The Dodgers yesterday announced plans to reduce season-ticket prices on 96% of the Dodger Stadium inventory. The new pricing structure includes Top Deck seats at $5 per game and Reserve seats at $6, each reverting to price structures in the late '80s and early '90s. The Dodgers, like the Mets and many other MLB clubs, also are implementing a new series of season-ticket holder benefits and amenities, including early stadium access to watch batting practice and the ability for fans to play catch on the field after select games. The Dodgers' season-ticket base has fallen by more than a third over the past four years to about 17,000 full-season equivalents during the '11 season (Eric Fisher, SportsBusiness Journal). Another benefit offered to '12 season-ticket holders will be a VIP card granting them access to "all levels of the ballpark from the Top Deck to the Field Level." More than 35,000 seats at the 56,000-seat Dodger Stadium will be "available for $20 or less per game on a season-ticket basis" (MLB.com, 10/24). In L.A., Bill Shaikin notes the price of “almost every season ticket would be reduced next season, some by as much as 60%.” Dodgers Senior Dir of Ticket Sales David Siegel said that the team will “cut prices for mini-plans and single-game tickets as well.” The Dodgers “sold 2.9 million tickets last season” (L.A. TIMES, 10/25).
FAN FEEDBACK: A Dodgers spokesperson said that the price cut was “primarily a response to fan feedback in the wake of the team's worst home attendance in a non-strike year since 1992.” Siegel said the “feedback from our fans ... actually drove the process.” He declined to specify whether fan feedback suggested that “the decline in attendance was due to the team's play on the field, the economy or a widespread backlash against unpopular owner Frank McCourt and the club's on-going bankruptcy.” Siegel: "It was definitely a combination of a lot of things." Siegel said that it “hasn't been determined which or how many games" season-ticket holders will have the chance to play catch on the field. Siegel: "In all likelihood, it would be one or two days a month" (ESPNLA.com, 10/24).
WHO TO THANK? In L.A., T.J. Simers notes after hearing about the price reductions, he attempted to speak to someone at the Dodgers to offer his congratulations on the move. Simers: “I called, asked for whoever was in charge these days and was switched to human resources.” When Simers was connected with Dodgers Assistant Dir of PR Joe Jareck, he said, "I told Joe I just wanted to compliment someone on lowering ticket prices and he said he'd get back to me." Simers "asked to speak to" McCourt. But Jareck later e-mailed, "Frank has no interest speaking to you." Simers: “And that was the last I heard from the Dodgers -- no chance to commend them on lowering prices” (L.A. TIMES, 10/25).
