This year’s American League Divisional series will be known for a few things, such as New York Yankees all-star Alex Rodriguez emerging as a true clutch player, and for the Los Angeles Angels finally beating the Boston Red Sox in a playoff series.
But, it will also be known to many ticket brokers as the one that got away, because the Red Sox will not be facing their arch rival Yankees in the American League Championship Series (ALCS). Both the Yankees and Angels swept their divisional series over the weekend, against the Minnesota Twins and Red Sox, respectively, to reach the championship series.
Some brokers contacted by TicketNews today reported that sales for the Yankees vs. the Angels are down, partly due to the economy but also because the draw is not as strong even though the Yankees and Angels have played in the playoffs before with the Angels more than holding their own against New York. Since Friday, one major East Coast broker said he had sold just under one hundred Yankees tickets for the ALCS, when he would have normally sold “hundreds” of tickets now.
“It’s been very slow,” he said.
Jeff Greenberg, owner of ASC Ticket, agreed that sales were a bit off compared to past years, but he saw a silver lining over the Yankees being the team to beat.
“The Yankees vs. Red Sox would always be much better,” Greenberg said, “but since the Yanks haven’t been in the ALCS in five years, that will help ticket sales even with the Angels.”
According to data released by StubHub, the average selling price for a Yankees ALCS ticket in New York is $261, while the average selling price for an Angels ALCS ticket is $134.
On the National League side, the Los Angeles Dodgers also swept their way into the National League Championship Series (NLCS) by beating the St. Louis Cardinals, but the other series, between the Colorado Rockies and defending World Series champion Philadelphia Phillies is not yet decided. The Phillies hold a two-games-to-one edge in the best-of-five series.
The average selling price for a Dodgers NLCS ticket on StubHub is currently $132, according to the company.
“The Rockies have a tiny national fan base, so the Phils vs. Dodgers is the best scenario for the NLCS [for brokers],” Greenberg said.
Steve Lichtman, owner of Prestige Entertainment, said that while baseball playoff ticket sales have been “decent,” teams have raised box office prices making it more difficult to make money on the secondary ticket market.
“Yanks/Angels will not be as good as Yanks/Red Sox, of course,” Lichtman said. “Whether the Dodgers play the Phillies or Rockies will be roughly the same in L.A. But, what everybody wants is a Dodgers/Yankees World Series, especially those of us with offices in NY and LA!”
