PM

hleff1 said...

Baseball, more so than many other sports is a family event. It isn't JUST the ticket prices. How about the $12 to park (unless you want to walk your children and wife through areas you don't even want to be in), or the $3 bottle of water, $4 hot dogs (and we won't even go near the $6.75 beer). Sure, we can pack a lunch, but if it is only about seeing the game, well, at least at home I can see the replays of the controversial calls that would offend the umpires to show at the ballpark. It is all about atmoshpere and making the next generation want to go to games. Charge me $20 per ticket instead of $16 and give me a hot dog, soda and peanuts/cotton candy/ice cream. Make it affordable to give the kids the entire experience. Heck, that is the way to get us to pay for the $65 jerseys that the kids will want once they get hooked!

7-09-2009 @ 3:00PM

Dan said...

Matt, you seem really passionate about this.

The ticket prices may be the scapegoat, but time also figures into cost. Your $20 for 10 example shows it well, you have to buy more and plan ahead to get a decent price like anything else. A gallon of nacho cheese and pallet of chips costs less per serving than stadium nachos, but it's not the same thing.

This week, the cheapest non obstructed view Brewers tickets were $20 and they're no longer available. Remember, baseball is competing against TV, movies and video games. Everyone who went to see Transformers got to see the same piece of crap whenever it was most convenient to go and they didn't have to plan it weeks ahead of time. In order to get low priced tickets, they would have to see an inferior team at time less convenient for most people (hence a lack of demand).

Getting to a ballgame really does require more time and money than your argument concedes. Especially for people who don't live close to a team, know the city and parking situation well, want to see top notch competition and have jobs and kids to coordinate.

That said, I don't whine. I just don't go.

7-09-2009 @ 3:27PM

claytor said...

Im going to have to disagree strongly here. Ive attended plenty of games in both Memorial AND Camden, and those seats you mention? arent even seats at all, theyre crosswalk tickets, where people can -wait for it- STAND all the way in the back of the stadium, where you have a closer view of the vendors and warehouse than you do players. Thats a bit sad really, sure in this day and age i can pay eight bucks for a really crappy seat PLUS the 2.50 a gallon for the 3 plus hour trip now to Camden, a mere 170 miles from my doorstep plus the 170 back. Hm...not so cheap now is it, and for an awful view at that. Memorials cheapies were actually good at the time, a cozy left field perch just above the fielder.

Seriously, considering where people reside is a big deal. Plenty of fans dont live within 50 miles of their favorite team, and considering the "Red Sox nation" and bandwagon Yanks fans, not even a 1,000 miles. Thats why their road attendance looks marvelous, yet the home team attendance suffers overall. Everyone likes a winner.

The guy who can walk to PNC is exactly the reason why Pittsburgh for all of its Steelers! Pens! jargon, is one of the WORST sports towns, they completely abandon a team when its not successful, they almost lost the Pens not two years ago because of woeful attendance, but now pack the place when the Pens win? They wont walk to a Bucs game?

Dude, id go to 35 O's games a year if i lived within bus/walking distance to Camden(just as my family used to when we lived within 5 minutes of Memorial), and id pay for GOOD seats at that, ill be moving to Columbus, OH soon, and the first thing i told my gf is i plan to go to Reds and Indians games(shes a 'Hoos fan) but their cheap seats are actually seats unlike Camdens.

Columbus is a good hour and a half away from Cleveland, and two from Cincy, but i love the game so much, id travel to see it, just dont expect me as a "fan" to go to 40 games a year, and thats because of the seating and gas. Its really all about residence, people close to the parks have it a bit easier than those who obviously dont.

7-09-2009 @ 3:37PM

AdamGretz said...

People have "abandoned" the Pirates because they haven't had a winning season in 16 years (working on 17 right now) with no sign of the streak ending anytime soon. No team has ever had such a run of futility in sports history, so I think it's pretty understandable as to why people would lose interest in the team. That's why people aren't going to see the Pirates. Not because of ticket prices.

And the Penguins didn't nearly leave because of attendance problems. The issue was always whether or not they would get a new building. They sold out nearly every game during the '05-'06 season when they finished with the second worst record in the league.

7-09-2009 @ 4:26PM

And the Orioles have had how many playoff seasons in how long? Please, Adam.

I know youd like to play the but we suck! card, i still attend O's games, and they arent exactly awesome right now either. Cubs fans have endured over 100 seasons of championship-less baseball, yet still pack the joint, even through years rivaling the Pirates atrocious play. Hell, id rather have flat out suck than be told for eight(ok, more like 12) years that were going to field a competitive team! jargon that occurs in Bmore, but guess what? I still travel over 300 miles yearly at least a few times to see them.

And using the ironic year that Crosby enters the league doesnt excuse the years of futulity that Pens fans pulled before finally getting a golden ticket. Lets talk attendance when Pittsburgh lacked Mario OR Syd, k? k. Did the Steelers threaten to leave over the cavern known as Three Rivers? The Pirates?

http://www.hockeycentral.co.uk/penguins/records/Penguins-Records.php

Proofs in the pudding, sport.

7-09-2009 @ 4:55PM

Hi Claytor: Long time, no speak (kidding).

Did you see the "Bleachers and Boog's" or "Ollie's Bargain Nights?"

http://mlb.mlb.com/bal/fan_forum/stimulus.jsp

You might like those.

Also, from those standing room seats, the Orioles only average 50% of capacity, and that's with the Yankees and Red Sox games jacking up the figure ... you aren't savvy enough to sneak into an empty seat? Even if you have to wait until the 2nd or 3rd inning? C'mon ... I know you can do it!

7-09-2009 @ 4:05PM

Johnny B.Good said...

Lets not forget to add the price of gas it takes to get to the game. The price of parking. The fact that a Dad might have kid/kids. Now add the ungodly price they charge for food/drinks. People who are well off won't complain about this. After all, some go to the game, and sit at the bar and watch the game on the TV's. I'm a father of 3. When my kids were young. We made it to maybe 3 games a yr. You have to figure that cost for 1 game was well over $100.00. So we ended up going to minor league games most of the time.

7-09-2009 @ 5:34PM

Hahaha, good one Matt. Sadly though, im better off looking at what the Jake is going to offer, since ill have to settle for watching Maniacal Eric Wedge and the Wahoos now. But i really believe that was your point, and the one lost on Adam...its not about win or lose, its about watching Americas pasttime. Whether the team wins 100 games, or is 100 behind their division leader, the game is the game, nothing quite like it. Its why i do travel 400 miles to see O's games, i just havent as much as i used to because of the gas, hotel stay, etc. It really adds up.

That however doesnt excuse people who actually reside in said baseball towns, if youre cool enough to huck the dough for a two bedder 10 minutes from a park? GO TO SOME GAMES.
The price? irrelevant. Foods expensive? EAT OUT FIRST. Beer? SEE EAT OUT FIRST.

And gas? seriously, if you live within a bus stop of your towns ballpark, for the love of god keep that excuse at home. Thats the only time i disagreed with you though, because of my scenario, and i apologize for not bringing a more universal perspective in my response. A lot of what you say is true, we have Kings Dominion and Busch Gardens here, both theme parks, and both wayyyyyyyyyy more pricey than a ballgame with the BEST seats in the place.

I love this game more than any other sport, scandals and nonsense aside, and i just cant fathom why people have moved past the simple concept of enjoying the game no matter what their team does just because they love the game itself. Bright side? Ill still get to see my beloved O's, when they come to play the Indians :)

7-09-2009 @ 5:45PM

Yeah, most of this was geared toward people who live in the city of the team. There aren't many cities without public transportation for a very reasonable price, which eliminates gas and parking.

As far as the gas part, that's definitely not baseball's fault, which is why it angers me when baseball is the scapegoat. But, you seem to agree with me on most of that.

7-09-2009 @ 8:53PM

Jerry said...

The writer forget one big part in this story. Elvis didnt threating to move out of memphis if the city didnt build him a bigger Graceland with luxury suites. Sports teams have antitrust exemptions from the government and use tax dollars to build their stadiums and arenas. Yes all businesses get some form of tax breaks but nothing like what sports teams get. As far as ways to make going to a game cheaper. I want to go to a game and have a good time. Having a good time for me does not include parking 3 miles from the event amd not eating or drinking during the game. As written by others in the comments the prices listed are misleading. It seems the author had an opinion and found the numbers to back it up.

7-13-2009 @ 7:01AM

logged online said...

Ever go to a Yankee game???
Its not just the ticket prices alone.
20 bucks for parking. yes it will cost you now 20 dollars just to park your car. Now add 5 dollar tolls each way. That's 10 bucks and then gas. It can cost you close to 40 bucks before you even get to the stadium to buy the ticket. Then if you want a view of the players that isn't a small speck in a vision restricted seat now you are talking a minimum around 60 bucks. You know the same price the bests eats behind home plate use to go for 10 years ago. But the 60 buck seats are all sold out fast. Only thing available are the richy rich seats....what not so long ago were 60 bucks and financially available to everyone.

Oh and we didnt even get to the food prices and the extra expensive waiter service to yourseat.