New York Yanks Prices

In what cannot come as a surprise to anybody, the New York Yankees have announced that they will be lowering ticket prices at their new 1.5 billion dollar stadium that sits right across the street from the old stadium, where history was made for over 80 years.

The Yankees struggled to fill seats on the lower levels during their first home stand and it was easy to see that the new stadium was not full as television broadcasts made sure to point it out.

The seats directly behind home plate were empty as well, creating an eyesore that no team wants to deal with in the first weeks of opening a new stadium. The seats right behind home plate were upwards of 2,000 dollars so it cannot come as a surprise to anybody that the Yankees would lower prices, especially given the state of the current economy.

It also wouldn’t come as a surprise to see other stadiums doing the same. Pricing for Major League Baseball games is trickier than other games because there are so many of them. A home season for every team consists of 81 games and the majority of those games come on weekdays against lousy teams. So what is the incentive for fans to pay thousands of dollars to go and see the Yankees play on a chilly Tuesday evening against the Pirates? Exactly.

Season tickets are getting ridiculously expensive as well. At Dodger Stadium, ticket prices have gone up every year since Frank McCourt took over as the owner before the 2004 season. Loge season tickets, then $36 a game, have risen to over $60. For a family of four, over an 81 game season, including parking and food, those prices become ridiculous.

The San Francisco Giants have created a genius way of working the system and making it easier for fans to enjoy and afford every game at the ballpark. This season the Giants are introducing variable pricing, a system where the tickets to each game will vary depending on day of the week, time of day, month of the season, team against which the Giants are playing, and pitchers throwing for the Giants. Meaning that a beautiful Saturday afternoon game in June against the rival Dodgers with Cy Young Award winner Tim Lincecum on the mount would be more expensive than a chilly April Wednesday night game against the last place Padres.

More teams should consider using variable pricing. It makes things better for all involved, putting fans in the seats when they usually wouldn’t be. As for the league as a whole, teams really need to rethink the cost of ticket prices. They can only go up so high before fans just straight up stop going to the ballpark. Some tickets are more expensive than NFL games and those teams only play eight home games in a season.

For now, the Yankees have somewhat come to their senses. Don’t be surprised to see other prices continue to drop.