"I remember when you could sit in the infield at a Phillies game for $20"
I step away from my computer for a few moments and come back to angry emails from readers complaining that the Phillies raised ticket prices.
I'm not sure a $2-$5 increase (depending on the seat) is all that drastic, given the fact that the Phillies have sold out 123 straight games and have been to three straight NLCS. BUT when you're team gets beat by a rag-tag Giants club and by all accounts will let their star right fielder walk because he demands too much money, well, people aren't going to be happy.
Funny email from reader "Jason," calling Rub "Ruin Tomorrow Jr.":
The face value (season tix holder cost) of my Section 102 outfield seats in 2005 was $21. The 2010 face was $29 after yet another increase last year. Now I get my statement and they are raising prices $3 each ticket. Last year was bad because they raised prices yet cried poor and dumped Cliff Lee's salary only to give Bum Blanton a raise and now $3 a game. Thats 52% in 6 years! WTF?!
Ruin Tomorrow Jr. better sign a slam dunk free agent and stop pocketing the profits. I wouldn't care as much if the money was going into a winning team but they are def squeezing us for profits and not to improve the team. With over 100+ consecutive sellouts they are hardly strapped for cash and when I called the front office the response I got was "supply and demand". More like the ch squeezing the little guys to get richer!
I got similar, angry emails.
Nick in the comments was a little more reasonable:
Stop getting mad at this. The Phillies are finally a powerhouse in all facets of being a franchise. Great stadium, great team, great fans, and a national appeal. When you are this good, you have to do things to stay on top. As annoying as it is, they need money to stay where they are and I can't fault them for doing what they can to keep the franchise strong.
Sports are a business, but it is one of the only businesses that plays on the emotion of its customers. Sometimes you just don't want to piss those people off. However, a slight increase on a very successful product isn't exactly "screwing fans."
Details of the increases after the jump.
via David Murphy
Infield (115-132) and baseline rows 1-6 up to $65 from $60
Baseline (112-114, 133-135) up to $50 from $45
Baseline (108-111, 136-139) up to $47 from $45
Outfield (101-107, 140-148) up to $36 from $33
Pavilion (206-211) up to $36 from $33
Arcade (233-237) up to $36 from $33
Scoreboard porch (241-245) up to $40 from $38, including a $10 credit for food, beverage and merchandise
Pavilion (201-205) up to $30 from $28
Pavilion (306-310) up to $28 from $26
Pavilion Deck (301-305) remain at $20
Terrace (312-329) up to $36 from $34
Terrance (330-333) up to $28 from $26
Terrace deck (412-429) up to $28 from $26
Terrance deck (430-434) remain at $20
Rooftop bleachers remain at $28, including $10 credit for food, beverage and merchandise
29 Responses
You want Jayson Werth back? Then prepare to pay for it…
“I wouldn’t care as much if the money was going into a winning team…” dumbest thing ever written
Tickets prices have gone up 52% in 6 years, but so has payroll. They have added a lot to the payroll lately. When was it ever $140MM?
Hey Jason…I’m not saying that they should be raising the prices but you sound like a stupid ass when you say they aren’t a winning team. Did you look at the standings at the end of the year? Who had the best record? Pretty good for a team who isn’t a “winning team.” Dont get so upset because you have to reallocate your pot/trans hooker money towards a $3 increase in your tickets!!!!
These people are all morons. It’s 2010 and they want prices to stay the same yea after year after year afyer year. They should check out Yankees,Red Sox or Mets ticket prices. Morons. The stop being a sports fan,thats the only answer I could come up with.
I’m not really mad about it. I think my seats in 105 are going up about $3/ticket. However, I’ll probably be super pissed at some point. Especially if Werth walks.
that’s not a “great email” from jason at all.
all the Phillies are trying to do is cash in when they can…. the window of opportunity is going to close quickly for this club without much homegrown talent on the way. In another 5 years, you’ll be able to buy your own section to a game much like you were able to at the Vet.
Want to keep Werth? Want the owners to spend more money? Well, this is what happens. I have no problem with it.
You don’t even have to compare with the Sox, Yanks, or Mets. Go see what the Cardinals charge for seats, or the Dodgers. You don’t like the price, don’t pay. The Phils front office is right, supply and demand. 126 sell outs in a business plan should be screaming the price is too low. Wait till you see what the city does with parking costs, and those increases won’t be paying for top line players.
Hey Kyle, are you sure that Infield seats went from $60 to $65? My family has season tickets in Section 115 Infield and the face value last year was $55, maybe you meant $55-$60? Just checking in for you.
WE won’t spend money because the Phils are owned by 5 people. Montgomery, is a small time owner who wants to spend the cash, but the 4 other owners are greedy and want to make more money, so they’ll raise the “cap” every so often by what looks like a lot and wont do anything for years to keep us from getting pissed.
We easily could have the 3rd if not 2nd highest payroll in the league.
my 17 game plan for section 430’s prices didnt go up at all
tyler- thanks. i’m just quoting philly.com. i think they were referring to individual seats, not season plans specifically.
Reader “Jason” is an idiot.
“I wouldn’t care as much if the money was going into a winning team…”
The Phillies had the most wins out of any team in baseball for the first time ever and swept an elimination for the first time ever. What part of winning am I missing? The Giants beat them. Great. THE BEST BASEBALL TEAMS ONLY WIN ABOUT 60% OF THE TIME.
“… but they are def squeezing us for profits and not to improve the team.”
Let’s see. Did they improve the team last year? Roy Halladay… Roy Oswalt… Placido Polanco… Ross Gload… many calling this the best Phillies team ever… gee, I don’t know. Are they improving the team? And how do they improve from here? Signing either Werth or Crawford keeps them at about the same in the lineup and then signing Cliff Lee is about all they can do to improve the rotation. YOU NEED MONEY TO DO THIS.
Stop getting mad at this. The Phillies are finally a powerhouse in all facets of being a franchise. Great stadium, great team, great fans, and a national appeal. When you are this good, you have to do things to stay on top. As annoying as it is, they need money to stay where they are and I can’t fault them for doing what they can to keep the franchise strong.
Demand exceeds supply so prices go up. As fundamental a business principle as bunting over a runner in the eighth inning of a tied playoff game on the road and a .220 hitting shortstop at the plate…ooops…guess that’s why Cholley isn’t running the business side!
Who cares it’s 5 bucks. Get over it. Supply and demand? How bout’ inflation. The prices naturally have to go up sooner or later. As long as they keep putting playoff calibur teams on the field, and keep the ticket prices reasonable, we have no reason to complain. 4 straight NL East titles, 2 Pennants and a WS in the last 4 years. 100+ straight sell outs. Powerhouse. Let’s not let 5 extra bucks turn fans against the greatest organization in professional sports.
Ticket prices have gone up because your favorite team is awesome and playing the best baseball in its entire 100+ year history.
Stop whining about a few bucks.
MD10: + 1 intelligence
Great point on inflation.
bitchin about a $3-$5 increase, get a life.!
I’ve been saying that the organization should’ve did this last year. This is one of the ‘crafty’ ways that will help the Phillies bring back Cliff Lee!
Anyone Got 5 Bucks?,
I agree, but imagine the outcry if they did it all at once. If politics shows you anything, if you ween people on or off of something for long enough, they are less sensitive to change.
I dont have a problem with it at all. That being said, they need to put some of that money into signing a big-time free agent. If they do that, then noone should be able to complain.
we’ve been season tix holders for about 25 years. each year, the phils made a point to move our group to better seats. in 2003, they sent us a letter asking if we would like seats in sect. 124. For 7 seasons now we’ve watched the phils climb from mediocrity to contender, but always find that when they need more revenue to cover the payroll, the biggest raise falls on our sections. in 2004, the face value of the infield seats (sect. 115 to 132) was based at $40. In just those seven season, with about 4 or 5 increases in between, our seats will now be $65. While i’m happy with the state of the franchise, and i know these winning years don’t come often, i think it’s unfair that we’ve seen a 63 % jump in costs in such a small amount of time.
Wouldn’t this issue be solved if the Phillies had a dedicated cable station and could control that ad revenue? Ticket sales would pale beside that.
“put the money into a winning team” as in IMPROVING the team not just making profits is what I meant by my statement. As in keeping Cliff Lee not dumping salary. If they signed CLiff Lee I wouldn’t complain at all. BUT, you know they won’t. They won’t bring back Werth or make any big free agency signings.
PROVE ME WRONG RUBEN!
When you spend $12,000 a year on tickets then come talk to me.
People need to stop bitching about their ticket costs, if you don’t like it, don’t renew them! Theres plenty of people who WOULD pay that. I have season tickets in the cheapest part of the park [I was in section 303 last year], and my tickets didn’t go up, they are $16. I would GLADLY pay $30 for a ticket if it meant I had decent seats, but the only way people in my section can get moved up, is if people in the lower sections decide not to renew them.
My OF seats in Sec. 147 went from $27 in 2008 to a touch over $31 a ticket now. Only 2 bucks extra per ticket per year? Uh…..yes please. I’ll gladly take such a small increase to watch a WS contender year after year. I have no clue how anyone got $36 on average for OF seats for 2011.
You want angry fans regarding ticket prices? Ask Met fans. They lowered prices and still arent anywhere close to the level of affordablility as they are here.
I’ve been saying for 2 years that their tickets should be priced higher. If almost all of your tickets except for games vs the Marlins and Nats are pretty much gone the day they go on sale, then they are probably priced too low. Limited supply, seemingly unlimited demand….should probably equal an increase in price.
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