For the first time in four years, the Chicago Cubs will be raising season ticket prices next year, albeit only slightly.
According to the team, just 20% of all tickets – in the prime sections like the club box infield, field box infield, and the lower part of the terrace reserve infield – will increase, while the remaining 80% will stay flat or decrease slightly. The increase in that 20%, though, about 6%, will be enough to increase the average ticket price by about 2%. The Cubs this season had the third highest average ticket price in baseball, at just over $44.
Given the expectation that demand could be stronger next year than this year – or even in the last few years – it’s understandable that the Cubs would break their streak of not really raising prices. And, let’s be honest, this isn’t the kind of massive increase you might see a few years down the road. The Cubs are sensitive to ticket revenue, so I’m sure they’ve been hard at work figuring out how they can best maximize that revenue in 2015, given a possible good season on tap, without alienating fans.
With dynamic pricing, the Cubs will also be able to capture even more ticket revenue if the Cubs are good, and tickets become more desirable for incremental buyers in-season.
So, all in all, this is about what you’d expect to see, in terms of pricing strategy here at the turn of the rebuild.
Hey, bleacher tickets are staying flat! And when I’m there, those tickets also come with a free side of friendship.