I recall going to baseball games as a child with great fondness. My family would head to the deli, grab some huge sandwiches, drive along the San Francisco Bay, pull into the parking lot and head into Candlestick Park to watch the Giants struggle for victory against opponents that often dwarfed the Giants in talent. My father, mother and brother accompanied me to root on the home team, and it was a magical experience that helped to shape my career in sports. Alas, the story, of going to a game with the family is becoming less and less of a frequent experience as the cost of heading to a game continues to climb. Has baseball priced their event so high as to herald the end of an era, and consequently played a direct role in the downward spiral of attendance that we are witnessing in Major League Baseball?
ATTENDANCE IS DOWN
The facts.
For the first time in 15-years, MLB attendance dropped below 70 million fans in 2018.
The attendance for games in 2018 was four percent below the 2017 numbers.
Thirteen teams saw an increase in attendance in 2018.
Seventeen teams saw a decrease in attendance in 2018.
MLB spun things suggesting that it was the weather that was the explanation. “Attendance this year dipped by about 4% – a decrease we believe is primarily connected to the historically bad weather we faced back in the spring.” While it is true that there were 54 postponements, the most since 1989, that seems like a weak excuse to this scribe.
Nearly a quarter of the leagues overall four percent drop in attendance was due to the Marlins. Should baseball even be in Florida at this point? That’s a fair question.
For the first time in MLB history there were eight teams that finished with 95 loses or more with three clubs losing 100 games. Perhaps fans just didn’t want to watch bad baseball?
MLB REVENUES ARE WAY UP
From 2001-17 the average annual revenue of MLB teams was way over 100 percent. Way over. Teams are making more money, and yet the price still continues to go up for tickets.
MLB generated $10.3 billion in revenue last season, an all-time record. That was the 16th straight year that revenue was up. Yes, they made more money even though attendance was down. They made their money through advertising.
Note, that the above number does not include the $2.58 billion sale of BAMTech to Disney.
Realize further that since Bud Selig took over in 1992, that MLB gross revenue is up 377 percent if you factor in inflation. MLB teams are basically printing money.
So, MLB is making crap-tons of money, OFF OF YOU, and yet…
OUR COST IS WAY UP
Tickets.
Parking.
Food.
Fandom stuff (hats, shirts, banners etc.)
Games get expensive hella quickly.
In 1985, you could have gone to the All-Star game in Minnesota, two of you actually, gotten a dog, a beer and spent $25.
The last time I drove to Oracle Park in San Francisco it cost me $25 to park (I usually take the train now, but even so, the cost for two round trip tickets comes out to $24.00).
Let’s talk tickets.
This study suggests that the cost of an average MLB ticket has gone up fifty percent in barely over a decade. So, four average MLB tickets last season would have cost you $129.76. This also depends on where you live (in San Francisco, if you’re grabbing a $32 ticket you’re sitting upper deck, or in the lower deck with some obstructed view seat). According to this study, there were plenty of parks last season where the average ticket was well over $40 a pop (the average cost on the secondary market last season for tickets was $76). You can pretty much forget about getting a ticket for less than that on the weekend, no matter where you sit, and then there is…
Teams have also implemented this craptastic flex schedule thing where a game against the Marlins costs you $28 for a ticket, but when the Dodgers roll into town the same ticket costs $50. Want to go on a Saturday? That $17 Tuesday ticket is gonna cost you $32. With so many of us unable to go during the week because of work, we’re forced to pay a king’s ransom to attend a baseball game with the family. It blows chunks, and honestly, shame on you MLB. And you – MLB – wonder why attendance is down?
This study suggests that last season the average cost of beer was $5.98, a hot dog $5.01 and a soda $4.65. Again, this one comes down where you live. Attend a Giants game, and that under six dollar beer ain’t happening. I don’t eat hot dogs, but you can get an Impossible Burger for $16 here in SF. Fact is, a beer, hot dog and a soda is gonna cost you more than $20.
Federal minimum wage is currently $7.25. That means if you want to buy an official MLB hat, a sized version like they wear on the field, that you’re going to have to work 5+ hours. Hell, just to get a decent hat is gonna cost you three hours of work. Does that seem right to you?
So, if we spend $130 on tickets, buy four sodas and four hot dogs and pay for parking we’re at around $190 or so dollars for four people. That’s a whole lotta cash when you can get MLB Extra Innings package for $177.90 for an entire season from Direct TV. You can get six months of MLB coverage, including 90 out of market games each week, for less than the cost of one MLB game for four. How do you want to spend your money?
INTERSTING IS WAINING
Price are way up.
It’s more feasible financially, in many instances, to simply buy a television package if you really care about baseball.
The game, for some, is exciting.
For others, all the walks, strikeouts and homers are flat out boring.
Last season was the first time, ever, that there were more strikeouts than hits.
For the 11th straight season strikeouts were up.
The league hit .248 last season, the lowest mark in baseball since 1972.
I made the case in What is Wrong with Fantasy Baseball that the game is being passed by as the pace of life. The game is slow, life is not.
Baseball simply isn’t a game suited to the new generation, and that’s an issue that almost certainly has at least a part in the slowing of the pace of MLB attendance.
WE NEED TO STAND UP FOR OURSELVES
I’m not saying we don’t need Major League Baseball. We do.
What I am suggesting is that we need to stop bitching about prices and start doing something about it.
WE HAVE THE POWER FOLKS.
Go to games, but don’t pay for box seats.
Bring your own food to the ballpark.
Don’t spend $35 for a hat or t-shirt at a concession stand. Speaking of this, I was looking at the fans with a critical eye back on May 11th. It started on the train, I happened to be sitting on the second level, and vveryone had some sort of something Giants on. Some folks had a hat, a jersey/shirt, a jacket, maybe even more (mugs, rings, watches, shoes). Look at me in the pictures above. Granted, by hat is old, and my orange undershirt was a freebie from work, but I had fifty dollars of Giants gear on, as guilty as everyone else. Do we always need the newest hat or jersey? There is gear for Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, Armed Forces Weekend, Independence Day, the All-Star Game, Star Wars Day, Game of Thrones Day… I’m all for it within reason, I had my Star Wars Day t-shirt on in those photos, but think about it. If you want to be a real fan MLB thinks that they can sell you at least five hats/shirts each year. At some point, isn’t it getting a bit absurd?
Folks, if we keep paying, they will keep charging us.
The only way teams will learn is if we make a stand. Stop spending your hard-earned money for an overpriced product. You can watch TV with your family, see the whole game, and enjoy a night in the company of those you love for a few dollars (cable and electricity for the day). You don’t need to spend an hour in the car to shovel out $200 dollars to see a bad product on the field to watch a game, do you? Who am I kidding? That $200 could easily blow past $300, even higher, if you spend at a game.
Really it’s up to you, but as they always say, nothing speaks louder than your wallet. If you think it’s all gotten out of hand, stop buying tickets and merchandise. The teams will realize it, and prices will flatline or recede. If we keep being willing to spend, they will keep charging us. Trust me on that one.
