Baseball is drawing more fans than ever before. In the “glory years” of the 1950’s, few teams would draw more than one million fans. These days, many teams are drawing 3 million fans.
The $850 tickets are the exception rather than the rule. I have season tickets in Milwaukee. $27/seat (discounted from $36 face value) in the 7th row of the second level behind home plate. Even in Milwaukee, the higher priced tickets sell first. The $75 seats are always full, along with the $35+ seats, while the $14 seats are often empty.
Baseball is still the best bargan in major sports. Upper level bleachers are still $8 in Milwaukee. Fans can still bring in their own food and soft drinks.
The $850 tickets cater to the Wall Street hotshots who can afford the price. It isn’t something I could afford, but those guys help subsidize the reckless spending of the Steinbrenner family.
My family usually goes down to at least one game a year, and the most we ever paid for tickets was in the $40.00 a seat range. And those were great seats.