I was just cruising around the World Baseball Classic website, and wanted to see if any tickets were available for the final game Monday night between Korea and Japan.
You bet there are.
So my question to you – how much would you pay for tickets to see the final game of the 2009 World Baseball Classic? Tickets range from $55 to $550 — you tell me. Would you pay $55 to sit in the top deck, left field pavillion, reserve or lower reserve, which I think are both on the top level of the stadium.
(I swear – I think either my ability to distinguish colors is fading, or Ticketmaster can’t match colors from price grid to seating chart.)
Or would you pay $130 to sit in “loge box MVP,” which is the set of seats between the bases on the main level, but farthest back?
I’m curious – because something I’ve wanted to know is how Major League Baseball wants us to view the WBC, in comparison to, say, the World Series. Surely the World Series is more important — it’s MLB’s championship. But they sure want to hype up the WBC…yet can’t get the best American players to commit to it.
I’ve only been to one World Series, the 2007 edition between the Red Sox and Rockies. I went to the games in Coors Field, sat in the third level above third base, and my tickets fell within the range of WBC finals tickets, although the World Series was more than a comparable seat for the WBC…I think about three times as much, although I’m not 100% sure on that. But definitely between two to three times as much.
Personally, I don’t know if I’d pay to go see the final game. Given the economy, I’d rather put that money in the bank or pay off a credit card. I couldn’t in good conscience say that I think I’d get my money’s worth out of that game, even if I just spent $50, plus all the fees and whatnot. As much as I love baseball – and this is pretty decent baseball, I’m having a hard time establishing a value for that game.
How much would you pay?
Some responses from folks on LinkedIn:
From David:
“Well I paid $25. So I guess that’s the number for me. I was prepared to go $40 but all those tickets were sold for the game I decided to go to.”
From Nick:
“Personally I wouldn’t pay if it were a non-US final. If the US had won, I might’ve paid $10 or $15 if I happened to be in LA or wherever the final is. I don’t see this as much different than the Olympics and it seems much more important to people in the other countries. I am looking forward to the season and would rather watch an M’s spring game on TV rather than a WBC game at this point. The most interesting aspect is seeing how hard teams from the other countries play and how fired up their fans are. Not trying to be negative but I am ready for April.”
From Pamela:
“I have a completely different perspective. I loved this year’s final–one of the most exciting games I’ve seen. I don’t care about the US Team, or at least not this year. The great thing about WBC is that since, with the exception of Cuba, the best teams include at least one and usually many more major leaguers, you know who the players are. I’d pay $45-50 a seat for the final In this year’s final there were 3 M’s or ex-M’s–Ichiro, Johjima and Choo. And we know who Daisuke is. Plus it was great to see such great pitching from people I’ve never heard of. I loved it. Can’t wait until 2013.”