The Mariners are doubling ticket prices in many sections of Safeco Field for the team's series against the Blue Jays this weekend, an "extreme example of premium pricing" after the ballpark "turned into Rogers Centre Northwest" when the Jays visited last year, according to Rob Longley of the TORONTO SUN. Main-level tickets for the Mariners' game against the Twins on Thursday ranged from $32-77 (all figures U.S.). However, those same seats "spike from $68 to $178" when the Blue Jays visit, a "seemingly shameless surge." When the AL-leading Astros visit the Mariners next month, prices in those same seats "roll back to a low of $33" and a high of $90. It is "reasonable to suggest there’s nothing quite like this in North American professional sport, where it is estimated as many as 20,000 Canadians will drift down to see the Jays in their Pacific Northwest home away from home." While a "smattering of Jays fans would always attend games here, the party caravan has gained momentum over the past few seasons, in correlation to the Jays success." Meanwhile, Sportsnet had "planned to set up a studio at Safeco Field for the weekend series against the Mariners" for its Blue Jays coverage. But with crowds "expected to be 30,000-plus with as many as two thirds of them Jays fans," the Mariners "balked at the request" (TORONTO SUN, 6/9).
