The Cost of Baseball

TMR's 2008 MLB Ticket Report -

Baseball has never been more popular, or more expensive to watch. On the heels of another record-setting season, the average ticket price has gone up to $25.40, a 10.9 percent increase from last season. Team Marketing Report's 2008 Major League Baseball Fan Cost Index jumped 8.3 percent to $191.75 this season. Both increases are the highest for MLB since 2001, when tickets went up 12.9 percent (to $18.99), and the FCI went up 9.8 percent to $145.45.

Both figures were fairly stagnant from 2006 to 2007, but several teams instituted significant pricing increases this season. Twelve teams had increases of more than 10 percent, including six of more than 20 percent.

The World Champion Boston Red Sox continue to have baseball's priciest ticket. The Red Sox's average price of $48.80 is a 10.1 percent jump from last year. The team's Fan Cost Index total of $320.71 is more than $60 higher than the No. 2 team, the New York Yankees.

The FCI is a representative look at the costs for a family of four to attend a Major League Baseball game. It is comprised of four average tickets, as calculated through a weighted formula, two beers, four soft drinks, four hot dogs, parking for one car, two programs and two adult-sized caps.

The Yankees, playing in their last season at Yankee Stadium, could overtake the Red Sox for the toughest ticket in baseball. And that ticket won't be cheap. According to TMR research, the average regular ticket will cost $36.58 and the cost to take a family of four to the Bronx stadium will be $259.84. That price, however, is hardly representative to what tickets will cost via the secondary market this season.

The crosstown Mets reported a 20.5 percent jump to $34.05 as they prepare to play their last season at Shea Stadium. The Mets will play in Citi Field next season.

Going into their 100th season since their last World Series win, the Cubs' prices are reaching new highs. The North Siders will charge an average of $42.49 per season ticket this year, second in the league, while employing a three-tiered pricing structure. Fifty of the team's 81 home games are considered "prime" games, the highest pricing tier, while only six are value games.

The Red Sox, Yankees and Cubs still have good reasons for charging such exorbitant amounts, as each play in historic, cramped stadiums that double as living museums. Much like their football counterparts, going to regular season games at each of these parks are becoming more of an "event" that families take part in once or twice a season.

Regardless of the increase, baseball is still the most affordable of the top four North American sports (see TMR web site for FCI historical data for baseball, basketball, football and hockey) and 11 teams have average ticket prices under $20.

Five teams have FCI totals under $150. The newly-rechristened Tampa Bay Rays are the best bargain in baseball with an FCI of $136.91, thanks in part to free parking for cars of four or more people, but the Arizona Diamondbacks, last year's surprise winner of the AL West, will have the cheapest average ticket at $15.96. The Rays and the Pittsburgh Pirates ($17.07) were the only teams with no price increases. The San Francisco Giants (up .3 percent) didn't change prices, but re-distributed some seats, giving them a lower average price ($22.06) than was reported last season.

The Washington Nationals are moving into the eponymous Nationals Park this season, and with that move comes expected increases. An average Nats' ticket is expected to be $25, up from $21.11 during their last year at RFK Stadium.

A family of four going to the Anacostia River park should expect to pay about $195.50, and that's if they get the cheapest parking option of $15. If the team improves in the NL East like they did in the FCI standings (from 24 to 15), plenty of fans will shell out that money to watch the District's team.

Several teams near the bottom of the FCI had turnaround seasons in 2007, including NL pennant winners Colorado, and the Milwaukee Brewers. AL contenders, the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, continue to be one of the best bargains in baseball, with an FCI of $140.42, the second-cheapest outing in baseball.

The Kansas City Royals, perennially at the bottom of the FCI, jumped up a few spots, thanks to a 21.1 percent increase on tickets, from $14.48 to $17.54. The Royals' FCI concurrently went up 22.5 percent to $151.16.

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