Blue Jays Tickets To Be Amongst The Most Expensive in 2013

[polo007]

http://www.forbes.com/sites/darrenheitn ... e-in-2013/

The 2013 Major League Baseball season begins this Sunday. Fans in traditional markets such as Boston and New York are eager for the season to start, along with some non-traditional fan bases, which have demonstrated an early eagerness to support their teams this upcoming season. The biggest year-to-year increase in home game attendance should be found up north, in Toronto, Canada.

In 2012, Toronto had an average home field attendance of 25,921. That ranked the Blue Jays as No. 23 out of 30 MLB teams, behind Pittsburgh (No. 22), San Diego (No. 21) and the Miami Marlins (No. 18). However, this past offseason, the Marlins and Blue Jays pulled off a blockbuster trade, sending shortstop Jose Reyes, catcher John Buck, outfielder Emilio Bonifacio and pitchers Mark Buehrle and Josh Johnson from Miami to Toronto. The Marlins shed a total of $163.75 million in guaranteed payroll (through 2018) in return for a bevy of prospects acquired from the Blue Jays. The trade rejuvenated a Toronto Blue Jays fan base that had dissipated since winning two World Series titles in the early 1990′s and heavily diminished a the support of a Miami population that had once been excited at the announcement of a brand new, beautiful ballpark.

The result of Toronto’s influx of talent is a great rise in average ticket prices on the secondary market. According to secondary market ticket aggregator, TiqIQ, the Blue Jays currently sit as the No. 3 team with the highest average ticket price in 2013 ($100.99). The only two teams with a more expensive secondary market average ticket price are the Boston Red Sox ($118.72) and Detroit Tigers ($111.72). Interestingly, even though the Boston Red Sox retain their position as the most expensive average home field ticket, the price is down 21.43% from last season at this time. However, Fenway Park hosts 6 of the top 10 highest priced games currently on the secondary market.

Overall, tickets to baseball games are becoming more expensive, which some may use as proof of the general health of Major League Baseball. Year-over-year MLB ticket prices are up 5.87% (2012-$75.08 vs. 2013-$79.49), but not all teams will benefit from what may portrayed as solidified interest in the sport. While the Toronto Blue Jays are experiencing a surge of support based on their trade with the Miami Marlins, the Marlins will undoubtedly suffer at the turnstyle. The Marlins currently have the third largest decrease in average secondary ticket price from 2012 at -18.56% and the fourth lowest average ticket price ($62.48). Expect that number to continue to drop, along with the Marlins position in the middle-of-the-pack concerning home field attendance. Meanwhile, the Blue Jays will likely see a rise from the bottom end of attendance and become one of the most expensive tickets on the secondary market in 2013.

[Schad]

It's not that tickets as sold by the team are among the most expensive...it's that resold tickets through Stubhub and the like are extremely expensive, which reflects their expectation that there will be great demand for them. That's partially a reflection on the Dome itself, methinks; it's a much higher-capacity park than many of the others at ~49,000, but -- like Comerica/Fenway, which are smaller parks -- there's a finite number of really good seats, as people may be willing to pay a markup in the secondary market rather than buy seats in the 500 level.

[hyper316]

yea, that's resale value. plus they're talking about average tickets on the resale website, says nothing about total ballpark average.

side note: i would pay good money to sit on the green monster one day

[Santoki]

yea, that's resale value. plus they're talking about average tickets on the resale website, says nothing about total ballpark average.

side note: i would pay good money to sit on the green monster one day

I think you have to apply for a lottery and then win it. I can't remember exactly what they said but it was along those lines when I took the tour.

[LittleOzzy]

Pretty misleading thread title.