Baseball boom leads to tough tickets even with colossal costs

[Baseball Guru]

NEW YORK (AP)—Even Keith Olbermann had sticker shock when he saw the Ruthian prices for Yankee Stadium’s final year.

His family first purchased four season tickets for seats behind the Yankees dugout in 1972 at $4 per seat for each game. This year, the price jumped to $250 from $150—more than double the $112 average for equivalent seats near the Mets’ dugout across town.

“The thought did cross my mind, my investment in this might be better spent at Shea Stadium and Citi Field,” the MSNBC broadcaster said.

Still, he kept the seats. All the offseason talk of the Mitchell Report and steroids hasn’t dented baseball’s boom.

http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/news?slug=ap-toughtickets&prov=ap&type=lgns

[Old Sweater]

Yankees bring the premium mark up for sure.

Here is the prices they have listed in my pocket schedule for the Rockies last year.

Value Games
Classic Games
Fireworks Games
Premium Games
Yankees Games........lol....hate them or not but they bring MLB and their owners more money then any other team.

Thank goodness for being 55 and one dollar Rockpile seats!!! Just 4 bucks under 55.

[bob]

If people will pay that much for them then cant blame the club fully for doing so. Yes it means poorer people cant get to many games, but its the same in all sports from the last 20 years, prices rising very fast, especially in the top 2 or 3 teams who can guarentee that they will still sell nearly all the seats.

[Old Sweater]

If people will pay that much for them then cant blame the club fully for doing so. Yes it means poorer people cant get to many games, but its the same in all sports from the last 20 years, prices rising very fast, especially in the top 2 or 3 teams who can guarantee that they will still sell nearly all the seats.

That is true for the club. Many fans blame the players salaries for the high price of tickets even though some marketing research says it is demand. Guess the demand in NY is high enough for the Yankees because the players salaries didn't go up enough to warrant a $100 increase for a one seating section. Keep putting out a good product like the Yankees have the last 13 years and the demand will keep increasing.

[dabigyankeeman]

In the recent couple of years, the Marlins have started charging different amounts based on the opposing team. I know other teams are doing this too.

For instance, the Yankees and Mets command the highest prices here, and the club seats behind home plate (not at field level) are $60 a game for them. Two of those seats plus Ticketmaster fees come to $137. You are paying to see the good teams, certainly not to see the Marlins. Seats right down by the field command a fee just to be able to buy them, then you pay for them on top of that.