This should come as no surprise, considering the Cards had yet another successful season, culminating in a playoff run and followed by an off-season Holliday spending spree which should keep the turnstiles humming along this year. The Cardinals are a hot ticket right now, and demand should remain all kinds of high throughout the year, I would think. What is a little surprising, though, to me at least, is how substantial the jump already appears to be.
I would expect to see the costs go up, but 24 percent is a significant increase in an economy still in the early phases of real recovery.
I would expect to see the costs go up, but 24 percent is a significant increase in an economy still in the early phases of real recovery.
- The Metropolitans of New York saw the biggest jump in pricing: their secondary market tickets are averaging $107.31, an increase of 102 percent from the second half of 2009. I suppose that isn't surprising, considering Omar Minaya and company went on yet another free-agent spending spree this offseason to bring in Jason Bay, but I personally would have expected there to be more cynicism among a fanbase which has undoubtedly heard this song before.
- Interestingly, there seems to be very little correlation between improvements a team may have made in the offseason and current demand for tickets. The Mariners made more improvements to their team than probably any other MLB team, yet they've seen ticket prices fall by 20 percent.
- It's good to be an Angel fan right now, or at least an Angel fan in need of tickets: even with a payroll of $119 million, tickets to see the Halos are averaging only $35.38. Of course, that could just mean Angels fans can see the writing on the wall. LA is poised for a down year, I do believe.
- Several markets, such as Detroit and San Diego, are still showing severe effects from a poor economy. Ticket prices in many markets hit especially hard by the recession are way down.
- Overall, ticket pricing right now is 22 percent higher than in the second half of 2009, meaning Cards tickets aren't really out of line in relation to the rest of the league. If I were some sort of economist (which I most definitely am not), I might point to the rising cost and implied rising demand of secondary-market tickets as an index of consumer confidence. I might say that if prices are rising in a purely demand-based market such as secondary baseball ticket sales, then clearly at least some signs of economic recovery are beginning to take hold. Then again, I would probably be wrong for some reason I don't fully understand.
