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October in the MLB usually means Playoff Baseball, full with tense moments, great pitching, hopefully some walk-offs, and a whole bunch of champagne. However, all those things are only truly relevant in eight cities, the ones of those teams competing in the playoffs. In the other twenty-two locales, there is another October ritual: raising, lowering or freezing ticket prices.

After every season in every league, teams make that decision to do one of the three for the following season, and so far, three have. The Dodgers, Brewers and Cubs all made that early announcement, with the Brewers freezing ticket prices, the Cubs lowering prices for cheaper seats while raising for club seats and the Dodgers raising single game tickets and lowering season tickets. All three of these made a different, but interesting decision. Let’s analyze them one by one.

Milwaukee Brewers: In a Deep Freeze

The Brewers decided to freeze their ticket prices, which essentially will keep all their tickets at the same price they were this year, between 8-50 dollars. The Average ticket price for the Brewers will remain $22.50 in the 2011 season. This is probably a good move. Over the last month of the season, the Brewers went 15-15, so their play was not that bad, but their ticket prices fell from $23.50 to $11.25 on the secondary market over the month of September. The Brewers overall attendence fell the third most of any team from 2009-2010, but their nice finish at least poses some optimism for 2011. For a team that could surprise, but could be middling, freezing prices is a great option. This allows the team to show optimism, but still pose a fan caring image.

Los Angeles Dodgers: It Pays to be Loyal

The Dodgers decided to raise ticket prices, raising their average from $44.28 to $44.68. They also decided to lower their season tickets, as the average season ticket (per game) fell from $28.90 to $27.70. The Dodgers as a team entered July at 43-36, and proceeded to go 37-46 the rest of the season. This fall also coincided with their average ticket price falling from around $30 to around $18. Raising the average ticket price for a one-game ticket to me seems to be a hasty decision. First of all, raising the average price 40 cents is not a lot. Of course, over the course of a season, it equates to a revenue increase of 1 million, but that is not a lot compared to the total revenue. They would have been better off freezing prices, because despite 40 cents not being a huge increase, the fact that it is an “increase” after a disappointing season sends a odd message to fans. The fact that they lowered season tickets is a shrewd move. It pays to be loyal to the Dodgers, as if you want to shell out for season tickets, you get rewarded by tickets that are, over the course of an 81 game season, tangibly cheaper.

Cubs: “Are the Cubs Ticket Prices Socialist?” (Business Insider)

The Cubs decided to lower their prices for cheaper seats and raise prices for premium seats. This results in a net effect of pretty much freezing the prices of games, but does it in a smart way. The Cubs had an extremely disappointing season. Although their prices remained steady throughout the second half of the season, a part of the year where they had no real postseason possibilities, they still decided to lower tickets for the average fan. This is a great move. Most of the premium seats are paid by corporations (boxes and suites) that would buy tickets no matter the state of the team (unless the team is awful, or in a small market, which neither really applies to the Cubs). The people whose buying of seats and attendance is very much correlated to the play of the team are the common fans. These are the people who stand to not only benefit by the ticket price decrease, but would respond well to seeing a team that has garnered attention for being a little high-priced admitting fault and lowering their ticket prices.

There will be more teams to come to make this tough decision whether to lower, raise or freeze ticket prices. We will continue to watch and analyze what teams decide to do what, and if this is in line with their play and what we feel the effects of their decision will be.

Thoughts? Comments? Questions? How do you feel about each team’s decision? Drop us a comment, or tweet us up at @SeatGeek. If you are looking to get tickets to the playoffs check out our MLB tickets page. ‘Til next time.

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Championship Series, Here We Come!

Despite a thrilling first day of the postseason featuring Doc Halladay’s no-hitter against the Reds, day two’s tripleheader—Rangers at Rays, Yankees at Twins, Braves at Giants—managed to match, and perhaps ever surpass, the first day’s tripleheader in both intensity and excitement.

Pitching wins the postseason people say?  Let’s take a look at yesterday’s games…

Although the Rays were favored to win the division series, the Rangers shut out the Rays yesterday afternoon 6-0 to pull into a 2-0 lead in the ALDS.  Kinsler and Young both drilled the ball deep to combine for five RBIs, backing up C. J. Wilson’s stellar performance in the Trop, holding the Rays’ lineup to one hit.  The Rays have managed just one run in two games and desperately need to step up their offense in order to hold off the Rangers, who are eager to win their first postseason series.

Home field advantage barely made a difference for the Rays, but as the match up moves to Arlington, the Rangers will have the benefit of their home stadium, along with enthusiastic fans that are paying an average of $135.44/ticket on the resale market to see them in Game 3 of the ALDS.  More ticket information on the Rangers can be found here.

Hours later, the Yankees pulled into a 2-0 lead in their series as well, reaffirming their postseason prowess and quelling doubts that their late season losses would translate to October trouble.  After a long time on the DL at the end of the season, veteran and postseason ace Andy Pettitte pitched a strong performance to lead his Yankees to a 5-2 win at Target Field.  After giving up an early run to the Twins, Pettitte came back to pitch calmly and effectively to wrap up seven full innings.  Pettitte, seven innings; Kerry Wood, one inning; Mo clinching yet another postseason save…  Girardi could not have planned a more perfect pitching lineup.

Any worries that the Yankees offense would have trouble with the homer-unfriendly Twins ballpark are gone, but the Twins have new cause for worry as they travel to New York to play Game 3 in the Yankees Stadium, where sluggers hit with comfort.  After the two big wins in Minneapolis, SF Giants tickets have jumped from $120.10/ticket on the secondary market for Game 3 to $145.95/ticket as fans hope for a clean sweep in the ALDS.  Check out the Yankees ticket profile for more information.

Before we take a look at the third game played yesterday, I have to say that the first two games made history in another way.  Rays’ manager Joe Maddon and Twins’ manager Ron Gardenhire were thrown out of their games in the fifth and seventh innings, respectively—the first time in postseason history that two managers have been ejected on the same day.  That kicked the already high postseason energy into a frenzy, even though the managers’ game-tossing performances were not nearly as dramatic or dynamic as those of Lou Piniella in seasons past.

Moving on to yesterday’s third and most exhilarating match up.  The Braves played the Giants in front of an energetic, packed house.  Although Derek Lowe of the Braves only allowed one run in his five innings against the Giants, the offense of the two teams was not the focus of Game 1.  Tim Lincecum’s postseason debut rivaled Doc Halladay’s on Wednesday.  Young, slight, but mysteriously powerful and effective, 26-year-old Lincecum pitched all nine innings, holding the Braves to two hits and striking out fourteen (Doc only struck out eight).  The Braves’ offense was powerless against his different pitches and the game came to a close as Lincecum struck out the last two batters.

Game 2 of both NLDS will be played tonight.  Fans are shelling out an astronomical average of $170.33/ticket for Game 2 of the Braves/Giants match up, a $36.81 increase from the $133.42/ticket average on Monday before Lincecum’s postseason debut.  It will be interesting to see if prices increase for Game 3 when the Braves head home to face off against the Giants.  Keep an eye out for Giants and Braves ticket prices here at SeatGeek.com.

Wilson, Pettitte and Lincecum’s pitching led their teams to postseason wins yesterday and fans will surely react accordingly.  Be sure to come back to the SeatGeek Blog to see how ticket prices continue to move as we progress through the four division series.

Questions or comments?  Let us know below or get in touch on Twitter @SeatGeek.  Have a great weekend!

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After finishing the 2009 season in the brand new Citi Field ball park under 0.500, the Mets team showed signs of hope at the beginning of the 2010 season.  They won series against powerhouses such as the Yankees and the Phillies and pulled into the All-Star break in second place in the NL East behind the Braves.  After the break, however, the team struggled to maintain a winning record and hopes of reaching the postseason became dim.

As the Phillies and Braves continued to post a strong record, the Mets spiraled downward—a trend reflected in their ticket prices.  Although average ticket prices for the Mets on the resale market sat comfortably in the middle of MLB-wide rankings, they were below historical averages.  Not only did fans become reluctant to spend big bucks to go to Citi Field, but some were hesitant to attend at all.  Both prices and attendance began to decline halfway through the season.  This chart follows the trajectory of Mets ticket prices throughout the season (one in which they have failed to make the playoffs):

Average ticket prices have fallen significantly since the All-Star break and plummeted in September as the Mets finished the season eighteen games behind the division leading Phillies (they reached a low of $31 on average on the secondary market during the final week of the season).  Not only did the Mets have no pitcher record double-digit wins on the mound, but they also saw the conclusion of the season with none of the high-salaried players in the lineup batting in 50 RBIs.  How are the struggles of the ball club being dealt with?

Jeff and Fred Wilpon—the father-son chief operating officer and chief executive team—announced at the close of the season their decision to fire both General Manager Omar Minaya and Manager Jerry Manuel.  Management has changed often in the past decade to mixed results.  After the second straight losing season, however, the Wilpons are taking action to make serious changes.  Wilpon senior mentioned having good news for Mets fans in the near future, hinting at potential ticket price reductions (as reported by NYTimes Bats) to boost attendance and revenue in Citi Field. These price cuts on the primary market would be in line with how the fans are reacting on the secondary market as shown in the chart above. So be sure to keep an eye out for that!

We are back to take a look at how MLB ticket prices are faring on the secondary ticket market.  Here are the highlights:

10 Most Expensive MLB Ticket Prices Last Week

• Following a string of losses, average secondary ticket sales for the Chicago White Sox have dropped from $70.32 to $29.54 and for the St. Louis Cardinals, prices have fallen from $67.85 to $30.23
• As the Yankees regain the top spot in the AL East, prices have increased from an average of $53.40 to $72.98 and will continue to rise as they prepare to face off against the Red Sox at the end of the month

10 Least Expensive MLB Ticket Prices Last Week

• The Angels no longer bottom out the list – although ticket prices for the team remain steady, average prices in the resale market for the Indians, Brewers, Royals and Pirates have dropped drastically
• Most striking on the past week’s rankings is that the Rockies have jumped from #20 to #9 with average prices increasing from $27.59 to $40.54 after wins gave the team, and its fans, a chance at the NL West pennant

Questions or comments?  Feel free to get in touch with us on Twitter @SeatGeek!