The New York Yankees this week announced new season ticket prices for the 2012 season, including higher prices for many bleacher seats.
In a press release issued November 22, the team said that over 70 percent of ticket prices will remain the same or even decrease for the upcoming season.
Nevertheless, the club said it intends to raise prices on many bleacher seats by as much as 33 percent for next season, going from $15 to $20 per game. These increases take the bleacher fan’s full season ticket bill from $972 to $1,620.
Some seats in even less desirable locations, such as those with obstructed views, also are increasing from $5 to $12 each. The team said it made these changes in response to concerns that ticket brokers were buying up the less expensive seats for resale.
Included among the reductions are Field Level outfield sections 103-104 and 132-136, which will see prices fall by as much as $35 per ticket. Grandstand Level seats past the bases will remain at $20, with those between the bases going for $28.
The Yankees’ home game attendance this season topped the American League at more than 3.65 million.
2011 marks the ninth-straight year the team has achieved that honor, and they did it with the second-highest average ticket price ($51.83) and second-highest Fan Cost Index ($338.32), according to Team Marketing Report. The Fan Cost Index represents the amount a family of four would pay to attend a game and buy some food and merchandise.
Despite the team’s continued popularity, AllShows.com president Jason Berger told TicketNews that the Yankees could face a backlash from some fans.
“When a team tries to micromanage their prices as the secondary market does, you can never effectively do it,” Berger said. “That’s because the team has a lot of seats, and you have a whole group of people buying seats at different budgets and for different reasons. Trying to move that into season ticket sales is very hard to do, especially in a stadium like Yankee Stadium.”
