Secondary ticket market interest in this year’s World Series has ebbed compared to initial pricing after the Royals and Giants clinched their pennants last week, and compared to last year’s Red Sox-Cardinals matchup. Average resale listings for tonight’s Game 1 at Kauffman Stadium were $940 per ticket, according to ticket aggregator TiqIQ, down more than 20% from the middle of last week, and down from a comparable figure of $1,291 for last year’s Game 1 at Fenway Park. The scheduled games at AT&T Park for Friday-Sunday, meanwhile, were carrying an average listing price of $1,138, down from $1,701 for Giants’ home games during their ’10 World Series run and $1,256 during another title run in ’12. Lower-end get-in pricing, however, is up from last year, with entry-level pricing for tonight of $554 per ticket sharply higher than $375 for Game 1 last year. Even with the relative settling of the secondary ticket market, Royals officials said local demand for tickets is predictably like nothing the long-suffering franchise has ever seen. Royals VP/Marketing & Business Development Mike Bucek said, “It’s been crazy, as you would expect. We’re doing our best to take care of our sponsors, and our neighbors like the Chiefs and Sporting KC. We can’t do everything, but we’re doing the very best we can.” Limited inventory the Royals have to satisfy last-minute ticket requests is largely coming from returns of seats initially allotted to other MLB clubs. Like many other World Series clubs, the Royals are referring many individual ticket requests for the sold-out games to StubHub, the league’s official resale partner (Eric Fisher, Staff Writer).
ROYAL TREATMENT: BLOOMBERG NEWS' Mason Levinson notes in the 24 hours after clinching the ALCS, 26% more Royals gear "was sold on Fanatics.com ... than Red Sox products were sold" in '13. Fanatics.com VP/Communications & Corporate Branding Meier Raivich in an e-mail wrote that Royals merchandise sales rose 1,000% the day they eliminated the Orioles, "as compared with the previous day." Meanwhile, Giants gear sales rose 350% "the day they ousted the Cardinals" (BLOOMBERG NEWS, 10/21). CNBC.com's Jessica Golden noted while fans from all 50 states "are purchasing apparel," since the Royals clinched the AL title on Wednesday, Missouri is the "top gear-buying state overall" (CNBC.com, 10/20).
