After a "couple of test runs the last two seasons, the A’s are diving head first" into digital baseball tickets with the A’s Ballpark Pass, according to John Hickey of the EAST BAY TIMES. Fans will be able to "purchase access to a month’s worth of A’s baseball for $19.99 through the MLB Ballpark App." For each game in a month that a fan wants to attend, a barcode will be "transmitted to that person’s phone through the MLB app." A's Dir of Corporate Communications Catherine Aker said, "We tried this for the first time two years ago, and then for a month last year. Then we tried it in spring training in Mesa, and each time we’ve liked the results, and the fans seem to, too.” The monthly pass is "just $4.99 more than a single-game ticket in the recently de-tarped third deck" of Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum. Aker said fans will get a specific seat assignment, “but it could be very different each day" they use it. Hickey notes there will be the "potential for some exceptions." If the A’s sell out, owners of Ballpark Passes will have access to the ballpark, but they "won’t have a seat." But that "seems unlikely" given that the A’s average attendance of 16,159 currently is the "second-worst home average in the majors" (EAST BAY TIMES, 5/12). In S.F., Sussan Slusser notes the passes "include access to the Shibe Park Tavern and the food trucks" at each game. Seat locations will be "delivered digitally as fans with passes enter the ballpark." Other teams including the Brewers, Astros, Tigers and Twins have "sold similar monthly passes at times," but "all for much higher prices" (S.F. CHRONICLE, 5/12).
