Local baseball fans will pay a premium
When Arte Moreno bought the Angels in 2003, he first lowered the price of beer. He then eliminated the surcharge the Angels had slapped on tickets to their most popular games.
The Angels are reinstating the surcharge this year. They will add $5 or $10 to ticket prices for opening day, July 4 and games against the Dodgers, New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox.
And, for the first time, $10 will not be enough to admit an adult into Dodger Stadium or Angel Stadium on the day of a game. The Dodgers have increased the game-day price of tickets in the left field pavilion to $13 and in the top deck to $11. The Angels have raised the price in the right field pavilion and on the upper view level to $12, although children can sit in right field for $5.
Those Angels prices will rise to $17 and $10, respectively, when Derek Jeter and David Ortiz come to town. The Angels will add $5 to view and pavilion tickets and $10 to all other tickets for the 14 dates deemed most popular.
The Angels expect to sell close to 2.8 million tickets in full-season and partial-season packages and group sales, and spokesman Tim Mead said those fans will not be subject to the surcharge. In monitoring Stub Hub and other resale websites, Mead said, the Angels sensed that the market for the few single-game tickets on the most popular dates was being driven by fans of opposing teams.
“These extra tickets, more than likely, will be picked up by Yankee fans and Red Sox fans,” Mead said. “These are premium games we know will sell out. It’s a way for us to capture additional revenue and maintain a very affordable ticket price for the majority of our games.”
The Angels’ average ticket price for non-premium seating will be $21.35 after accounting for the surcharges, Mead said, ranking in the lower half among major league teams.
The Dodgers do not assess surcharges for popular games; their average ticket price for non-premium seating was $26.28 last year. Dodgers spokesman Josh Rawitch said late Thursday the team’s average price this year was not immediately available.
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Tickets for the Dodgers’ March 29 exhibition game at the Coliseum go on sale Saturday at 10 a.m. at Dodger Stadium, the Coliseum, Ticketmaster outlets, on the Dodgers’ website and by calling (866) 363-4377. Tickets are priced at $25 and $15.
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