And they ask why MLB attendance has been decreasing

[Max Power]

The Twins offered $5 tickets without fees for their 11 remaining homes games this month. They sold 20,000 tickets in 24 hours.

Getting rid of the fees league-wide would be great. Why do teams need to charge extra when they're setting the face value and selling the tickets themselves? Selling and transmitting tickets are just a cost of doing business and should be built into the ticket price. Even if it's a small amount, it feels like a bait and switch to see one price when you're browsing and another one when you're completing the transaction.

The StubHub partnership is even worse. They're the exclusive ticket reseller for all of MLB, so teams can't run their own system anymore. And now that they have a monopoly, StubHub charges both the buyer and the seller fees that end up totaling around 30% of the transaction. I've tried avoid them entirely whenever I need to sell.

 

[Pandarama]

Then “They” could have spent more, and charged more on the lease. Bottom line is that MLB in Minnesota really needed a retractable roof. If you’re going to spend all that money on a ballpark, do it right...or be the Texas Rangers and build a new new ballpark too soon.

Charged what for the lease?

Stadium leases seem to be sweetheart deals. According to the summary of the Target Field lease, the Twins pay $600,000/year for their house the taxpayers mostly built--$18m over the 30 year life of the lease. And that's for a stadium that cost half a billion dollars to build (ballpark numbers, to be sure).

 

[Leather]

Two things.

1) it’s been an abnormally cold and wet spring in Minneapolis. We’ve had about 50% more rain than usual since the start of the season, and it’s been several degrees colder than average. Where May is typically warm (60s) and sunny, this year has been cool and damp or straight up wet. Rivers are overflowing even within the city.

2) There is (long time coming) local cynicism about the Twins after years of half-assed efforts by the front office. It’s great that this years team is good, and there’s a buzz that hasn’t been there in years, but people are wary. As far as I’m concerned, it serves the ownership right for being shitty for so long. Make a financial commitment to the team by trading for a premium player to cement the team and put some skin in the game.

 

[Spacemans Bong]

They couldn't fit a retractable roof in the tiny footprint of Target Field. IMO anyway.

Can anybody explain why the Houston Astros are down 4,600 a game on last year? They won a hundred fucking games last year and are 33-18.

 

[Ale Xander]

They couldn't fit a retractable roof in the tiny footprint of Target Field. IMO anyway.

Can anybody explain why the Houston Astros are down 4,600 a game on last year? They won a hundred fucking games last year and are 33-18.

Saving for the playoffs? End of novelty/everyone went last year/not a baseball market? Altuve hurt? Rockets?

 

[YTF]

They couldn't fit a retractable roof in the tiny footprint of Target Field. IMO anyway.

Can anybody explain why the Houston Astros are down 4,600 a game on last year? They won a hundred fucking games last year and are 33-18.

Last season they were coming off a World Series win, that might account for some of it. This might also be a contributing factor...
https://www.khou.com/article/sports/mlb/astros/some-astros-fans-see-major-price-hike-on-2019-season-tickets/285-579548181

https://moneyinc.com/the-average-cost-to-attend-a-houston-astros-game/