White Sox, Mets To Play In MLB Civil Rights Game In Memphis

By Eric Fisher, Staff Writer, SportsBusiness Journal

As expected, MLB last night announced the White Sox and Mets will play in the second annual Civil Rights Game, set for March 29 in Memphis. Once again, the preseason exhibition game will be preceded by several events commemorating the Civil Rights movement, including a discussion on baseball and civil rights led by Harvard law professor Charles Ogletree. Tickets, set to go on sale tomorrow, will range from $20-75 each, a broadening from last year's range of $50 for all reserved seats and $30 for general admission lawn seating. Net revenues from the event, which will again be donated to several charities and amounted to about $250,000 for this year's debut game involving the Cardinals and Indians, are expected to remain flat with the changes. "We got some pushback last year on the pricing. Fifty dollars was a lot for our market, so we've expanded the range. We'll come out right about the same on revenue, and people have some more options," said Dave Chase, President & GM of the Triple-A PCL Memphis Redbirds, who will co-host the event at Auto Zone Park. "This event should be bigger and better. So much last year was about just getting it together, getting it off the ground after two years of planning, proving we could actually do it. We now know what to expect."