Less demand squeezing Series tix prices for Tampa games
Get-in prices to Game 1 in Tampa are as low as 100 bucks.
It's getting to a point where a get-in ticket to Game 1 of the World Series, a cheap plane flight to Tampa and a hotel room together might cost you about the same as an average ticket to one of the three games in Philly.
Prices on the low range to Game 1 tomorrow in Tampa, for a spot in the upper deck, have been going the past 24 hours for between $100 and $200. On average, prices to the four potential games at Tropicana Field is $461, a $38 decrease since noon Monday.
So what's going on? Sean Pate, of StubHub, wrote in an e-mail that it's a "new market, unfamiliar with the market pricing of championship sporting events therefore unwilling or unable to pay elevated rates. Tepid team loyalty despite in vogue nature of the Rays right now. Fun to buy and shirt or a hat, but most fans aren't in love with them enough to be willing to spend 700 or 800 for a pair of tickets. This is a 10-yea-old franchise we're talking about here with its first taste of success.
"South Florida," he continued, "has marginal fan loyalty for most professional teams.. Most Floridians identify with other teams where they came from originally. In Colorado we saw prices in the 700 avg range last year but Denver market feels more civic pride with the Rockies than central Florida does with the Rays in my estimation."
As of this morning more than 2,000 tickets were still being posted for Game 1 tomorrow night. Prices for Thursday's Game 2 ($441) and next Wednesday's Game 6 ($454) are even below the overall series average there. The highest average price is for the potential Game 7 ($499).
"All that said," Pate wrote, "the prices dropping mean more people buying. We've sold 2000 more tickets to date for games in Tampa than we did in Colorado last year..3500 more than Boston.. People want to go, just are only willing to spend so much, so the market adjusts accordingly."
StubHub's numbers show the most expensive ticket bought for Game 1 was $6286 for a seat in Section 108, behind home plate.
Meanwhile, the numbers here have remained fairly constant. The average price for the three games is up slightly, to $857. The price range of tickets sold for Game 3 is $5999 (infield, behind the Phillies dugout) and $250 (leftfield). They're showing about 2,500 tickets left for Saturday's Game 3. That's also right now the most expensive ticket, selling for an average of $868