Baseball ticket prices soar

Oakland Tribune, Mar 29, 2008

CHICAGO -- It will cost a lot more to root, root, root for the home team this year.

Major League Baseball's average ticket price increased 10.9 percent this season to $25.40, the Team Marketing Report said Friday. That's the steepest increase since a 12.9 percent rise in 2001.

The World Series champion Boston Red Sox, playing in the major leagues' smallest ballpark, have the highest average, at $48.80, up 10.1percent.

The Chicago Cubs, 100 years removed from their last World Series title, are second at $42.49, up 23.9 percent.

The New York Yankees, in their final season at Yankee Stadium, have the third-highest average ticket at $36.58, up a big-league high 26.1 percent. The Yankees' real average is much higher.

Jon Greenberg, TMR's executive editor, said the team did not provide data and he did not include the price of premium seating -- which covers a large percentage of New York's tickets. Yankees box seats near the infield now have a list price of $250.

The New York Mets, in their final season at Shea Stadium, have the fourth-highest average, at $34.05, an increase of 20.5 percent. The Chicago White Sox are fifth, at $30.28, up 5.2 percent.

The Oakland Athletics are eighth at $29.20, up from $23.88 in 2007. The San Francisco Giants are 18th at $22.06, down from $25.11 a year ago.

Twelve teams raised their averages more than 10 percent, including six with average increases of more than 20 percent.

NL West champion Arizona has the lowest average, at $15.96, even with a 15.7 percent increase. Atlanta was 29th at $17.05 and Pittsburgh 28th at $17.07. Pittsburgh and Tampa Bay ($17.23) were the only teams with no increase in their average.

TMR's fan cost index (FCI) went up 8.3 percent to $191.75. The figure includes two adult tickets at the average price, two child tickets at the average if available, two beers, four soft drinks, four hot dogs, parking, two programs and two adult caps. The index ranged from $320.71 at Fenway Park to $136.91 in Tampa Bay.

The A's are 10th in the FCI index at $206.80, while the Giants are 17th at $183.74.