Now I've been to a few baseball games in my lifetime.  But I've never once paid more than about $15 for a ticket to do so.  I've seen several AAA games as well as the Rangers, Yankees, Giants, and Dodgers.  I've paid close attention to the kind of people who usually attend baseball games.  Usually the typical lower middle class families who just want to enjoy an evening outside with their kids.  And a few rabid fans as well, but most of which couldn't afford to pay very much for their tickets.

 

None of those people will be attending any of these games.  Unless they're stupid.  (And I know there will be some who are stupid enough to take a second mortage on their house or sell their kidneys or firstborn to attend.)

 

How expensive is it to attend the World Series this year?  Example:  A ticket for SRO at Game 3 in Minutemaid Park goes for between $705 - $950.  (That's "Standing Room Only," in case you didn't know.)  You've GOT to be kidding me.  Obviously then, every actual SEAT in the house has a price tag of four figures and up.  The dugout seats and club level go as high as $8,385.  PER SEAT. 

 

Minutemaid Park has a capacity of approximately 41,000 (and I think that's seating only, not counting the SRO crowd, which could number in the tens of thousands for all I know.)  But let's just figure this based on the 41,000 capacity number.  I think a good estimate looking at the prices for all sections is that the average ticket price is about $3000 per seat - and that may be conservative.  (Sheesh.)  That works out to - no joke - $123,000,000 in ticket sales - per game.  (And this is the low-end estimate!)  If the series goes just 5 games (guaranteeing the full three game run in Houston), Minutemaid Park will gross $369,000,000 in ticket sales ALONE.  At these prices, I expect that hot dogs will jump up to about $150 each, and a "large" 12 oz. Coke $100.  And that's not counting merchandise.  Gotta have the T-shirt, right?  Even if it runs $200.  I expect that in the course of these three games (if merchandise and food stay at their NORMAL high-inflationary gauging prices), the Astros stand to take in well in excess of half a billion dollars.  For THREE GAMES. 

 

And oh, by the way, tickets in Chicago are MORE expensive than in Houston.

 

(Now, you tell me - what POSSIBLE motivation would a team owner have for wanting the series to go the full seven games?  *COUGH.*  What lengths would some team owners not go to in order to ensure such a thing?  I'm not implying anything about the current teams, but I have little doubt this has happened quite frequently in past World Series.)

 

If you live in Chicago or Houston and simply MUST see these games, I would suggest that you to go out and buy the most stupid-expensive-ginormous HDTV you can find.  It will be cheaper than two tickets to any one game, you'll get to watch ALL of the games on it, and you'll still have it long after the series is over.  (See how bad this is?  It makes spending lots of money on expensive bleeding-edge technology look like a wise investment in comparison...)

 

But if there is anyone reading this who is buying actual tickets to any of the World Series games, please post here and let us know about the current state of your mental health and your motivation for throwing your money away.  I'm just curious.

 

Can you imagine how ripped off a person must feel if he spent $17,000 on two tickets for himself and his wife - and then his team LOST the game?

 

HAHAHAHA

If what you are living for is not worth dying for, it is not worth living for. 

Living for something worth dying for is what makes life worth living;

However, living for something will cost you more than dying for it -

But if it's worth dying for, your life will have been well spent living for it.

 

 - RLR