Though the baseball season has already kicked off officially, today is the home opener at historic Fenway Park. Our 2013 champs will receive their World Series rings and you’ll finally get to scarf down those overpriced Fenway Franks you’ve been dying for all winter, as if you were Joey Chestnut. Overpriced is the operative word, one that Red Sox nation is all too familiar with. Things aren’t much different this year, though.
It comes as no surprise that Red Sox tickets boast the highest average price tag in comparison to every single MLB club, including rival New York Yankees. According to this Team Marketing report via Atlantic Cities, the average price of a single Red Sox ticket is $52.32. Coming in just behind that are Yankees tickets, which run fans $51.55.
The data also shows that ticket prices received a 4.8 percent increase from last year. Only the Chicago Cubs, Miami Marlins and Houston Astros showed declines in average prices.
Even more enlightening is that the report breaks down average prices for beer, sodas, wieners, parking and swag. A single beer at Boston’s ballpark runs fans $7.75 per, though luckily that’s not the most expensive. Miami holds that distinction, offering frosty cold ones for $8.00 a pop. Fenway Franks go for $5.00 each, expensive for sure, but still more manageable than Chicago, $5.50; Miami, $6.00; and New York (Mets), $6.25.
The Atlantic Cities took the data even further, comparing it to labor statistics in order to try and compare cost affordability. Again, not surprisingly, the Sox came in as third least affordable with the Yankees and Cubs beating them out in that respect. Red Sox Nation would have to put in 2.37 hours of work per ticket.
So if you’re like me, continue to do what you always do: Wait for a friend to pass off tickets to a game they can’t attend for whatever reason and bring your own snacks. Splurging on some food and a beer or ten two can quickly hamstring your bank account.
But then, it is opening day. Enjoy yourself, the Sox and all the spoils of this most holy of baseball days.
images via Atlantic Cities
