Tigers hike prices for prime games on some seats

Friday, November 14, 2008
Tigers hike prices for prime games on some seats
Tom Gage / The Detroit News

DETROIT -- The Tigers announced on Friday that they are raising ticket prices for choice seats for some of their most desirable games next season.

The team said it is raising tickets prices for 21 of its 81 home games on 40 percent of the seats. The raise will affect single game tickets. It will not affect full or partial season tickets.

The games affected will include three-game series with the Chicago Cubs and Boston Red Sox as well as Friday and Saturday games in June, July and August -- plus Opening Day.

The premium game adjustment will range from $2-$7 per ticket. It will not include Sunday's Kids Days and the three-game series with the New York Yankees.

"Variable pricing has become a growing trend in professional and collegiate sports," said team president Dave Dombrowski. "Introducing variable pricing for select games allows us to manage the every increasing costs of operating a professional sports franchise and major league ballpark."

And gs will NOT be happy about this one bit...

gdennis59 wrote:

And gs will NOT be happy about this one bit...

This is not affecting his season tickets...

Quote :

It will not affect full or partial season tickets.

Oh, forgot about the part where he had season tix.

Dangit! No hilarious blow up about Dombrowski!

11/14/08 8:35 PM EST
Tigers to have some variable pricing
Family values for tickets to remain largely unchanged in '09

By Jason Beck / MLB.com

DETROIT -- The Tigers have known for a while the challenge they would face this offseason. It's not just setting a team, but setting ticket prices.

It's becoming a quandary for clubs around the Majors, but the Tigers tried to strike a balance on Friday. They'll keep ticket prices unchanged for most of their seats and most of their games next season, while instituting a variable pricing plan that will go into effect for 21 out of Detroit's 81 home games.

After what team officials called months of research and consideration, it was the best plan they saw for walking the tightrope they face in Michigan's current economy: The Tigers will try to keep tickets affordable for their fan base while also support a payroll that's expected to remain steady and allow them to keep their core talent.

It was an intricate enough balance to strike that team executives spoke with reporters on Friday to go over the decisions they made and how the ticket scale looks for next season.

"We put a great deal of thought into this," team president/CEO Dave Dombrowski said. "And as you see, there isn't a great amount of adjustment taking place. We're still a great value for individuals and families."

Detroit set a franchise attendance record this past season with 3,202,645 fans, while maintaining a season-ticket base of 27,300 seats per game that trailed only the Yankees and Angels among Major League teams. At the same time, the Tigers' average ticket price of $23.36 ranked 21st out of the 30 big league clubs.

With the Tigers trying to maintain and tweak their roster following a 2008 campaign that made their on-field needs clear, those lofty standards were going to be a challenge. Just as important as balancing out the roster, though, was their effort to find balance on pricing those seats next year.

Part of the solution comes from a variable pricing plan that several other Detroit area sports teams and other Major League teams are using, including the rest of the American League Central. Sixty games will remain under the Tigers' standard price range, a ratio that the team said allows it to keep 70 percent of the ballpark's seats over the course of the season at the same price as last year.

The $5 seats at Comerica Park will remain for all 81 games, and they'll encompass the same number of seats. Prices will also remain the same on regularly priced games for tickets in the outfield box, right-field grandstand, outfield bleachers, Kaline's Corner and upper-level seats. Ticket increases in other parts of the park will range from $1 to $5.

Sunday games, too, will remain under the standard plan, having been designated as family days. So will the Tigers' three-game weekday series against the Yankees at the end of April and three weekend series in May, including a holiday weekend set against the Rockies.

"We continue to emphasize the importance of giving families the opportunity to enjoy a day at Comerica Park," Dombrowski said.

About a quarter of next year's home schedule will be part of a new premium game pricing plan -- Opening Day, Friday and Saturday games from June through August, and what are expected to be popular three-game weekday series in June against the Cubs and Red Sox. The adjustment on most of those seats will range from $2 to $4.

"Variable pricing has become a growing trend in professional and collegiate sports," Dombrowski said. "Introducing variable pricing for select games allows us to manage the ever-increasing costs of operating a professional sports franchise and Major League ballpark.

"At the same time, we continue to look for more ways to add value for all of our fans and recognize our long-term season ticket holders for the investment they make to our organization."

To that end, neither full- nor partial-season tickets will fall under variable pricing, instead remaining discounted compared to regularly priced single-game tickets. More than half of the season-ticket locations will be priced the same as last year. The average adjustment on the rest will be about $2, with half of them at $1.

Renewal notices will be mailed to this year's season-ticket holders beginning next week, but season-ticket plans are on sale now in each range. Standard plans are available for 15, 27, 41 and 81 games, but senior vice president of business operations Duane McLean said the Tigers want to be flexible with interested buyers.

"We will continue to bend over backwards for our customers," McLean said.

Single-game tickets, including those for the April 10 home opener against the Rangers, will go on sale Saturday, March 7.

The difference in the average ticket price will depend on the sales of season tickets, which drop the average price per ticket sold because of the discounts. The Tigers expect that their average price will remain below the Major League average.

"We will rank in the bottom half. We're pretty sure of that," McLean said. "We may still rank in the bottom third."

The Tigers will also try to keep the non-ticket costs down. Gameday parking will remain the same, with discounts for season-ticket holders. In terms of concessions, The Tigers will keep their $5 Kids Value Meal, which includes a hot dog, bag of chips, juice box and a souvenir.

In addition, McLean said the Tigers will have an "aggressive promotional plan" on the schedule that will include a wide selection of giveaways.

The goal locally is to keep Tigers games among the more affordable entertainment options the region has to offer, notably compared with other sports. At the same time, they want to be able to maintain a team with a chance to contend next year.

"It's an attempt to remain competitive in the industry," Dombrowski said.

Jason Beck is a reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.

They gotta be out of their minds


I swear to God


I may not renew

Especially if it is a big hike


Tigers finish last place and they jack up tickets


Fuck Ilitch

And Fuck Obama too

I knew as soon as he got elected


Stuff start going up


Enjoy 5 dollar hot and ready pizza while you can

They be going up too

Wait until I call Lesley Marshall

On Monday


Give them a piece of my mind

And if I ever get unbanned from MLB>com


God pity those people


I am gonna tell them idiots off so bad

Thanks to Obama


Tigers Tickets will only be affordable for Rich Liberals


The same people that wanted that asshole Obama



That is the problem with socialism


Ilitch just gonna keep increasing prices in his empire


The rich will pay it or not


The poor; who can't afford to go to games , will benefit from more social programs at my expense [ and people like me] that won't get anything; but will be paying higher prices on stuff

I am gonna move to Easter Island

Or New Zealand


Or South Africa

I told you all Ilitch was doing this



It just proves once again




How right about things I am





Just like no one believed me about Obama's reparations


Until GoGetem posted an article about it



I am not a liar


Or make stuff up



Wait until the U.S suffers a terrorist attack under Obama


I am predicting it right now

Jeb Bush for President in 2012

I should make that my signature

gs78 wrote:

Wait until the U.S suffers a terrorist attack under Obama


I am predicting it right now

Did you correctly predict that there was going to be a terrorist attack under Bush?

There still was a massive blow up

bobrob2004 wrote:

gs78 wrote:

Wait until the U.S suffers a terrorist attack under Obama


I am predicting it right now

Did you correctly predict that there was going to be a terrorist attack under Bush?

I wasn't making predictions back then


But I am now



Islamic Terrorists are ready to strike


Because they don't fear Obama


They know he won't fight terror


Just like Clinton did

Be interesting to see how many tickets the Tigers sell


The Lions raised ticket prices earlier this year[ especially in the lower bowl] and they had 12,000 tickets unsold last week

DREW SHARP
Raise ticket prices? What are the Tigers thinking?

November 15, 2008

Don't the Tigers read the newspapers?

Are they oblivious to the harsh realities of Detroit's economic climate and dramatic erosion, if not the actual eradication, of the Big Three?

Yet they announced a ticket price increase Friday? And the debut of "variable pricing" for the best series and summer weekends?

That's the equivalent of offering a man engulfed in flames a cigarette lighter.

The Tigers are pushing the cost for maintaining a top-five payroll on a market whose level of discretionary income has been squeezed to where blood no longer exists.

This is basically a Dontrelle Willis tax.

The Tigers rationalized that they gave fans what they cried for -- a "competitive" payroll. They spent the money. It resulted in a last-place performance.

And now they want the public footing the bill. They want fans to pay for the contract extensions for Willis, Nate Robertson and Brandon Inge, all considered outrageous.

The Tigers must understand that Detroit is now a depressed corporate environment. They must understand that Detroit can no longer demand top dollar for its sports product because the economy won't allow it.

Every sports team in this area should agree to not increase prices. It would be a sign that they're at least cognizant of our dire economic situation.

The Tigers proved with this ticket increase that they aren't.

I agree


Problem is that Pro Sports is becoming geared for the corporate fan and the very wealthy;

If I renew; This probably will be my last season as a Tigers Ticket Holder;

Even if the prime seat prices don't apply to me now; they will soon

Prices gonna keep going up

I was looking through one of my programs from 1999; Ticket Prices were 5-25 dollars at Tiger Stadium; with most of the seats under 15 bucks and seats in the upper deck were a lot closer to the field

NOW; They are 5-65 dollars with seats as much as 2-7 bucks more for Prime Games

Ticket Prices are out of reach for many families



Greed is not Good

I cant go to games because of how much the tix cost. My family wouldnt be able to get us all in so we just watch em at home.

gdennis59 wrote:

I cant go to games because of how much the tix cost. My family wouldnt be able to get us all in so we just watch em at home.

That is a shame!

Tickets were a lot more affordable when I was a teenager


imagine what they will be in another 15 years

Sucks to be the world. Unless jobs start magically paying more. Wont fucking happen since this economy sucks ass. Better hope Obama can help us out.

gdennis59 wrote:

Sucks to be the world. Unless jobs start magically paying more. Wont fucking happen since this economy sucks ass. Better hope Obama can help us out.

Obama ain't gonna help us out


Socialism won't work;


It helps the very poor

But will hurt the middle and working class

Small Business Owners, too


While people like Ilitch will use it as a reason to raise prices even more




In addition,


Notice how everything is slowly moving from broadcast TV to Cable

Including the New Baseball Network


how long before the WS is on PPV for 50 bucks

Like the WWE and Pro Boxing are now



That be a good blog idea G

I paid my season ticket invoice

The Price was the same as last year

gs78 wrote:

And Fuck Obama too

I knew as soon as he got elected


Stuff start going up


Enjoy 5 dollar hot and ready pizza while you can

They be going up too

Obama is NOT President yet....nice try though!!

gs78 wrote:

Jeb Bush for President in 2012

Jeb Bush is an idiot, just like his brother.

Get over it.....

gs78 wrote:

I paid my season ticket invoice

The Price was the same as last year

So then, you just started bitching about nothing?????

tigersaint wrote:

gs78 wrote:

And Fuck Obama too

I knew as soon as he got elected


Stuff start going up


Enjoy 5 dollar hot and ready pizza while you can

They be going up too

Obama is NOT President yet....nice try though!!

The way the liberals have been acting since Obama won the election;


Could have fooled me

tigersaint wrote:

gs78 wrote:

Jeb Bush for President in 2012

Jeb Bush is an idiot, just like his brother.

Get over it.....

Rush Limbaugh for President?

tigersaint wrote:

gs78 wrote:

I paid my season ticket invoice

The Price was the same as last year

So then, you just started bitching about nothing?????

Not really


The way I see things

This is only the beginning


Only the wealthy will be able to afford tickets in a few years


Obama's socialist plans will only increase the gap between classes; further weakening the middle class


But at least I can afford tickets for another season