I can’t imagine the change to purchasing tickets that the Baltimore Orioles will be all that popular that they are instituting next season.
You’re going to pay more to see the Orioles next season, according to Dan Connolly of the Baltimore Sun if you purchase tickets the day of the game. (Peter Schmuck also gives his take here…)
For the first time, the Orioles are charging a game-day ticketing fee of between $1 and $5, depending on the original price of the seat, for every home game this year – if that ticket is purchased after 12:01 a.m. on game day.
In other words, walk up to the window to buy tickets on game day and you’ll pay extra.
The new policy, which will average an additional $2 per game-day-purchased ticket, is becoming more common in major league baseball, according to Greg Bader, the Orioles’ director of communications.
Last season, 10 teams did it; the Orioles have become the 11th and several more could implement it in 2010, Bader said.
“In our mind, it accomplishes a couple of things. It rewards fans who buy in advance and make a commitment ahead of time to come to the park, and it has them make the commitment to come to the park,” Bader said. In addition to the game-day fee, the Orioles have instituted another price change for 2010, increasing the cost of tickets for 19 premium games – Opening Day and the nine home games each against the New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox – by about 10 percent over last year’s premium-game costs.
Times are tough economically for businesses and perhaps the Orioles are just trying to open up another method to improve cash flow and revenue. Obviously, the team will make all the money they can off the prime games considering the amount it cost fans to see the Red Sox and Yankees at their home park.
Obviously, running a sports team is a for-profit business, not a charity venture. I guess the way around the new policy is to get your tickets ahead of time, or buy a season ticket plan. Hopefully, the team hopes that fans will be proactive in purchasing tickets for games they want to see — in advance.
However, is the new ticket policy a smart business move in the eyes of local, die-hard Oriole fans, especially after a decade plus of losing baseball? This is new plan prudent or out of line?
Personally, while my season ticket pricing for the seats I have at Oriole Park didn’t go up (and have not in years), I’d like to see a winning product before a team can justify raising their prices.
