O's to charge extra for tickets purchased on game day

[Frobby]

To me it's just another move for an organization that has no idea how to get its fanbase back.

You raise prices after you put a winning team on the field and increase the demand. Not before.

It's not easy to hold the line on ticket prices 12 years in a row. The Orioles' average price was $19.52 in 2000, $23.42 in 2009. By comparison, Boston was charging $28.33 in 2000, the highest in baseball. Now they are charging $50.24, and they are no longer the highest, with the Yankees charging $72.97 a ticket. In baseball overall, the average price was $16.67 in 2000, $26.64 now. So, over the last decade the O's have raised prices by $3.90 compared to $9.97 for MLB. I'd say the Orioles have been pretty reasonable. They also have the most liberal policy I know of with respect to bringing in food from outside the stadium.

[Sports Guy]

It's not easy to hold the line on ticket prices 12 years in a row. The Orioles' average price was $19.52 in 2000, $23.42 in 2009. By comparison, Boston was charging $28.33 in 2000, the highest in baseball. Now they are charging $50.24, and they are no longer the highest, with the Yankees charging $72.97 a ticket. In baseball overall, the average price was $16.67 in 2000, $26.64 now. So, over the last decade the O's have raised prices by $3.90 compared to $9.97 for MLB. I'd say the Orioles have been pretty reasonable. They also have the most liberal policy I know of with respect to bringing in food from outside the stadium.

And they allow the scalp free zone, knowing full well it hurts their business.

Ticket prices and how the Orioles handle that is the one thing this organization consistently does well.

They also have a ton of discounts every game.

[Frobby]

And they allow the scalp free zone, knowing full well it hurts their business.

Ticket prices and how the Orioles handle that is the one thing this organization consistently does well.

They also have a ton of discounts every game.

I agree. There are plenty of things to complain about with this organization, but ticket prices (and the overall cost of going to a game) aren't one of them. Now just put a winning team on the field, already!

[Mike B]

The Orioles(or most teams for that matter) don't get a lot of day of game walk up business anyway.

Again, the timing isn't good at all and far be it from me to defend this horrible organization but this isn't that big of a deal.

I am not sure if you have numbers to back that up but as someone who does walk up I can tell you that for selected games (Friday and Saturday) there has been a long line in walk up. If you get there after 6PM for a 7:05 game you wait a while. The line stretches aroung the Museum

[Pedro Cerrano]

I am not sure if you have numbers to back that up but as someone who does walk up I can tell you that for selected games (Friday and Saturday) there has been a long line in walk up. If you get there after 6PM for a 7:05 game you wait a while. The line stretches aroung the Museum

That's because of college night.

[JTrea81]

It's not easy to hold the line on ticket prices 12 years in a row. The Orioles' average price was $19.52 in 2000, $23.42 in 2009. By comparison, Boston was charging $28.33 in 2000, the highest in baseball. Now they are charging $50.24, and they are no longer the highest, with the Yankees charging $72.97 a ticket. In baseball overall, the average price was $16.67 in 2000, $26.64 now. So, over the last decade the O's have raised prices by $3.90 compared to $9.97 for MLB. I'd say the Orioles have been pretty reasonable. They also have the most liberal policy I know of with respect to bringing in food from outside the stadium.

Boston and the Yankees paid for star talent to win games and upped their payroll so it's reasonable to ask their fans to pay more to watch that talent.

The Orioles on the other hand have not put a winning team on the field and will have a low payroll and clearly not the same level of star talent.

As I've said, the Orioles should be lowering prices because it's pretty clear they have no desire to put a winning team on the field if it deviates from "the plan," no matter how long their fans have supported a losing team.

[SilentJames]

It is a stupid policy. I'm not a torch and pitchfork guy in general and this is not one of those situations but it is still stupid.

Now, to rectify it, if the Orioles were to make something like the Eutaw street seats or the section by the left field foul pole "walk up tickets" wave the fees and sell walk-up sales EXCLUSIVELY in those sections, that would be cool.

It would be an incentive to 1) Buy a more expensive seat, 2) fill lower sections for TV broadcasts 3) create a better experience for the fans.

I am with Crow on this one, it is a dumb change even if we are in the minority of "walk-up fans" but it does effect us.

[SilentJames]

Boston and the Yankees paid for star talent to win games and upped their payroll so it's reasonable to ask their fans to pay more to watch that talent.

The Orioles on the other hand have not put a winning team on the field and will have a low payroll and clearly not the same level of star talent.

Hence you can go to the ballpark for less than 10 bucks at Camden Yards and it costs you double/2.5 at Yankee Stadium.

[JTrea81]

Hence you can go to the ballpark for less than 10 bucks at Camden Yards and it costs you double/2.5 at Yankee Stadium.

I'd rather pay more to watch a winning team. Watching the Orioles lose is not entertaining.

[Frobby]

Boston and the Yankees paid for star talent to win games and upped their payroll so it's reasonable to ask their fans to pay more to watch that talent.

I think it's pretty obvious that no matter how good the Orioles are, they won't be able to charge an average of $50 - $70 per ticket the way the Yankees and Red Sox do.

[JTrea81]

I think it's pretty obvious that no matter how good the Orioles are, they won't be able to charge an average of $50 - $70 per ticket the way the Yankees and Red Sox do.

If they added the talent to justify it, yeah they could.

Had the Orioles signed say Teixeira, Holliday and Lackey, you bet they could justify a huge price hike.

And people would pay it because they'd be excited to watch a winning team.

So it comes down to what you want to watch. I'd rather pay 50 bucks a ticket to watch a talented winning team, than $10-15 to watch an inconsistent losing one.

And I'm sure a lot of people feel the same. You've got to spend money to make money.

[SilentJames]

I'd rather pay more to watch a winning team. Watching the Orioles lose is not entertaining.

Then please stop watching.

[JTrea81]

Then please stop watching.

See it's this attitude that allows the Orioles to get away with an inferior product.

James you are so gung-ho that the Orioles could go with a AA-AAA team and you'd be cheering them on.

They are taking advantage of your fandom, and you are letting them walk all over you.

Fans have the right to hold the team accountable for their actions or lack there of. But as long as people keep buying and supporting what the Orioles are selling with no questions asked, they have no motivation to improve or deviate from what they are putting on the field for you to watch.

[orioles119]

Just plan to buy tickets. I have to, living 100 miles away. It takes what... 5 minutes to buy tickets? Just plan the day before and save the money.

All this talk of mutiny and swashbuckling is rather stupid.

[SilentJames]

If they added the talent to justify it, yeah they could.

Had the Orioles signed say Teixeira, Holliday and Lackey, you bet they could justify a huge price hike.

And people would pay it because they'd be excited to watch a winning team.

So it comes down to what you want to watch. I'd rather pay 50 bucks a ticket to watch a talented winning team, than $10-15 to watch an inconsistent losing one.

And I'm sure a lot of people feel the same. You've got to spend money to make money.

No they could not. The Baltimore area can not afford $40-50 ticket average. It can not happen, the economic base of the Baltimore area could not support that. Everything in NewYork is more expensive: The Bus, the hotdogs, the subway, the sodas, the bigmacs, the housing, the suits EVERYTHING.

If you honestly think that the Baltimore area could support a team that charged an average of $40-50 a game for 81 games well then I suggest some reading for you:

Principles of Economics, 4th edition

This really does speak to the heart of your entire argument about the Orioles offseason and player acquisition strategy. You think that the Baltimore area's economic base can actively support something that it simply can not.

Do the Orioles need to spend more, yes. Can they spend to the level that they could actively charge more than $40 bucks for an average ticket - not a chance. Not on any type of longterm basis.