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69 Comments
- netgeek06, on 11/18/2008, -6/+20Great we barely paid attention to the world series and now they raise the prices LOL!
- charlesray, on 11/18/2008, -1/+12So the team that had trouble filling seats in the ALCS is going to make people pay more for tickets? Genius.
- inactive, on 11/18/2008, -1/+9Who didn't see this coming?
- zwendkos, on 11/18/2008, -1/+8A direct comparison between last year and this year:
Upper Deck/Party Deck – $9 to $10 ($1) and $14 to $16 ($2)
Outfield – $16 to $17 ($1) and $21 to $24 ($3)
Loge Box/Baseline Box – $22 (unchanged) and $38 (unchanged)
Press Level – $26 to $27 ($1) and $45 to $47 ($2)
Lower Box – $40 to $44 ($4) and $55 to $60 ($5)
Lower Infield Box – $52 to $55 ($3) and $70 to $75 ($5)
Fieldside Box – $85 (unchanged) and $115 to $120 ($5)
Whitney Bank Club – $110 to $115 ($5) and $150 (unchanged)
Home Plate Club – $210 (unchanged) and $270 (unchanged)
Overall, these are comparatively low single game increases compared to most teams after they had their first successful seasons in the past... - zwendkos, on 11/18/2008, -0/+6the concerts aren't new... they did that this past year and the year before that as well, i believe. they have very good attendance at those games and the concerts are pretty decent.
also, the price hikes are nothing out of the ordinary--many teams increase their prices, especially when their demand is expected to go up due to a great season! the rays aren't increasing them by an incredible amount either--the article says $1 - $5.
hey, if a few more bucks helps me keep my favorite team in my hometown then consider my contribution confirmed. - CaptainNoPants, on 11/18/2008, -2/+8A concert after the game is a really interesting idea. I personally wouldn't stay because after 3+ hours of baseball I wanna get out of the parking lot and get home asap. Like brokeback said, who's surprised by this? Also, aren't the majority of people in the Tampa area fair weather fans anyway? Did the Rays sell out any home games this year? That place always looked empty, even in the opening round of the playoffs.
- rayearth42, on 11/18/2008, -0/+4Not surprisingly, the Phillies are doing the same.
http://www.philly.com/inquirer/sports/20081114_Phi ... - beahmad, on 11/18/2008, -0/+4It's newsworthy when teams don't raise the prices from year to year
- milasdack, on 11/18/2008, -0/+3I'd take a $13 or $16 ticket here in Boston. Cant even park for that price.
- hokie47, on 11/18/2008, -1/+4As a person who has lived in Tampa for all my life I can tell you we really don't like baseball down here that much. The stadium location is horrible and with this economy people are just going to watch it on TV.
- inactive, on 11/18/2008, -0/+3the Reds do the same thing every year and they suck
- Myxllamatosis, on 11/18/2008, -0/+3Following this logic shouldn't tickets to the Mariners' 2009 home games be like...$2?
- BuggsyBoy, on 11/18/2008, -1/+4The Rays sold out several games throughout the year. Every playoff game was sold out in 20 minutes or less. I know. I tried to get tickets to all of them. The Rays also had, and still probably will have the lowest priced tickets in baseball. Some of the Rays fans here are fair weather fans to be sure. That's what you get when 90% of your population base comes from the Northeast and Midwest. It was like that for the Bucs in the 80s too. We had more Greenbay and Chicago fans here than Tampa Bay fans. Once the Rays string together some winning seasons, the Sox and Yankees "fans" will convert just like the Cheeseheads and Bears fans.
- sq2shooter, on 11/18/2008, -0/+3Welcome to the Rockies world. Catch lightning in a bottle one year then come back to reality the next. Follow that up by trading away the best player on the team and get nothing for him. But expect fans to still show up.
- JeddHampton, on 11/18/2008, -0/+3Phillies can sell out their stadium though.
- inactive, on 11/18/2008, -2/+4The Rays should be moved to another city that cares.
- JeddHampton, on 11/18/2008, -0/+2Your missing a step.
Team does well.
More people come to see them.
Ticket prices go up.
They need to start getting more people into seats first. - cawpin, on 11/18/2008, -1/+3Yeah, interesting. So interesting that it's a 40 year old idea.
- Super6, on 11/18/2008, -0/+2No one ever goes to the Rays games so you can buy upper bowl seats and move all the way to the front which makes these prices an exceptional deal
- groberts1980, on 11/18/2008, -1/+3Me, for one. They can't even fill their stadium for games and they've been to the World Series. Word has it you could get World Series tickets for face value. Their fans just don't care. They won't pay higher ticket prices. It's a shame, really.
- form3hide, on 11/18/2008, -0/+2When you lose for 10 straight years, you're only going to have the true diehard fans. Once TB starts winning year after year, the casual fan will come along for the ride.
This happens to every team. Look at the Yankees in the 80s and early 90s -- they lost a good deal of their fans and weren't selling out. Then they began their dynasty, and what do you know, they began setting attendance records. - cam0man, on 11/18/2008, -0/+2do they still cut off alcohol sales at the 7th inning? What's the point of a concert after the game if the booze is cutoff?
- CaptainNoPants, on 11/18/2008, -0/+2I apologize for not knowing everything. Thanks for setting me straight.
- RavNouS, on 11/18/2008, -0/+2Just a part of doing business. Your team does well, ticket prices go up.
- daivos, on 11/18/2008, -0/+2Dugg, because of the good information.
But I still think sports tickets in general are over-priced, and of all places, I have no interest at all in taking in a game at that god-awful dome Tampa plays in.
Ticket prices won't adjust until fans start refusing to attend. - solarweasel, on 11/18/2008, -0/+2tampa who?
- Wollstonecraft, on 11/18/2008, -0/+2Funny you should mention that... From USS Mariner: http://ussmariner.com
"Mariner ticket prices steady, more at the same time
DMZ · November 10, 2008
I realized I hadn’t touched on this yet. The 2009 season seat prices didn’t go up at all, and they’re not charging extra for premium games, which means for a full season a seat is $21 less for the year.
Ah! But for the rest of you, this year there are 17 (seventeen!) premium games, at $5 per seat per game. That’s up from seven last year at $3 extra each. And ten “value” games which are $5 off per stub (which makes center field bleacher seats $3 each day of game? Really?), which makes it seem kind of like they’re keeping the net premium games steady, but when you think about it, not really.
I’m torn about demand-based pricing like this. For one, the M’s aren’t really promising a good game. No one who attended a game last year they paid $3 more for got anything back when the team stunk up the place. That’s the pretext they’re choosing, though: that you’re getting a higher-quality product. If you paid for a nice new Lexus though and got half of a Fiero, you’d rightfully be pretty ticked off.
And yet I understand that the team wants to make more money, and the control a limited supply of tickets for each game, and the demand is sometimes far greater than other games. Why should the scalpers make money instead of the team?
But the M’s can’t hold a Dutch auction before the season for each game, and they can’t cut prices below what they sold them for (well, not openly, but that’s a different story). They could increase day-of-game prices up and up based on demand if the team’s in contention, but that’d be confusing and potentially anger a lot of fans.
So this is what we get: the premium games are a tax on New York and Boston fans, more or less. They’re not going to buy season tickets or 16-game plans, but they’ll pack the house for their teams and premium prices seem like bargains compared to how they’ll get shaken down if they attend their team’s home game. They’re a dependable supply of affluent, price-insensitive customers, and the M’s are soaking them a little more every season. There are worse ways to make a buck." - shauncorleone, on 11/18/2008, -0/+1As long as they're still doing it @ the Trop, it's no big deal. Many natural surface stadiums do not allow these concerts because of the wear and tear the setup & teardown have on the field. It's doubtful you'll see a new Rays stadium in the foreseeable future anyway.
- findable, on 11/18/2008, -0/+1Who cares, anything to screw the most ignorant and annoying fans I have ever seen. Ring a ***** cowbell in protest.
- inactive, on 11/18/2008, -0/+1
Once you get lots of fans you never have to win anything and the suckers still keep coming back. Toronto teams use that as their business model. - unradical, on 11/18/2008, -0/+1The Marlins usually hold a concert after every saturday night game, it doesn't really help attendance. I did get to see El Gran Combo after one game though, which was pretty cool.
- Tegurit34, on 11/18/2008, -0/+1Maybe you're right, but the Rays actually keep their good players after a World Series appearance.
- forcedfx, on 11/18/2008, -0/+1I remember having a vendor let us use their box seats for a game between the Rays and Boston. There were more Boston fans there than Rays fans. It was kind of sad and the game sucked horribly, but at least the beer was free.
- chrisemc, on 11/18/2008, -0/+1For a team who's fans were pretty much comatose until October in an economy on the downturn I'd say this a one way ticket to Alienate-your-fan-baseville. Even the Red Sox have agreed to not raise ticket prices next year, and they have every year since 1907.
- Barackalypse, on 11/18/2008, -0/+1At least they get a concert or premium giveaway at their "marquee" games, all my team does for marquee games is raise the price because its a "signature" opponent.
- NeoCortex, on 11/18/2008, -1/+2But, nobody went to the games last season even when they were doing well. It wasn't until the actual playoffs that anyone showed up. And I think that was to see the other team.
- KenSPT, on 11/18/2008, -0/+1Yeah, how dare a baseball organization try to make more money now that they have a team people may have more interest in seeing? Those bastards. What do they think this is, a capitalistic society?
- Zedian, on 11/18/2008, -0/+1I know this was the most lackluster World Series yet.....
- patsbaseball11, on 11/18/2008, -0/+1What they didnt tell you was that the prices at the Rays concession stands are among the lowest in the league...also, from what Ive heard, parking is free. This is standard procedure though, it happens regardless of whether the team had a winning season or not. If that wasnt the case then tickets to a Pittsburgh Pirates game would be about 35 cents for a family four pack.
- ncapone, on 11/18/2008, -0/+1I've worked at Tropicana Field's ticket office for 4 seasons, and I'd hate to see what all the old people who are used to $5 seats have to say about this.
- inactive, on 11/19/2008, -0/+1Maybe it is because people in Tampa are a little more sophisticated than the regular dregs that populate baseball games. They are members of the beer and cigarettes crowd.
- ChromaVita, on 11/19/2008, -0/+1I live in East Central Florida too, I just don't watch it on TV. All the financial savings of not paying to go to a baseball game, without the hassle of watching baseball on TV.
- morouxshi, on 11/18/2008, -0/+1The Rockies raised prices after last year's World Series. And they lost. Wait, let me rephrase that, they were swept.
- edmoser, on 11/19/2008, -0/+1ALDS--
Game 1 - 35,041 (97.2% full) - % based on regular season capacity
Game 2 - 35,257 (97.8% full)
3 @ Chi - 40,142 (98.8% full)
4 @ Chi - 40,454 (99.6% full)
ALCS--
Game 1 - 35,001 (97.1% full)
Game 2 - 34,904 (96.8% full)
3 @ Bos - 38,031 (105.3% full)
4 @ Bos - 38,133 (105.6% full)
5 @ Bos - 38,437 (106.4% full)
Game 6 - 40,947 (98.0% full) - % based on additional 5762 seats
Game 7 - 40,473 (96.8% full)
WS
Game 1 - 40,783 (97.6% full)
Game 2 - 40,843 (97.7% full)
3 @ Phi - 45,900 (105.5% full)
4 @ Phi - 45,903 (105.5% full)
5 @ Phi - 45,940 (105.6% full) - edmoser, on 11/18/2008, -0/+1There may not have been any tickets available, but they didn't sell out every playoff game. All of the upper deck seats were covered with tarps up until the World Series. They only made enough seats available to match the demand for tickets so that the stadium would look full.
- Fleagleman, on 11/18/2008, -0/+1Hilarious. Have they forgotten that it's Florida? It will look like a Marlins game by mid-season with all the empty seats.
- adamlaz2, on 11/18/2008, -0/+1Very true, I purchased a ticket to game 7 the day of...
- kyleandstan, on 11/18/2008, -0/+1A little "Screw You" to the fans....Nice!
- Tegurit34, on 11/18/2008, -0/+1No, they sold out their seats in the ALDS and ALCS and chose not to sell the lot of obstructed view seats. But since MLB is in charge of ticketing in the World Series, they made them sell them all because it's really bad PR to see empty seats on baseball's biggest stage of the season.
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