Features
MLB Ticket Uptick
Major League Baseball’s average ticket price rose 2 percent with the opening of the 2014 season, to $27.93 – the highest spike since 2009’s 5 percent, according to trade mag Team Marketing Report’s annual survey.
A 2013 World Series championship helped the Boston Red Sox ring up the highest average at $52.32, followed by the New York Yankees who missed the playoffs but remain second at $51.55.
The Chicago Cubs, marking the centennial of
The Los Angeles Dodgers, knocking off the Yankees for the highest payroll in baseball, made a move toward paying for it with a 15.3 percent hike to $25.80, good for fourth on the list.
San Diego’s average tickets are lowest at $16.37, and Arizona was just above the Padres at $17.98.
After its third straight 100-loss season, Houston dropped its average 13.6 percent to $27.98. In contrast, the average NFL ticket price was $81.54 last season, TMR said. The NBA average is $52.50 this season and the NHL average is $61.62.
But just like in the concert business, the real money is in the ancillaries. TMR’s Fan Cost Index, which includes four average-price tickets, two small draft beers, four small soft drinks, four hot dogs, parking, two programs and two adult-size caps, rose 2.3 percent to $212.46 per head.
The Red Sox were the high team at $350.78 and Arizona the low at $126.89.