Jacked Up Ticket Prices

[JosephC]

1 minute ago, wiguy94 said:

So you're on a Brewers fan forum bragging about not being a Brewers fan anymore? That's a bit confusing.

That would be correct.  I would consider myself a MLB observer that posts on a Brewers forum because I am a former Brewer fans that still resides in the state of Wisconsin.

[rickh150]

7 hours ago, owbc said:

Anyone who tracks dynamic pricing will tell you that it almost always pays to wait. Wait as long as possible. Buy the tickets after you parked your car and are walking to the gate. It will almost always be cheaper than buying in advance. . 

You are correct if you are talking about StubHub…absolutely.
Have never seen Brewers website prices tank day of game. Those are going up continuously in past years and giant leaps this past weekend to various games.

Brewers do flash sales when too empty, but then still the website prices do not go down..,,,just need to enter special code to get deal.

[kestrel79]

Try buying tickets for any other MLB stadium, or any other Major League sports game. The Brewers are one of the top values nation wide so I always get a little salty when I see people complain about high prices. You can find the deals and discounts if you dig. There's like 100 of them.

 

I mean it's 2024 and you can still bring in FOIL WRAPPED food into the game! Unopened bottles! I couldn't believe my eyes when a family did this on opening day in a giant clear bag. Amfam is still insane value.

[Outlander]

I think there are some still reluctant to buy from place like Stubhub but if the Brewers try to artificially inflate prices they will only hurt themselves because fans will buy from elsewhere versus the Brewers. I rarely buy directly from the Brewers anymore unless it is for theme nights.

[MrTPlush]

9 hours ago, wiguy94 said:

So you're on a Brewers fan forum bragging about not being a Brewers fan anymore? That's a bit confusing.

Did you see how much effort he put into complaining about the new parking system after saying he is never going again anyway? This is hardly shocking.

I do appreciate the disclaimer about how he isn't ever going to AmFam again or isn't a Brewers fan anymore though. Then I know to pretty much disregard whatever the opinion is. And that isn't sarcasm....I hate when people complain but fail to mention it really doesn't apply to them anyway. 

[TURBO]

It isn't about in comparison to other stadiums, it's about the bottom line.

Just because it costs a family of four $500 (made up number) to go to a Yankees game, and $250 to go to a Brewers game, that doesn't make it "value" it just makes it cheaper than the Yankees.

Paint it any way you want, the bottom line is that the price to go see a game live is getting out of hand, and a lot of people are going to less games than they used to...  I am not the only one.

Lower the ticket prices, more people will fill the stadium giving the Brewers more chances to sell parking and their overpriced stadium food and make more money in the long run.  High ticket prices means fewer come to games, which means they sell less overpriced parking and stadium food.

[MrTPlush]

3 minutes ago, TURBO said:

It isn't about in comparison to other stadiums, it's about the bottom line.

Just because it costs a family of four $500 (made up number) to go to a Yankees game, and $250 to go to a Brewers game, that doesn't make it "value" it just makes it cheaper than the Yankees.

Paint it any way you want, the bottom line is that the price to go see a game live is getting out of hand, and a lot of people are going to less games than they used to...  I am not the only one.

Lower the ticket prices, more people will fill the stadium giving the Brewers more chances to sell parking and their overpriced stadium food and make more money in the long run.  High ticket prices means fewer come to games, which means they sell less overpriced parking and stadium food.

It is just as affordable as it has ever been if you want it to be...actually in many ways even more affordable with the packages that include drink/food. Smaller portions, but that is all some people need and sometimes a smaller portion for your kid to eat half of anyway. People looking for affordable sit in the terrace or maybe the bleacher, that really isn't any more expensive these days. The only way it is more expensive is if you are picky as all get-up, must sit in a certain section, must go on a certain specific day of the week against a specific team in a specific month. 

There are still a ridiculous amount of games, some on weekends, some in the summer, and some on holidays where tickets are less than $15 (maybe even $10). 

I think the reduction of people going to games is a bit overblown. The start of this argument dates back to 2017 or so (72.7mil), where it then tumbled to 68.5mil before COVID. Things hit a concerning level in 2022 when they were still only drawing 64.6mil post COVID. However, that number spiked to a staggering 70.7mil in 2023. If you want to specifically look at the Brewers, they drew nearly identical fans to the park in 2017 and 2023. However, they ranked worse overall in 2023 (#15 versus #10).

So, between 2017 and 2023 there is hardly that much of a decline in fans going out to the park. You could reduce that gap even more if you consider the clownery in Oakland effecting it a solid half million. It remains to be seen if the staggering jump in 2023 will stick. If it does (or even improves) I really don't think MLB has much of an attendance issue on their hands. Even if it declines slightly, you could probably just attribute that to economic times and I bet most sports will see struggles too. 

[sveumrules]

10 hours ago, JosephC said:

Just want to point out that Attanasio cut the opening day payroll by 13.1+ million from 2022 to 2023, and then cut it another 14.4+ million dollars from 2023 to 2024.

How about spending over the course of the whole season instead of just on Opening Day? Seems relevant with the team adding salary at both the 2022 and 2023 deadlines.

Cots hasn’t updated their end of season numbers yet, but SpotRac has them at $131M for 2022 followed by $125M in 2023.

For those more interested in how the team performs on the field than hawking the owner’s finances, they also somehow won six more games in 2023 than they did in 2022.

All told, the Brewers have won the 6th most games in MLB since 2017, the 7th most going all the way back to 2008.

Over the 22 seasons between the 1982 WS and Mark A buying the team, the Brewers were the 2nd worst non-expansion team in MLB.

[brooks_quichenick]

11 hours ago, MrTPlush said:

No way they are wasting money on people to do it. Definitely a computer, mostly. Last I knew the Brewers were cutting off a lot of ‘fat’ as far as employees. No reason to have employees track prices…if a dude can make a Twitter page to track celebrity airplanes, ticket tracking software is elementary stuff.

It would likely be people employed by their ticketing provider, not the Brewers directly. At least that's how it works with Live Nation/Ticketmaster, so I don't think it would be too different with Tickets.com. Regardless, they may have some aggregator to monitor things but the pricing decisions are absolutely made by real humans.

[OldSchoolSnapper]

I must be getting old. Last year I dropped my ticket plan and to be honest, I think I'm just over live sports. I'm sure I'll go here and there for group outings. But the driving, the traffic, the thinking about what time I'll get back and need to prepare life for the next day...it just feels like a lot. I haven't been to Lambeau since 2016. I had a Bucks plan last season and the situation around the arena on Gameday is just a nightmare. It's not so much a cost thing as it is inconvenience, and even if I can afford it, it doesn't feel like a great value for money when I can watch it at home with food and drink and a clean toilet.

A Sunday 1pm game at AmFam means I am booked from at least 11 until 530. 

I'm sure there is still plenty of value to be had when there are 81 games. I think I just got to a point where it wasn't all that much fun to be there.

[OldSchoolSnapper]

1 hour ago, TURBO said:

It isn't about in comparison to other stadiums, it's about the bottom line.

Just because it costs a family of four $500 (made up number) to go to a Yankees game, and $250 to go to a Brewers game, that doesn't make it "value" it just makes it cheaper than the Yankees.

Paint it any way you want, the bottom line is that the price to go see a game live is getting out of hand, and a lot of people are going to less games than they used to...  I am not the only one.

Lower the ticket prices, more people will fill the stadium giving the Brewers more chances to sell parking and their overpriced stadium food and make more money in the long run.  High ticket prices means fewer come to games, which means they sell less overpriced parking and stadium food.

You aren't considering two things, one of which has been a staple of Disney World. 

They don't need to sell as many tickets if they sell them at a higher price point, but more importantly:

Those buying at a higher price are better in-the-gates customers. They spend more. They're not packing lunch or filling up waters at fountains. They are the ones buying things in the shops too.

[Profbratsch]

The cost increases are permeating most every aspect of professional baseball, including spring training. I cannot imagine what playoff tickets will be going for at the current trajectory of ballpark admittance. MLB Extra Innings remains a pretty substantial bargain, thank goodness.

It’s still possible to be a Brewers fan attending live events-have fun by going to one of their minor league affiliates’ games. Of course it might just be a matter of time before that outlet no longer becomes affordable for a family of four, either.

[Sixtolezcano]

On 4/8/2024 at 5:20 AM, MrTPlush said:

June 29th, lol wow.

You can blame ticket flippers for this. All you see is the Brewers trying to get the fair price for games up front. Why sell tickets for $100, if they are worth $180?

Just go buy on StubHub. If the price is comparable to StubHub, well, then I don’t understand why one would complain. If the price was cheaper (face value if you will) the tickets would all be sold out by now and you would be looking at StubHub already anyway. 

This is a good thing:
#1 It means the Brewers are a hot commodity and people are wanting to go to games (spend money).

#2 The Brewers are getting the money, not some sleezy douche bag ticket broker.

#1 - what comes around goes around. Higher prices of everything, the decreased popularity of baseball will eventually lead to the demise of the sport in Milwaukee/Wisconsin. The “hot commodity” will come back to bite the owners in small market, non-coastal cities. You are already seeing the talent level of the large market/ wealthy owner is significant. This will be a continuing trend with entertainment, dining out, etc. expensesin this post-pandemic, greedy society leaving the lower middle and lower class (financial strapped) fans out of luck.

[owbc]

10 minutes ago, Sixtolezcano said:

#1 - what comes around goes around. Higher prices of everything, the decreased popularity of baseball will eventually lead to the demise of the sport in Milwaukee/Wisconsin. The “hot commodity” will come back to bite the owners in small market, non-coastal cities. You are already seeing the talent level of the large market/ wealthy owner is significant. This will be a continuing trend with entertainment, dining out, etc. expensesin this post-pandemic, greedy society leaving the lower middle and lower class (financial strapped) fans out of luck.

Having moved to a coastal city, coming back to Wisconsin is like going to another country. Everything is ridiculously cheap. Brewers games included. I went to a Sunday game last August (first time going to a Brewers regular season game in like 7-8 years) and I remember being shocked at ticket prices. The loge infield box, which I consider to be a premium seat, was going for like $45/ticket. And parking was $20! What a deal! And the Brewers fees are maybe half of the Ticketmaster fees. I had a group of like 8-9 people and it cost me like 350 bucks for everything.

I remember very distinctly as a kid that the upper grandstand at County Stadium was $8/ticket in the late 90s. If you throw that in an inflation calculator, it comes to $15 in present day money. You can easily get Brewers tickets for $15 and often less than that. And even those prime matchups with the Yankees have $21 terrace outfield seats. So I just don't see how it's all that bad. With what things cost these days, we're complaining about twenty bucks to see the Yankees on a weekend???

 

[rickh150]

7 hours ago, owbc said:

With what things cost these days, we're complaining about twenty bucks to see the Yankees on a weekend???

 

Nobody is complaining about poor seats to the Yankees on an April weekend.

I’m concerned about going to weeknight/meh games, and having to pay hiked up ticket prices. Demand isn’t high and this weekend’s drastic hike for several games is a NEW thing. Gradual hikes have been the norm for the previous few years…and only as demand to the game increases.

i will continue to go, but It will keep me home more often. I do not sit in my typical sections as I had done from 07-22 for 8-12 games because of price already. I also have no interest seating in the Terrace.  If I didn’t mind those seats, I would be fine since those are still very affordable. 

[rickh150]

Flash sale for Tampa games.... about $10 a game for Loge OF, Loge Bleachers, and Terrace...

[TURBO]

I like to get tickets in the 215 and or 217 section.  Last year, paid $50 per seat on the Brewers website, didn't use stubhub or another service.  Looked at those same tickets for this year: $82 per seat.  Yeah, no thanks. 

Your Milwaukee Brewers, pricing people out, one fan at a time...

 

[sveumrules]

31 minutes ago, TURBO said:

I like to get tickets in the 215 and or 217 section.  Last year, paid $50 per seat on the Brewers website, didn't use stubhub or another service.  Looked at those same tickets for this year: $82 per seat.  Yeah, no thanks. 

Your Milwaukee Brewers, pricing people out, one fan at a time...

 

What games are you looking at?

I'm seeing $69 (sec 215 row 5) or $56 (sec 215 row 9) for Friday against the Yankees.

For Monday against the Rays its $54 (sec 215 row 2) or $43 (sec 215 row 10).

Thursday May 9 vs Cardinals its $55 (sec 215 row 2) or $45 (sec 215 row 13).

Saturday STL game is a little pricier at $65 (sec 215 row 4) or $54 (sec 215 row 8).

Tuesday May 14 vs PIT is $54 (sec 215 row 2) or $43 (sec 215 row 10).

[TURBO]

53 minutes ago, sveumrules said:

What games are you looking at?

I'm seeing $69 (sec 215 row 5) or $56 (sec 215 row 9) for Friday against the Yankees.

For Monday against the Rays its $54 (sec 215 row 2) or $43 (sec 215 row 10).

Thursday May 9 vs Cardinals its $55 (sec 215 row 2) or $45 (sec 215 row 13).

Saturday STL game is a little pricier at $65 (sec 215 row 4) or $54 (sec 215 row 8).

Tuesday May 14 vs PIT is $54 (sec 215 row 2) or $43 (sec 215 row 10).

It was the 8/17 game.

[tmwiese55]

I've been looking only on stubhub because its quick and easy (if I go I'll then compare to direct from Brewers) to do for the Yankees Friday game and you can sit in the same sections described above but field level for less than what was just posted above, I'd assume loge is even less.   I mean, like $65-70 to sit like 10 rows behind the dugout for MLB involving the Yankees doesn't seem too crazy... 

[sveumrules]

11 minutes ago, TURBO said:

It was the 8/17 game.

Bob Uecker Harry Doyle bobblehead is probably the culprit for higher demand pricing on that one.

[TURBO]

16 minutes ago, sveumrules said:

Bob Uecker Harry Doyle bobblehead is probably the culprit for higher demand pricing on that one.

Yup, playing games with the fans is also the culprit. 

This was not an issue until recently, the prices on the Brewers website didn't fluctuate.  It's ridiculous.

[liveforoctober]

On 4/8/2024 at 10:04 PM, JosephC said:

Since I no longer go to games, I had no idea that ticket prices have jumped as much as they have.

Just want to point out that Attanasio cut the opening day payroll by 13.1+ million from 2022 to 2023, and then cut it another 14.4+ million dollars from 2023 to 2024.  Over a 20% cut in the last two years.  The 2024 opening day payroll is $87,351 more than it was in 2015 (yes, less than 100k).  All this can be verified over at Cot's Baseball Contracts, feel free to go over there and double-check the math and figures.  Add in the free 500 million Attanasio got from the state, and it sure seems the fans are getting the short end of the stick.

Stuff like this is exactly why I stopped going to games, have no desire to visit AmFam Field anytime soon or buy any Brewer's merchandise.

Way to show 'em!

[SeaBass]

1 hour ago, sveumrules said:

Bob Uecker Harry Doyle bobblehead is probably the culprit for higher demand pricing on that one.

So if fans want a bobblehead they pay a $20 to $30 premium? Honestly that seems like a fair deal. How much do bobbleheads typically go for on ebay? If it's more reasonable than $30 just buy them there and go to a game where the tickets are cheaper. If they're selling for more than $30 (which I suspect they do) the fan is getting good value.

[bigred]

On 4/9/2024 at 8:28 AM, TURBO said:

It isn't about in comparison to other stadiums, it's about the bottom line.

Just because it costs a family of four $500 (made up number) to go to a Yankees game, and $250 to go to a Brewers game, that doesn't make it "value" it just makes it cheaper than the Yankees.

Paint it any way you want, the bottom line is that the price to go see a game live is getting out of hand, and a lot of people are going to less games than they used to...  I am not the only one.

Lower the ticket prices, more people will fill the stadium giving the Brewers more chances to sell parking and their overpriced stadium food and make more money in the long run.  High ticket prices means fewer come to games, which means they sell less overpriced parking and stadium food.

Agreed. Until maybe 3-4 years ago, I went to around 6-7 Brewer games a year, and 3-4 T-Rat games. I've only been to 1 Brewer game, and 3 T-Rat games since. Mainly because of the cost of going. Not in Appleton so much, but even they're starting to jack up the prices now.