BETA
This is a BETA experience. You may opt-out by clicking here

More From Forbes

Edit Story

Baseball's Bargain Playoffs

Following
This article is more than 10 years old.

October is coming, the time of year that baseball ticket prices go up.

But not this year. Clubs poised for post-season play have learned a lesson from the economic havoc that tore through the regular season, knocking down attendance figures across the majors even as teams fell over themselves offering discounts and specials. Four of baseball's eight likely playoff teams--the Angels, Yankees, Cardinals and Rockies--have announced their post-season prices. Non-suite seats aside, all but the Angels are offering up plenty of cut-rate tickets from the regular season.

"They understand what's going on in the market, and with better information comes more precise pricing," says industry consultant David Carter of the Sports Business Group, who notes that teams usually jack up playoff prices by 30% to 50% from the regular year.

The Yankees announced with much fanfare that the $325 top regular season ticket price would be slashed to $275 for the first playoff round (American League Championship Series prices max out at $350, just barely above regular season prices; even the specter of a Yankees-Red Sox league final isn't fetching much of a premium).

Over in the National League, the St. Louis Cardinals are trimming high-end prices while squeezing a bit more from the cheaper seats. The team is charging $26 to $52 for Division Series tickets, and $38 to $82 for the League Championship Series. Regular season tickets were priced between $16 and $99 this year. Similarly, the Colorado Rockies have announced a $10 to $78 range for Division Series games, compared to $4 to $100 for the regular season.

Reps from the Cardinals, Rockies and Yankees either did not return calls or declined comment on the rationale behind their clubs' playoff pricing.



With just a handful of games to go, the final sales tallies for the 2009 regular season are coming in, and the numbers are not pretty. Attendance is off 7% across the league, to an average of 30,302 per game from 32,543 in 2008. This despite the efforts of many front offices to combat the recession with aggressive price promotions, like the Washington Nationals offering a package of five games for the price of four, and the Yankees' attempts to fill in some empty seats in their expensive new stadium with a "Buy Three/Get One Free" program.

Only eight of 30 clubs grew attendance from last season, most of them very marginally (the Texas Rangers led the way with 3,100 more fans per game, though they still played to half a house this year, on average).

The disappointing season follows a 1% drop last year from a record 2007 season, making this the first time baseball has suffered back-to-back attendance declines since 2002-03. And team executives aren't figuring that fans are in the mood to pay more at playoff time. Not with sponsors keeping a close eye on baseball's intensified efforts to hustle fans through the gates, Carter notes.

"This isn't the right time to gouge your customers," he says.

The Yankees, despite a run to the top of the standings, are off more than 7,000 fans a game from 2008. And don't blame the reduction in seating capacity from the old Yankee Stadium to the new one--the club is also down to 87% capacity from 92% last season. The crosstown Mets, fighting both a tough economy and a wretched season, are down 12,000 fans a game from last year, playing to just a slightly higher capacity at 42,000-seat Citi Field (93%) than they did at 57,000-seat Shea Stadium (89%) last season.

The biggest free fall, predictably, is in economically ravaged Detroit. The Tigers, on the cusp of a division title after last year's fifth-place finish, have averaged 31,360 fans per game (78% capacity) at Comerica Park, down from 39,538 per game (98%) last year.

Seven major league clubs played to 90% capacity or higher last year; this year just four have. And a lack of compelling playoff races between now and Oct. 4 pretty much ensures there won't be any late spikes in attendance. Other than the Minnesota Twins pressuring the Tigers in the American League Central, the playoff field appears set. The Colorado Rockies, once baseball's attendance kings during their 1990s expansion years, are off by over 1,000 fans per game despite roaring into the playoff picture after a rough start. Coors Field has played to just 65% capacity this year, even with some of the most reasonable ticket prices in the league (under $20 on average, according to Team Marketing Report).

Overall, 16 of 30 MLB teams will play to 60% capacity or lower this year. Only nine did in 2008. And nine franchises saw attendance drop by 4,000 or more fans a game.

Of the clubs that have announced playoff prices, only the Los Angeles Angels feel they have the leverage to charge a premium (though expect the same from the Phillies and Red Sox, two teams that have bucked the recessionary trend by playing to more than 100% capacity this season).

While promoting the fact that they're keeping post-season prices unchanged from last season, the Angels will charge maximum prices of $137 for the ALDS, $192 for the ALCS and $250 for the World Series. Regular season prices capped out at $122. Lower-end prices are up too, from $14 during the season to $52 for the first playoff round and over $100 for the two following rounds. Chalk it up to the aggressive marketing employed by Angels owner Arte Moreno, who has turned the club into a legitimate market rival to the Dodgers. Both rank in the top seven in MLB attendance this year. A $100 million stadium renovation after the NFL Rams moved out several years ago lowered capacity to 45,000 from 65,000, making tickets a more difficult buy for fans.

They'll know soon enough if the plan works. Most other clubs aren't even trying.