The Boston Red Sox are rewarding their fans for sticking by the team through a second straight losing season by… raising ticket prices?
Yes, you read that correctly. The team announced on Thursday that the average ticket price will increase by 1.4 percent next season, raising the cost of what are already the most expensive seats in baseball. The Red Sox topped the list with an average ticket cost of $52.34 in 2015, finishing just ahead of the New York Yankees ($21.55) and nearly double the league average of $28.94.
From #RedSox: 1.4% average increase in ticket prices for '16; '15 prices will hold for select April, May, Sept. games purchased before 12/31
— Scott Lauber (@ScottLauber) October 8, 2015
Prices will be held at their 2015 levels for tickets purchased before December 31, reports the Providence Journal. However, not all tickets will be available by that point. Fans will be able to purchase season tickets, tickets for groups of 20 or more, four-game Sox Pax, as well as select single-game tickets for games in April, May and September. Want seats for any other game that doesn’t meet this criteria? Too bad, you’ll need to wait until they become available, which won’t be until after the prices have gone up.
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If you are looking for any small consolation, not every section will be raising its prices. If your favorite spot to catch a game at Fenway happens to be in the Budweiser right field roof deck, right field roof box terrace, upper bleachers or in one of the standing-room areas, then you’re in luck! Those are among the sections where prices are expected to remain the same next season. All told, prices will rise in 12 of the 22 non-premium seating categories.
The team’s press release was quick to point out that they had not raised ticket prices in four of the previous eight seasons, while conveniently leaving out the part about how the increases they have made still managed to keep them ahead of the pack in their sport.
The Red Sox not only have the most expensive tickets, they also have one of the smallest ballparks in the majors, with a capacity of under 38,000 seats. While this means that the ownership group can’t make as much off of ticket sales compared to teams with much larger parks, that’s not why they are raising prices. It’s a supply and demand issue. Even when the team is struggling, the Red Sox still manage to sell out many of their games. You’ll never see a half-filled Fenway the way you often see in places like Tampa Bay. The Red Sox have incentive to keep raising prices because they know fans will still buy them.
Most fans have fond childhood memories of an afternoon trip to Fenway Park. These days it’s getting harder and harder for families to afford to go to a game. You can call the owners greedy for lining their pockets with the hard-earned cash of their fans, but you can’t really blame them when there are so many people lining up to fork over their wallets to get a ticket. It’s just good business.
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