The Cubs yesterday announced that the "average price for season tickets will rise" 19.5% next season, with increases ranging from 6% for upper-deck reserved seats to 31% for infield club box seats, according to a front-page piece by Paul Sullivan of the CHICAGO TRIBUNE. The "highest-priced premium seat is $409 for a dugout box for one of the three 'diamond' games -- the home opener and Saturday games against the Yankees and Cardinals -- while the lowest is $8 for upper outfield reserved for one of nine 'bronze' games, weekday games in April and early May." Cubs Senior VP/Sales & Marketing Colin Faulkner "pointed to the 'unprecedented demand' this year's championship season created." The Cubs said that regular-season tickets during the '16 season resold on StubHub for an average of 96% "above their face value." Postseason tickets went for 670% above face value. After the Cubs' playoff run in '15, the team noted that it increased prices by an average of 10%. The Cubs' attendance increase of 313,000 was the second-highest jump in MLB behind the Blue Jays' increase of 597,000. Significant ticket hikes for the Cubs "aren't unusual" when they believe "demand is high." The team increased prices by an average of 18% after the '98 run to the Wild Card, then by 17% after the '03 team lost in the NLCS. The team bumped prices by 17% after just missing the '04 Wild Card spot and then and by 17% after getting swept by the Dodgers in the '07 NLDS (CHICAGO TRIBUNE, 12/6). Faulkner said that after the 98% renewal rate a year ago, the Cubs' season-ticket waiting list has "climbed to 109,000." In Chicago, Gordon Wittenmyer noted the Cubs' home schedule this season also includes "marquee interleague meetings" with the Yankees and Blue Jays (CHICAGO SUN-TIMES, 12/6).
JUST BUSINESS: In Chicago, Danny Ecker noted "raising ticket prices is one of the primary ways sports franchises cash in on championships." In the Cubs' case, the increase "could net the team" around $20M more from season-ticket sales than it did in '16 (CHICAGOBUSINESS.com, 12/5). Also in Chicago, Mike Imrem writes the "dramatic increase in ticket prices should annoy me but doesn't." Imrem: "I should rant about what it costs for a family of four to attend a Cubs game but I won't." The Ricketts family, which owns the team, "can charge whatever they want after delivering a championship." Ownership has insisted "all revenues will go back into sustaining the Cubs' success." Imrem: "Most people realize by the time they advance beyond the first floor of grammar school that major-league baseball is big business." Prior to buying the Cubs in '09, Chair Tom Ricketts said that he "didn't want Wrigley Field to become a corporate experience." But seven years later, that is the "direction the Cubs are headed" (Chicago DAILY HERALD, 12/6).
WHITE HOUSE CALL: ESPN CHICAGO's Jesse Rogers cited sources as saying that the Cubs are "still exploring a visit to the White House" before President Obama leaves office in January. Obama has "publicly invited the Cubs" to DC, but "logistics may prevent it from happening before President-elect Donald Trump takes office on Jan. 20" (ESPNCHICAGO.com, 12/5).
