The Phillies has sold 100,000 tickets for the upcoming season since news broke Thursday afternoon that Bryce Harper was joining the team. Phillies Senior VP/Ticket Operations & Projects John Weber appeared on WIP-FM earlier Friday and he said the team's ticket department "stayed open until 6:30" to accommodate all the requests. He noted the 100,000 figure "exceeded" what the team anticipated sales would be, and said, "Once I see it another couple of days, that will give me a better sense of where we're going." Weber and his staff talked about the possibility of the team signing Harper "for four months, so we were ready, we were prepared." Weber: "We're able to sell many of those tickets online, but it was great to see our fans come back to the ballpark and line up for our tickets" ("Angelo Cataldi & the Morning Team," WIP-FM, 3/1). In Pennsylvania, Stephanie Sigafoos notes the cheapest ticket for the Phillies' opening game against the Braves on March 28 was up 128% Friday morning from prior to the Harper news breaking. The get-in price at 8:00am ET Friday morning on TicketIQ was $137 for seats in section 412 at Citizens Bank Park, up from $60 for the same seats at the same time Thursday. The average ticket price, which rose from $170 to $286 Thursday afternoon, will "likely only go up from here" (MCALL.com, 3/1).
REASON TO BELIEVE: In Pennsylvania, Tom Moore writes the Harper signing "finally gives fans a reason to come back to Citizens Bank Park." The Phillies "haven't drawn more than 2.16 million fans at home" since '14. The lowest total from '08-12, when games were "not-to-be-missed events ... was 3.42 million." Despite the Phillies adding C J.T. Realmuto, SS Jean Segura, LF Andrew McCutchen and P David Robertson this offseason, nobody "moved the needle until Harper" (BUCKS COUNTY COURIER TIMES, 3/1). In Philadelphia, Scott Lauber in a front-page piece writes the Phillies landing Harper is a "tsunami, a move that ranks" with Pete Rose in '78, Jim Thome in '02 and Cliff Lee in '10 as the "most significant signings in club history." Harper is a "shot of adrenaline for a team that hasn't had a winning season" since '11 and "hasn't drawn more than 2.5 million fans" since '13 (PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER, 3/1). Also in Philadelphia, Marcus Hayes writes the Harper signing "sends several messages" from the team. It tells the fans who will fill seats at Citizens Bank Park that the team is "willing to spend mad cash to give them a chance at a parade like they had 11 years ago" (PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER, 3/1). USA TODAY's Jesse Yomtov writes Harper is a "hard-nosed personality on the field, and that should endear him" to Phillies fans. His "competitive nature should quickly place him in the pantheon on beloved Philly stars" (USA TODAY, 3/1).
BOOST TO THE BOTTOM LINE: In Philadelphia, Salisbury & Seidman wrote Harper "brings more of an entertainment factor" than Padres 3B Manny Machado, who the Phillies also courted during the free agency process, and "will be even better for business, which likely factored into the price tag." He is a "genuine attraction who will increase ticket sales, jersey sales, you name it" (NBCSPORTSPHILADELPHIA.com, 2/28). THE ATHLETIC's David Aldridge wrote Harper "could sell tickets and suites, jerseys and hats and posters -- or, perhaps, jack up the price and value" of NBC Sports Philadelphia, the RSN that airs Phillies games. That would further bolster the team's "war chest and potentially enabling it to sign other star players in the future to make them even tougher to beat" (THEATHLETIC.com, 2/28). MLB Network's Jon Heyman said the Phillies "wanted a star, they like star power and this is a team on the rise" (MLB Network, 2/28).
