Fenway campaign brings big bucks for ticket-sellers
Die-hard Red Sox fans hoping to witness a World Series game this October should expect to pay at least $500 to get in the gate, with an average price of more than $2,000.
“It’s definitely not affordable. But historically, it’s middle of the pack over the last nine years, if it doesn’t go to seven (games),” said Jesse Lawrence, founder of ticket website TicketIQ. “If it goes seven, it’s a top five series.”
On some ticket sites, prime seats are listed for tens of thousands of dollars, including some in the first row behind home plate that can be had for $25,000. Others behind home plate are going for slightly less.
The Series begins Tuesday and continues Wednesday at Fenway Park. For games 1 and 2, the cheapest tickets are between $500 and $600, but average about $1,625 each. If the series returns to Fenway, however, prices for games 6 and 7 will be more expensive, with the cheapest tickets to game 7 at more than $950, according to TicketIQ data. The average price also spikes to over $3,000 per ticket.
“It’s such a great season for the Red Sox [with] 108 wins. People are feeling, ‘Is this the greatest Red Sox season of all time?’ I think they want to see the postseason version of that,” Lawrence said. “If people see them play in a World Series game where they cap that off, they can definitively say they saw a World Series game with the best Red Sox team ever. I think that’s driving demand.”
Including the later games, the average price is about 33 percent higher than the last Sox trip to the World Series in 2013. “Red Sox World Series are always going to be expensive, but this year people feel like it’s going to be something special,” said Lawrence.
Prices are likely to rise if the Los Angeles Dodgers win the National League pennant, and should remain stable if the Milwaukee Brewers advance, Lawrence said.
“The Dodgers are just a more marquee brand, there’s Dodgers fans everywhere,” Lawrence said. “There’s going to be Dodgers fans in New York and Boston that are going to go to Fenway.”
Even if the Sox’s series gets to Game 7, it is unlikely to top recent Series games, he said. The Cubs’ curse-breaking win in 2016 saw an average price of more than $6,600 for games in Chicago, and last year, games in both Houston and Los Angeles topped expectations for this year.
In a playoff that has been relatively devoid of dramatics, an extended World Series could mean popping prices.
“The demand for the series will depend on how good it is,” Lawrence said. “If its a six- or seven-game series, I think it would be top five.”