# High ticket prices



## John Corn (Mar 21, 2002)

I just heard on the radio yesterday morning that an average family of 4 would spend $157 to see a baseball game here in Cleveland. While I think this is a bit of a high figure, I do think it would still cost you at least $100 to take four people to a game and get infield seats. 

My question is who cares enough about baseball to spend that kind of money? It's an ok game and all, but there are something like 82 home games in a season. Why does it have to be so expensive just to go to one?!?

The public could enforce its own salary cap by refusing to pay such ridiculous prices. I remember when going to a baseball game was something fun and affordable for the family. Now, it's something you have to budget for just to go to one game.


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## Chris Blount (Jun 22, 2001)

That's the reason why I support my local minor league club. Excellent quality baseball at 1/10th the price.


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## Maniacal1 (Apr 9, 2002)

And for a family, minor league baseball is probably a lot more entertaining. There are always great, and usually hilarious promotions between innings. At the last minor league game I went to last year, a local department store had a guy in a Hawaiian shirt roaming the stands with a microphone, playing Let's Make a Deal with the crowd between innings. 

And they cut the price of hot dogs in half in the 7th inning. Can't beat that!


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## John Corn (Mar 21, 2002)

Very good point Chris, these guys are still playing for the love of the game. I have a Cleveland Indians "AA" Farm Club team here in Akron that I enjoy watching as well. These guys are making $40,000.00 a yr and being bused to their games.

Funny part is though, is their food prices, they still charge Cleveland Indians "Jacobs Field" prices........ Ticket pricing is much cheaper and you get good seats......... I just can't figure out why my 2 boys get so hungry at a baseball game.


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## Kevin (Mar 27, 2002)

I agree, tickets are way too overpriced these days. Good box seats in Yankee Stadium cost about $60 a ticket! I can afford to go to only one or two Yankees games each year since tickets are such a rip-off. Mets games are the best deal. Tonight I'm going to see the Mets at Shea Stadium with 4 friends for only $10 ($2 a ticket). They're upper deck seats but for $2 a ticket, you really can't complain.


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## Mike (Apr 10, 2002)

I've been spoiled. I spent years in AAA cities or Norfolk for the Tidewater Tides and in Phoenix for the Phoenix Giants/Firebirds. Good quality baseball. Even saw Scott Garrelts pitch a 7 inning perfect game in a triple-header (2 7 inning games and the completion of the game from the previous night) on a hot day in I believe in 1984 at Phoenix Muni. Prices were always cheaper in Phoenix compared to Anaheim Stadium (which I still went to a few games over the years when I lived out of state) for tickets especially at Phoenix Muni when I had to start paying for mine when I got into high school. 

The last few years, back here in Anaheim, tickets and especially parking have gone upwards. Anaheim parking went from $4, $5, $6, $7, and then $8 for 5 consecutive years. It's been at $8 I think now for 2 - 3 years. I used to enjoy the lower view level seats at Anaheim Stadium as they were same the price as the upper view and just above the press box. Now Disney has 85,000 pricing schemes for the stadium. 

I said I was spoiled. My dad knows people where he works at the Balboa Bay Club that can get free Angels tickets. Either in the Angels City of Aneheim suite, Diamondclub seats or Chuck Finley seats. These seats are usually free for us and sometimes they come with free parking. I just have to pay for drinks and food and that's even expensive now. Angels outta be lucky people still want to attend. 

I wanted to go to opening day this year. I do buy tickets a few times a year and then this time I bought one the Friday before Opening Day at Anaheim Stadium (Ticketmaster stinks, BTW) for the upperdeck at $10 (which is the cheapest ticket to actually see the game). I go to the game. $10 ticket, $ 8 parking, 2 Medium cokes for $6.00 total, 1 beer - $5.25 and a dog (forget the price - $3.25?) I go up to my seat, I'm sitting by the busload of people that the teacher brought from somewhere out in the Desert as California Teacher of the Year. That was cool talking to the high school kids. Game stunk!! Boy, did it stink! I still had a coke left and decided to do some walking around in the 4th inning. Security was non existant. I could of sat anywhere I wanted above the Angels dugout. Talked to a ESPN cameraman for a while and then bought another dog and beer and started walking around again. What's that $42 and that's just for one person? I could of eaten some peanuts if I wanted, but I just left in the 7th inning. If I had my girlfriend with me then I would of spent close to $100. That's just too expensive for people to go to many games especially if kids are in the mix. 

I just can't afford to go to many games at all even if just food and drinks are in the mix. Sometimes I have to pay for two. I'll probably make it to a few games this year, but if the Angels keep seeing the broom then what's the point? I'll watch the other games on EI here at the apartment. 

AAA Baseball for me was exciting. Saw Darryl, Ron Gardenhire, Ron Darling with Davey Johnson as the manager in Tidewater. Saw Roger pitch for Pawtucket and other good players. 

AAA ball in Phoenix brought Barry Bonds into town for the Hawaii Islanders (Pirates AAA Ball - wouldn't sign autographs even then BTW), Kirk McCaskill, Mark McLemore for the Edmonton Trappers, Ramon Martinez for the Dukes in Albuqueque. The Dukes are comng out swinging. Coming out swinging. Anyway, I enjoyed AAA Baseball a lot. The crowds those days in Phoenix was maybe 4000 people, but they were a lively bunch on hot muggy (it's not always a dry heat in Phoenix) nights in a cement filled stadium. If you are in a town where the parent club is on the radio then bring your radio and get some good autographs. I did that all of the time in Phoenix. Edmonton in town. Put the Angels on the radio. Players come over because they hear Bob Starr or whatever on the radio and they want to know the score. Get to talking to the players, get cards signed, bats signed and you are all set. Dukes loved it when they could hear Ross or Vinnie. Met Fred Claire once and talked to him for about a half hour while the Dodgers were on the radio. Players are nice to talk too, food is cheaper and if you got there early enough (3 hours before gametime) then parking was free. Loved the AAA scene. MLB is nice with atmosphere and stuff like that and seeing the good players, but the players are grumpier and won't sign squat and everything is more expensive. 

Is that enough rambling? Anyway, enjoyed AAA ball a lot.


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## Karl Foster (Mar 23, 2002)

The Anaheim Angels AAA team - the Stinger is located in Salt Lake. We have a brand-new gorgeous baseball park that looks out over the mountains and is next to a light-rail train station. You can watch baseball, watch the storms blow in, and catch the train after. Makes for a perfect evening - and less than $20 for two people (including hot dogs). It is my daughter's favorite thing to do (even more than a NBA Jazz game).


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## alfbinet (May 19, 2002)

Any complaints about Football? I would rather pay to see a baseball game then go and pay top dollar for football. It maybe my age but with all the complaints about baseball being a slow game, football seems allot slower to me. All these guys spending how many minutes moving the ball a yard?


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## SamC (Jan 20, 2003)

I like minor league baseball. Its all we have here. College baseball is better than that.

But why do tickets to major league games cost so much (and why does ESPN and the RSNs take such a large %age of you DBS bill) ?

Because our side (everybody else) has never won against the other side (the players union) in a strike. Someday we will, and prices will return to normal.


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## JM Anthony (Nov 16, 2003)

I all but refuse to go to any professional sports game. The prices for all have pretty much gone through the roof. I'm tired of all the whiny players who care jack squat for the game, only for what's in it for them.

I would much rather watch good high school or college sports, doesn't matter too much which sport. There you see athletes who, for the most part, are there because they truly enjoy what they are doing. 

Especially now that it's in HD, Final Four time for me couldn't be better.

And besides, if I'm really looking for a sport with real action, mano a mano high combat, drama, and the prospect for blood, I can always take Gus upstairs for another bath.


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## FTA Michael (Jul 21, 2002)

SamC said:


> Because our side (everybody else) has never won against the other side (the players union) in a strike. Someday we will, and prices will return to normal.


Prices are set to maximize profit, period. Ticket prices are high because sports venues either sell out or sell a very high percentage of tickets. When teams get revenue, from tickets and broadcast rights fees, that's when they try to outspend each other for the best players. Revenue drives salaries, not the other way around.

As a business owner, I find it interesting that you consider the multi-millionaire owners to be "our" side, competing for dollars with their sometimes-millionaire employees. Both sides will always struggle to divide revenues, but they need each other to maximize profitability -- we wouldn't pay full price to watch teams of barnstorming all-stars or leagues full of lower-quality replacement players. The real, lasting solution is for every necessary faction to get a fair share of the money we pay for tickets.


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## SamC (Jan 20, 2003)

False.

Even after adjusting for inflation, live gate tickets are many multiples of what they were just a few years ago. Not to mention all of the money received from ESPN and the RSNs, which didn't even exist not long ago. And the new over-commercialization and taxpayer subsidized venues.

If player's salaries had held to the CPI, baseball tickets would have likewise held to the CPI. Which means an average ticket of about $15. 

How do we know? Because we know what the "greedy" owners charged us when the wonderful Reserve Clause was in place. They didn't gouge us. They charged a fair price. 

100% of the over-inflation in tickets ins labor costs.

Someday we will win a strike, and price will come down. It will be a great day.


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## FTA Michael (Jul 21, 2002)

SamC said:


> How do we know? Because we know what the "greedy" owners charged us when the wonderful Reserve Clause was in place. They didn't gouge us. They charged a fair price.


The last time a sports league won a clear victory over its players association was when the NFL broke its union. Did ticket prices go down as a result?

Imagine for a moment that you own a successful sports team, selling out most games. Suppose that everything else stayed the same, but your payroll suddenly dropped by 30% (think NHLPA's offer). Would you give refunds to season ticket holders? Would you reduce individual game ticket prices? No, if you were smart, you'd keep the additional profit. If you were managing a public corporation, you'd have a duty to keep that profit. Ticket prices are set by competition and demand, not by any particular expense.

No one becomes more interested in a team just because the same players start earning more money. Revenue drives salaries, not the other way around.


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## djlong (Jul 8, 2002)

Just as a side note - does anyone remember *way* back when that there was talk of how, if sports teams (specifically baseball) got a lot of money in TV contracts, that they'd practically let you into the park for free since the owners wouldn't need the gate money if they had all the TV money?

They thought that a baseball stadium would become akin to another TV studio - and people don't pay to get into the Tonight Show of on Oprah, etc.


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