Saturday, November 8, 2008

Orioles Won't Drop Ticket Prices

On the Baltimore Sun sports digest, Jeff Zrebiec reports that the Orioles will not drop their ticket prices for the next season.

Some of these prices that will at least remain the same include $9 for LF upper reserve and standing room for a normal game, $15/$23 for the bleachers, $55/$75 for a club box seat and$55/$80 for a field box seat, all according to the Orioles website.

More brilliance from Peter Angelos. First off, it is true, that lowering prices and getting more fans is not where the money is in athletics. It is in sponsors, TV deals, and MLB revenue. But if you are consistently losing attendance, this past season the lowest in Camden Yards history, sponsors will leave and your TV contract will lose value. Not to mention that the team has shown no reason for the average baseball to attend games. If it weren't for the Yankees and Red Sox games being near sellouts, then the Orioles would like have the worst attendance in baseball.

Remember when the standing room seats were three dollars each? Sure that was years ago and we are in a different time, but that was when the team competed. Andy MacPhail is doing a solid job trying to rebuild the farm system, but that will take years and the average fan isn't going to care about that. In the mean time, the ownership has to prove that the Orioles are trying to get back in touch with fans plus get people back in the stands. You'll be hard pressed to do that by keeping up high ticket prices. But Angelos doesn't care; he never has.

(Photo credit: MLB)

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