Tickets still plentiful for All-Star events

Despite South Florida’s reputation as a big-eventdriven region, the demand for tickets to MLB All-Star events has been surprisingly soft and bargains are available for lastminute deals.

As of Friday, tickets could still be purchased for Tuesday’s All-Star Game and Monday’s Home Run Derby on the MLB website. With numerous seats available on the resale market, lagging demand had the average price 48 percent below last year’s game in San Diego, according to TicketIQ.com.

This is shaping up as the cheapest All-Star ticket over the past six seasons by a significant margin, said Ralph Garcia, a spokesman for TicketIQ.

The average price on the secondary market was $388 and the cheapest ticket available — the socalled get-in price — was $147. Last year those figures were $747 and $230, respectively, at Petco Park, Garcia said.

Going back over the past decade, only the 2011 game at Chase Field in Phoenix was cheaper, with a $351 average and $55 get-in price.

The Marlins and Major League Baseball are expecting a full house for the Derby and the game in the 37,000-seat ballpark.

“It’s over budget in terms of number of people that we expect,” Marlins president David Samson said. “Monday and Tuesday will sell out.

“What happens, if you look at every past All-Star Game, each team gets a lot of tickets. And when those tickets aren’t used by the team the tickets are returned. So tickets become available as the game gets closer. You put them out for sale and they get sold.”

Naturally, seeking primes seats at this late date can get pricey, with high-end listings for both events running $2,000 or more.

But there are plenty of deals on the market. Vividseats.com, another reseller, had the cheapest tickets for the game beginning at $126 and from $118 to see Giancarlo Stanton defend his title in the Derby.