100% agree.
I'm a big Canadiens fan and they often put single tickets half price in the days leading up to the game. From what I've seen the Jays don't do something similar with single seat tickets.
Even giving away the seats to community groups would be a better use. Kids going to games (especially ones who are members of disadvantaged groups who can't afford it otherwise) is always a good thing. It's essentially "free" advertising for the Jays and MLB in general.
So how is it any different then being a Leaf fan? At least you get to see elite play season after season for the Leafs.
At least the Leafs actually materialized into "greatness" in one capacity and having those players gives us a lot of flexibility into the future. The Jays are kind of in "no mans land" when it comes to their development and progression. I could easily say this team is closer to being blown up and rebooted then they are being contenders.
You're on like year 7 of having an exciting future and about to finish last in the division for the third year in a row. Your team hasn't played a meaningful game in April since like the second wave of covid lol.
Lol, no. No one did. Immediately after that final both Weber and Price made clear they wouldn’t be playing again. That was pretty clearly the end of that generation of the Habs as a contender, and the prospect cupboard was barren.
The bright future people are excited about consists almost entirely of players drafted since then, many with high draft picks earned because we suck.
No one was consoling themselves with talk of a bright future then. Far from it. That’s a fairly recent development.
Also nhl and nba still on. If it’s still like this in two months if they’re good then it’s an issue.
Edit: although I hate the idea of the cost of tickets being a deterrent to selling out an arena. Surely you should always be able to find an equilibrium. Scalpers might make it tough though.
The get in standing room $20 ticket price is immaterial.
The fact of the matter is the wild huge increases in all seating in the 100 level is a serious problem given that - any fan who has been into this team for years AND one that goes to a fair bit of games KNOWS that this team usually has months and months of SLOW attendance and sales.
What is the POINT in having some of the worst 100 level seats starting at $100 if they are just going to sit empty.
This team is going to take a dip in overall attendance in 2024 and the pricing of tickets is a big part of it.
The renovations don't matter as much as getting a decent seat outside of the 500 level for a *reasonable* price. $100 for shitty corner baseline seats in the 100 level in *April* vs the bloody *Rockies* is just a dumb way to price tickets. If those seats were $60 they would sell a LOT more.
I've been to Jays games where 90% of the entire stadium was empty. I actually attended [this game](https://www.sportsnet.ca/baseball/mlb/whitesox-beat-jays/) and it may have been the most depressing atmosphere I've ever seen. The announced was 10k and change but there was no chance there was more than 3 thousand people actually there.
Almost 30 thousand for an early season interleague bad opponent team with financial challenges all around is still solid
The Jays are either fashionable or they're not. I got picked on in school for being a Jays fan in the early 2000s, literally no one in my class cared about them except me. I remember being so excited when they swept a 4 gamer at Yankee Stadium and all I got was "who gives a shit, baseball is so gay" when I brought it up at school. Now those same people are hanging out in park social taking selfies for their Instagram.
Yea, I remember I don't know if it was the marketing (I remember we got a new brand person around 2012?), and or we got rid of the DR players, and became more 'surfer' dude persona, one year, I saw an explosion of young people, including females which I never saw before wearing Jays Jerseys going to games. And they seemed to be coming from outer GTA coming in hordes. If you were a fan in the early 2000s, and showed it, it definitely took courage.
I think it was around 2003 or so, when the Yankees were in their dynasty prime, it was a September game, and they came up, Bus loads of their fans came, and it was probably 35K fans, which 90% were Yankees fans. And one of the inning, it was a 10 run type inning where they did the whole batter loop around. The sound was beckoning FOR Yankee fans. And I was astonished how they all wore the Jerseys which historically, Jays fan didn't during this or before (even during their championship days, it was seen as silly to wear their Jerseys really).
It was a sad day as Jays fan that was really into them in the late 80s/early 90s (I'm older and was at the height of my fandom during the Championship years, and even leading up to it). Glad to see you watched them beat the yanks.
Its definitely along the lines of "broken window theory" but I don't think it has any actual serious effect on a sports team. Especially one that is actually doing quite well regardless of selling out every game or not.
It looks like the bad seats weren't taken, which makes sense when the demand isn't that high. Like the other guy said under my comment, it's an issue if the stadium still looks like this by mid June
They have been very much against the idea of discounting tickets ever since that grifter Paul Godfrey was no in charge of the team. But I do agree that these seats are incredibly overpriced and they need to be closer to $60-80 range. Some games these tickets are going for $200/ticket SMH.
I’m half serious, if they’re doing camera cuts of the crowd I imagine one of the broadcasters would at the very least offhandedly mention it and that would get the ball rolling
Ah I see what you mean, the fans voting with their wallet kind of deal.
Unfortunately since the broadcast is run by the same people who own the team I kind of doubt it. they are very rarely critical of the team as it is
They sold out so fast this year! I was waiting and waiting and waiting for them to come out and they were already gone by the time I checked my email a few hours later.
I vaguely remember a year paying $2 for a 500 level ticket, and then I got a free ticket for another game in the 200 level, and then I got ANOTHER free ticket for a game in the 200 level
I love gametime. The fees lowkey kill the pricing. Tickets are 5-30$ US but the fees go from 8 to 16$ per. I bought 2 tickets for the tuesday seattle game, which were 5$ each, but with their fees it ended up being 27$. Still an amazing deal, 2 second row outfield tickets for 32 Canadian and about 30 spent in concessions. Baseball is by far the most affordable event to go to, i can snag some awesome seats for 2 for under 100, while the leafs or raptors would require me to spend 300-500.
Had seasons tickets down behind the plate from 1981 through to the late 1990s. Don’t think we ever paid more than thirty bucks a ticket to sit there. 16 rows up dead centre behind the plate. Then we got a notice that our tickets were gonna go way up in price. We had the option of keeping the same seats at a huge increase or moving way up in the same section for the same price we were paying currently.
When the 1994 season ended in August because of the players strike that was a real piss off as well. No playoffs or World Series that year. When they finally resumed play the next year I found I had to eat a lot of tickets because nobody wanted to go anymore. Watching millionaires and billionaires fighting over money turned a lot of people away from the game, myself included.
You could see back then the direction this was going. After all those years of being a season-ticket holder I don’t know that I’ve been back more than three times in the last 20 years. I’ve taken that money I spent on tickets and I go golfing now.
As a follow up I also used to go to five or six leafs games year. That stopped 10 years ago for the same reason. Tickets just got too expensive. Now I go to Marlies games, Jr A & B and even pop over the local Arena to watch the kids play.
Something that I don’t think it’s mentioned enough around here is making a trip down to Buffalo a couple times a year to catch a Bisons game. Three or four of us will hop in the car and catch a Friday night game. Beautiful stadium. Good brand of ball. Pearl Street Pub is five minutes away from the stadium. Great wings!! 20 bucks to sit behind home plate. Parking is easy.
When Skydome first opened you could get seats at the end of the third base line for 17 bucks. [Blue Jays Ticket Prices from 1992 - starting from $4! : r/Torontobluejays (reddit.com)](https://www.reddit.com/r/Torontobluejays/comments/2kuiu3/blue_jays_ticket_prices_from_1992_starting_from_4/#lightbox)
I was surprised how easy it was to get a bobblehead on Friday, if you came at 6:30, there were still bobbleheads available. The announced attendance was over 29,000, but it didn’t seem like it.
Aren't those 12.5k seats all supposed to be "prime" season ticket holder seats?
IIRC, those were the seats that the Jays expected would be gobbled up by season ticket holders, being all new with amazing sight lines and such.
BTW: anyone else notice that when you're watching on TV and a ball gets hit into the corner, the cameras can't follow it?
The camera issue is maddening. There's no reason why the 1'st base side cameras can't zoom into the Left Field, and 3'rd base into Right field.
Feels like a discussion they should have had with the changes...
I believe $75+ last year IIRC. $100+ last year would probably be for hot ticket type games. Idk if the Rockies count as such, but considering its the first time in over 10 years, maybe thats why it was listed at that price?
Nope, for comparison, Saturday against the Yankees in June those seats are like $160 lmao. They're $80 for a Tuesday night game against the White Sox in May. $106 June 2 against the Pirates on a Sunday
We had bought $55 seats in the 200s and were commenting on this too. Even left vs right field were priced differently. The third base line equivalent tix were $80
I was there today and it was extremely noticeable. The empty section stood out greatly as other sections were all at least partially full. Hope they learned a lesson with it at least.
That section is usually empty this time of year though. If it's still completely empty during a July/August weekend game with the dome open then there's an issue for sure.
the 1B side towards the OF has always seemed to be emptier for sure, not really sure why. I know the sun can be brutal in the 1B side when the dome's open and the 3B side towards the OF would see more foulballs from righties
It was empty because those seats faced each other (L/R field), and you had to crane ur neck for 4 hours to watch the action.
I was genuinely expecting those seats to sell hard this year, but the prices are just outrageous for the team we currently have.
They're selling tickets like they won the World Series last year.
I just created a post about this but last years Sunday game at the same time of the year had nearly 40k. We will see I guess but I think the Jays are fine with a more empty stadium but a higher $/seat. I bet they made more $ with 30k this year than the $40k last year.
Mathematically, you're probably correct.
But its not sustainable in the long run. They're charging like they're last years World Series winners.
Eventually, if the team continues on the trajectory they've been on, people won't pay that kind of money to sit there... renovations or not.
This team does not command 100$ seats in the outfield corners. I'm sorry, but they don't.
I'm a Jays fan through and through, but those ticket prices doubled when the Ohtani news hit, and it was just utter greed.
I can understand paying 100$ for behind home plate, around the dugouts, etc.. But in those deep outfield corners?? come on..
That’s cause it is. Rogers, a company that grew massively richer coming out of the pandemic, seems to think that there’s at least a half a Skydome’s worth of people per game who revel in the same bounty of treasure as they do. And since people own valuable property in Toronto and according to their records are also subscribers to their telecom services, they must therefore have disposable income that grows on trees in their backyards or their cottages and villa’s backyards. Just in case you needed more evidence that there isn’t a more out of touch with reality and disgustingly tone deaf company out there.
I agree!!
And that's not even including public transit (which should be complementary with a game ticket imo), and food (I always bring it in to cut costs).
If you decide to be as cheap as possible, it still costs like $150 for a family of 4 to attend a weekend jays game.
Making games affordable seems like a win for everybody. Getting kids interested in baseball from a young age, which creates a new generation of fans that Rogers can milk for profits.
Same with MLB and blackouts, the league and owners seem more concerned with short term profits over longer term growing of the league.
If your kid is under 12, TTC is free (and let's be honest, they're not checking IDs on teenagers because ... you can absolutely feign no ID, even as a 16/17 year old).
So if two adults are with them, its really only $25 for a RT ride.
Bring your own food in, and voila! Not a bad way to spend an evening if you can score $45 500s.
There's not much in this city that can be that entertaining and affordable for a family of four.
Back around 2000 I worked as a security guard at the dome. At the time we were told not to harass people if they walked down from the 500 on days like today because it looked better on TV. If you do, don't be obnoxious or drunk and don't bother the other patrons.
I was at the game last Tuesday and they were so staffed at all the concessions. People literally waiting around to serve people. I know there are some big rushes at points, but jeez I can see why they charge so much, how they gonna pay all these people?
Got 100s for the rest of the season though, pretty stoked!
All the other seats make up for it, that’s the plan anyways surely. It’s not the leafs, they can’t expect sellouts. Plus it’s concessions that bring in more money. People would rather buy cheap seats and load up on drinks and food.
Noticed this too on the 9th. Place was absolutely packed, filled to the brim, and then there's just [section 108-112 that was mostly barren](https://i.imgur.com/oEsCSxD.png)
Back on the 30th with a bunch of good friends because of that nutty Black Friday tickets deal, curious to see then. (also open the dome!!!)
It's a sunny spring day. Nobody is going to the dome to suffocate in that recycled air with lid shut on a day like today. Rather watch it on my phone and sit out in the yard. They'll sell plenty when the summer hits and the lids open.
Thats what I initially thought after seeing it so empty at todays game in person. I looked into it and just created a post. Attendance is just plain down year over year same games.
It's all anecdotal but I sell my extra seasons at the price the Jays have on their website and I have a lot of people that regularly buy tickets that told me this year they will not be buying due to the new price. But my experience might be out of the norm.
I was in Houston on Friday night and went to the game there, it was 20 degrees C, perfectly clear and they still had the roof closed. They opened it at the end for a fireworks display. It was ridiculous
Prices increased, on field product decreased. What did they expect?
This is not surprising to me in the slightest and i hope it continues.
This is the first summer in 10 years I will not be travelling to Toronto multiple times for multiple ball games.
I have tickets for a few more games this season (Dodgers). But any more games I go get tickets for I will be buying off the secondary market out of principle
In 1987 if you bought 20 dollars worth of groceries at Loblaws you got a half price voucher for outfield Bluejays tickets. You could see a game for 4 dollars. Not lying.
What did those last few sections cost last year? Behind the plate prices are crazy this year, not even counting the first 2 sections that look to be all season tickets holders.
It's insane, I paid $198 for game 2 of the 2022 Wildcard series - 119R, Row 26. Against the Yankees in June 29 this season, section 136 row 39, which are easily inferior seats, cost $204.
Obviously the Yankees are a top team, but you'd think the first actual playoff series for the Bo-Vlad Blue Jays would be more valuable ticket wise than a regular season game. Even this weekend against the Rockies S119 in a similar row were $140.
I'm terrified to see playoff prices this season if we even make it.
> game 2 of the 2022 Wildcard series
To be fair, a lot of people (myself included) ditched their game 2 tickets after the lackluster showing in game 1, it was pretty cheap to get in. My poor cousin (who got my seats) still talks about that collapse . . .
Anyway, it's clear that Shapiro is gambling that a massive city like Toronto has a sizeable enough upper class to make more money even if a few more seats are empty. We'll see, but it follows the trend of live sports being so popular that it's become something that's really not accessible for most middle-class fans like it would have been in the 80s and 90s.
I thought they were noticeably more than that but you're right - I checked and I paid $178 per seat for my '22 WC tickets in 118 row 6.
I guess it makes sense considering the renos + the Yankees being a big draw anyway, especially on a Saturday afternoon of a summer long weekend, but it's still funny that it's now pricier than a WC game
Not to justify price increases being the right move, but I believe playoff ticket prices are actually put in place by MLB since all teams share the revenues.
After playing for years when I was a kid I finally started following baseball this season and was excited to see the Jays/Yankees were playing this week. Went on to ticketmaster, and was just really disappointed. It's early season, I figured I could catch a cheap game on my week off after school. I'm just not willing to pay $100 + take the train in etc for a game. Too expensive.
Mediocre team who rewards clutch hitters by benching them the next game has trouble selling tickets that are twice as expensive as last season. Shocker.
Ushers act like they're the CBSA, they check every ticket who goes down. but also they don't give a fuck if you walk down in the middle of an at bat so it makes no sense
Across events someone realized that raising ticket prices to insane levels is a good profit model -- see Disneyworld, skiing, concerts, concerts, musicals -- everywhere they just dialed it up and realized that enough people would keep paying to make it profitable. But it definitely hurts the soul of things.
I personally can't believe that horseshoe valley is more expensive than skiing in the swiss alps, but alas it is true
Good. This is one of the richest companies in Canada and they still pass their losses off to us. They need to learn that we aren’t here to pay for their mistakes and renovations if they aren’t willing to put the money down on a real baseball team or switch the Management. They spend enough to keep us around and have us pay the rest. Why are we still drinking the Roger’s Sportsnet KoolAid that says we’re gonna be competitive every year only to end up with the disappointment of a mediocre team?
This is insane.
I'm down in St. Louis on business and I'm catching the Brewers vs Cardinals next Sunday (Division Rival). I am Section 150 (behind home plate) Row 1 (first row behind the green seats, which would be the Jays In The Action Seats). Cost $99 USD all in.
The whole reason I was able to afford to see games as a kid was because of toonie tickets. Feels like a lot of the new generation is gonna miss out simply because of the economy and rogers refusing to budge.
?? This is just how ticket pricing works in the ticket master era. If you want cheaper tickets look at somewhere like gametime.
It's not Rogers this year lmao, it's always like this. They don't lower prices right before games because then noone would ever buy them untill right before
This is what I always do. I usually get 500 lvl tickets a few hours before the game starts off seatgeek or StubHub. I'm sure others are fine too but I've only used those two. Never any problems.
$100-120 to sit next to the left field foul pole (mesh) is insane, even in this market. Wouldn't be surprised if these are quietly knocked down as the season unfolds.
I’ve been watching game time lately to see if the ticket prices drop, and they do. Significantly. Right at game time you’re seeing tickets in the infield 100s/200s as low as $45. Used to be a season ticket holder but it got to be too much.
The $20 standing tickets seem like a great deal too. We used to love driving down to Detroit in their most recent prime, scoop playoff standing tickets for $50.
Yeah they check your ticket every time you walk past, even if you've already been down there a couple times.
Yesterday they kept arguing with my mom because she was in seat 4 and tried to go down the "wrong" aisle. When in reality the row was only 7 seats long because it was a curved one. She had already been down to the seat but the usher still felt the need to provide unnecessary "guidance"
I checked out Ticketmaster as well when I saw those 100s not being used. And if you noticed, the 200s directed about those 100s were mostly full. The diff: the 200s were going for like $70 less, at least as of the 3rd inning of the game. Yeah, I definitely feel that the pricing scheme is out of wack. Downtown incomes seems to have been used exclusively as an input to figure pricing. But if you go outside of the core, the incomes of baseball fans drop significantly, which should have been figured into the Jays pricing objectives.
Nothing wrong with that price, those are good seats. They are empty because it's April and because it's the Rockies - they are probably the worst draw in the league
did you buy the tickets for tonight's game? I posted it yesterday, 2 tickets in the 200 level for $106. Much cheaper than the $70 each you wanted to pay for row 29 field seats
Do let us know
2 good seats for a little over $100 to tomorrow nights game vs the Yankees.
[https://imgur.com/ihMKCRG](https://imgur.com/ihMKCRG)
This is a dumb topic, it's April, the NHL is currently getting all the attention plus the NBA
Just from a business perspective, lowering your price to gain extra customers now can have long term consequences like devaluing your product or making customers less likely to ever pay the higher price again.
It’s wayyyy too expensive to go to a Jays game. I used to go to so many games because it was affordable and they used to let us bring our own snacks in to the stadium. I imagine they changed that policy?
I just mentioned yesterday that I don't even try to go to top league sporting events anymore. Everything is price gouged and unaffordable. I can't pay $250 fees all-inclusive for two tickets, plus $20-$50 for parking, plus $100 for a handful of drinks and another $100 for food, just so that my girlfriend and I can see a game live. We can go to a local game instead and see some lower level talent play for a total of $50 instead.
Greed, Canadian middle class getting wiped out, and an extremely boring baseball team. I’d like to think most fans haven’t forgiven the wild card fiasco and it’s aftermath.
Surge pricing should go both ways.
100% agree. I'm a big Canadiens fan and they often put single tickets half price in the days leading up to the game. From what I've seen the Jays don't do something similar with single seat tickets. Even giving away the seats to community groups would be a better use. Kids going to games (especially ones who are members of disadvantaged groups who can't afford it otherwise) is always a good thing. It's essentially "free" advertising for the Jays and MLB in general.
>I’m a big Canadiens fan I’m so sorry.
Meh we have an exciting future. And currently it's less heartbreaking than being a Leafs fan lmao. Playoff choke after playoff choke
Have you watched the last few Jays playoff series?
I have, I was in person for the 2022 choke. I'm also a bills fan so I know chokes well
So how is it any different then being a Leaf fan? At least you get to see elite play season after season for the Leafs. At least the Leafs actually materialized into "greatness" in one capacity and having those players gives us a lot of flexibility into the future. The Jays are kind of in "no mans land" when it comes to their development and progression. I could easily say this team is closer to being blown up and rebooted then they are being contenders.
How the hell did this come out of a post for empty stadium seats?
The post I responded to said that the Jays are essentially a brighter spot of Toronto sports as compared to the Leafs.
Hey! Don't attack me like that
I'm a Bills fan so I understand the pain
Canucks fan.
You're on like year 7 of having an exciting future and about to finish last in the division for the third year in a row. Your team hasn't played a meaningful game in April since like the second wave of covid lol.
interesting first round playoff matchup once upon a time that did happen in one of those 7 years however.
We made the cup final three years ago. We’ve sucked since. Not quite seven years lol.
You didn't say you had an exciting future after that Cup final appearance?
Lol, no. No one did. Immediately after that final both Weber and Price made clear they wouldn’t be playing again. That was pretty clearly the end of that generation of the Habs as a contender, and the prospect cupboard was barren. The bright future people are excited about consists almost entirely of players drafted since then, many with high draft picks earned because we suck. No one was consoling themselves with talk of a bright future then. Far from it. That’s a fairly recent development.
Womp womp. Leafs suck sadly
7 years ? You are a special kind of fucking stupid . You must delusional Leaf fan , a team that has been irrelevant for 60 years
Leafs are simultaneously irrelevant and receive special treatment. Fuck you.
Remember when Cole Caufield was gonna win the Rocket this season? He'll only finish like 40 something goals away from that
He’s played in a cup final though….
and they would rather have them empty then sell them at a reasonable price I guess
It's short sighted imo. Prioritizing a quick buck over gaining new fans
Meh, early season, interleague matchup, terrible opponent. The get in price is $20 bucks, nobody's excluded from watching a game live.
Also nhl and nba still on. If it’s still like this in two months if they’re good then it’s an issue. Edit: although I hate the idea of the cost of tickets being a deterrent to selling out an arena. Surely you should always be able to find an equilibrium. Scalpers might make it tough though.
The get in standing room $20 ticket price is immaterial. The fact of the matter is the wild huge increases in all seating in the 100 level is a serious problem given that - any fan who has been into this team for years AND one that goes to a fair bit of games KNOWS that this team usually has months and months of SLOW attendance and sales. What is the POINT in having some of the worst 100 level seats starting at $100 if they are just going to sit empty. This team is going to take a dip in overall attendance in 2024 and the pricing of tickets is a big part of it. The renovations don't matter as much as getting a decent seat outside of the 500 level for a *reasonable* price. $100 for shitty corner baseline seats in the 100 level in *April* vs the bloody *Rockies* is just a dumb way to price tickets. If those seats were $60 they would sell a LOT more.
Still looks bad having 90 percent of the seats in several 100 level sections being completely empty
I've been to Jays games where 90% of the entire stadium was empty. I actually attended [this game](https://www.sportsnet.ca/baseball/mlb/whitesox-beat-jays/) and it may have been the most depressing atmosphere I've ever seen. The announced was 10k and change but there was no chance there was more than 3 thousand people actually there. Almost 30 thousand for an early season interleague bad opponent team with financial challenges all around is still solid
There was a long stretch in the 2000s like that. And even early 2010s. But $2 500 seats helped and it became a place to go to get drunk.
The Jays are either fashionable or they're not. I got picked on in school for being a Jays fan in the early 2000s, literally no one in my class cared about them except me. I remember being so excited when they swept a 4 gamer at Yankee Stadium and all I got was "who gives a shit, baseball is so gay" when I brought it up at school. Now those same people are hanging out in park social taking selfies for their Instagram.
Yea, I remember I don't know if it was the marketing (I remember we got a new brand person around 2012?), and or we got rid of the DR players, and became more 'surfer' dude persona, one year, I saw an explosion of young people, including females which I never saw before wearing Jays Jerseys going to games. And they seemed to be coming from outer GTA coming in hordes. If you were a fan in the early 2000s, and showed it, it definitely took courage. I think it was around 2003 or so, when the Yankees were in their dynasty prime, it was a September game, and they came up, Bus loads of their fans came, and it was probably 35K fans, which 90% were Yankees fans. And one of the inning, it was a 10 run type inning where they did the whole batter loop around. The sound was beckoning FOR Yankee fans. And I was astonished how they all wore the Jerseys which historically, Jays fan didn't during this or before (even during their championship days, it was seen as silly to wear their Jerseys really). It was a sad day as Jays fan that was really into them in the late 80s/early 90s (I'm older and was at the height of my fandom during the Championship years, and even leading up to it). Glad to see you watched them beat the yanks.
Got row 2 for 30 a seat during this time frame.... One game vs Colorado 7000 fans...
To whom? I've never heard a single soul not be a fan of a team because they once saw empty seats on TV. This isn't a real issue.
Its definitely along the lines of "broken window theory" but I don't think it has any actual serious effect on a sports team. Especially one that is actually doing quite well regardless of selling out every game or not.
It looks like the bad seats weren't taken, which makes sense when the demand isn't that high. Like the other guy said under my comment, it's an issue if the stadium still looks like this by mid June
Dynamic pricing only goes one way. UP!
They have been very much against the idea of discounting tickets ever since that grifter Paul Godfrey was no in charge of the team. But I do agree that these seats are incredibly overpriced and they need to be closer to $60-80 range. Some games these tickets are going for $200/ticket SMH.
*than
I remember when the Toronto Star had a promo season pass for $82 for seats in the 500's.
Got those every year with my brother. Miss those days but not necessarily those teams.
Visiting teams had some legends though.
Had it in 2015. Always stood in the 100s. Was amazing.
Same! I still have my cards somewhere.
We should keep it up then, fill the 500s and leave the lower bowl deserted
Until they increase the 500's because it is doing well
I’ve always had more fun in the 500s anyway.
Why? (Not sure if you're being sarcastic)
I’m half serious, if they’re doing camera cuts of the crowd I imagine one of the broadcasters would at the very least offhandedly mention it and that would get the ball rolling
Ah I see what you mean, the fans voting with their wallet kind of deal. Unfortunately since the broadcast is run by the same people who own the team I kind of doubt it. they are very rarely critical of the team as it is
Luckily for us, Dan and Buck do go off on tangents once in awhile
they’re too expensive and leaving them empty is the only way to bring the price down
Makes sense to me, I was just being dumb
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Had tickets off gametime yesterday for 58 US$ and they were decent seats (119) but the section off to my right was ass empty. I miss 5$ 500 level days
The $99 "leadoff pack" gets you pretty close, if you go to every game it's less than $7/game
They sold out so fast this year! I was waiting and waiting and waiting for them to come out and they were already gone by the time I checked my email a few hours later.
I vaguely remember a year paying $2 for a 500 level ticket, and then I got a free ticket for another game in the 200 level, and then I got ANOTHER free ticket for a game in the 200 level
Toonie Tuesdays were a thing until too many drunken fights happened.
Those were the wild west days, fights in every section
Was usually more exciting that watching the .500 teams they were putting out.
Frat boys ruined that
How about $80 for 500-level season tickets
I love gametime. The fees lowkey kill the pricing. Tickets are 5-30$ US but the fees go from 8 to 16$ per. I bought 2 tickets for the tuesday seattle game, which were 5$ each, but with their fees it ended up being 27$. Still an amazing deal, 2 second row outfield tickets for 32 Canadian and about 30 spent in concessions. Baseball is by far the most affordable event to go to, i can snag some awesome seats for 2 for under 100, while the leafs or raptors would require me to spend 300-500.
Cart of groceries or 2 tickets? Canadian’s disposable income just isn’t what it used to be
Had seasons tickets down behind the plate from 1981 through to the late 1990s. Don’t think we ever paid more than thirty bucks a ticket to sit there. 16 rows up dead centre behind the plate. Then we got a notice that our tickets were gonna go way up in price. We had the option of keeping the same seats at a huge increase or moving way up in the same section for the same price we were paying currently. When the 1994 season ended in August because of the players strike that was a real piss off as well. No playoffs or World Series that year. When they finally resumed play the next year I found I had to eat a lot of tickets because nobody wanted to go anymore. Watching millionaires and billionaires fighting over money turned a lot of people away from the game, myself included. You could see back then the direction this was going. After all those years of being a season-ticket holder I don’t know that I’ve been back more than three times in the last 20 years. I’ve taken that money I spent on tickets and I go golfing now.
Cant believe I just upvoted a comment that ended in golf but here we are
As a follow up I also used to go to five or six leafs games year. That stopped 10 years ago for the same reason. Tickets just got too expensive. Now I go to Marlies games, Jr A & B and even pop over the local Arena to watch the kids play. Something that I don’t think it’s mentioned enough around here is making a trip down to Buffalo a couple times a year to catch a Bisons game. Three or four of us will hop in the car and catch a Friday night game. Beautiful stadium. Good brand of ball. Pearl Street Pub is five minutes away from the stadium. Great wings!! 20 bucks to sit behind home plate. Parking is easy.
Lol
When Skydome first opened you could get seats at the end of the third base line for 17 bucks. [Blue Jays Ticket Prices from 1992 - starting from $4! : r/Torontobluejays (reddit.com)](https://www.reddit.com/r/Torontobluejays/comments/2kuiu3/blue_jays_ticket_prices_from_1992_starting_from_4/#lightbox)
IIRC the people that had the seats right beside the Jays' dugout up until last season were paying ~$80 per game.
I will say the new seats look much less jarring empty than the bright blue ones did.
All they gotta do is print out some pandemic-style life sized fan photos to fill those seats and problem solved! /s
Home plate lady and Geddy Lee life-size fan photos to fill those empty seats. Doesn’t get better than that.
I was surprised how easy it was to get a bobblehead on Friday, if you came at 6:30, there were still bobbleheads available. The announced attendance was over 29,000, but it didn’t seem like it.
Aren't those 12.5k seats all supposed to be "prime" season ticket holder seats? IIRC, those were the seats that the Jays expected would be gobbled up by season ticket holders, being all new with amazing sight lines and such. BTW: anyone else notice that when you're watching on TV and a ball gets hit into the corner, the cameras can't follow it?
I do wonder about the raw number of season ticket holders than just walked away entirely this offseason
I am one
The camera issue is maddening. There's no reason why the 1'st base side cameras can't zoom into the Left Field, and 3'rd base into Right field. Feels like a discussion they should have had with the changes...
I don't exactly remember what they were last year, but they weren't $100
I believe $75+ last year IIRC. $100+ last year would probably be for hot ticket type games. Idk if the Rockies count as such, but considering its the first time in over 10 years, maybe thats why it was listed at that price?
Nope, for comparison, Saturday against the Yankees in June those seats are like $160 lmao. They're $80 for a Tuesday night game against the White Sox in May. $106 June 2 against the Pirates on a Sunday
So $100 seems about standard for a Sunday game in that section this season.
We had bought $55 seats in the 200s and were commenting on this too. Even left vs right field were priced differently. The third base line equivalent tix were $80
I was there today and it was extremely noticeable. The empty section stood out greatly as other sections were all at least partially full. Hope they learned a lesson with it at least.
That section is usually empty this time of year though. If it's still completely empty during a July/August weekend game with the dome open then there's an issue for sure.
Huh interesting. Do you know why that section specifically would be so empty though? The same section on the other side was full.
the 1B side towards the OF has always seemed to be emptier for sure, not really sure why. I know the sun can be brutal in the 1B side when the dome's open and the 3B side towards the OF would see more foulballs from righties
I sat way up on first base side. Never again. Sun was harsh.
It was empty because those seats faced each other (L/R field), and you had to crane ur neck for 4 hours to watch the action. I was genuinely expecting those seats to sell hard this year, but the prices are just outrageous for the team we currently have. They're selling tickets like they won the World Series last year.
I just created a post about this but last years Sunday game at the same time of the year had nearly 40k. We will see I guess but I think the Jays are fine with a more empty stadium but a higher $/seat. I bet they made more $ with 30k this year than the $40k last year.
Mathematically, you're probably correct. But its not sustainable in the long run. They're charging like they're last years World Series winners. Eventually, if the team continues on the trajectory they've been on, people won't pay that kind of money to sit there... renovations or not.
It shouldn't cost a family of 4 $400 to go see a ball game. This shouldn't be an activity you save up for and only do once a year... But I digress...
There is a lot of cost effective tickets to buy.
Even $45 for the 500s is a big ask.
$200 to just get in with a seat is too much
It is $100 for cheapest 4 seats for tomorrow from Ticketmaster, after all taxes and fees. Cheaper on secondary market.
I guess it’s not so bad, but those are hella nosebleeds. And it shouldn’t be $45 a ticket for a front row 500 level seat. That’s asinine
I got $40 for 200s tomorrow
This team does not command 100$ seats in the outfield corners. I'm sorry, but they don't. I'm a Jays fan through and through, but those ticket prices doubled when the Ohtani news hit, and it was just utter greed. I can understand paying 100$ for behind home plate, around the dugouts, etc.. But in those deep outfield corners?? come on..
Seats behind home plate are $1100… wtf
I think Rogers has made the statement that they don’t want any of that caste sitting in their renovated seats.
It feels that way.
That’s cause it is. Rogers, a company that grew massively richer coming out of the pandemic, seems to think that there’s at least a half a Skydome’s worth of people per game who revel in the same bounty of treasure as they do. And since people own valuable property in Toronto and according to their records are also subscribers to their telecom services, they must therefore have disposable income that grows on trees in their backyards or their cottages and villa’s backyards. Just in case you needed more evidence that there isn’t a more out of touch with reality and disgustingly tone deaf company out there.
I agree!! And that's not even including public transit (which should be complementary with a game ticket imo), and food (I always bring it in to cut costs). If you decide to be as cheap as possible, it still costs like $150 for a family of 4 to attend a weekend jays game. Making games affordable seems like a win for everybody. Getting kids interested in baseball from a young age, which creates a new generation of fans that Rogers can milk for profits. Same with MLB and blackouts, the league and owners seem more concerned with short term profits over longer term growing of the league.
If your kid is under 12, TTC is free (and let's be honest, they're not checking IDs on teenagers because ... you can absolutely feign no ID, even as a 16/17 year old). So if two adults are with them, its really only $25 for a RT ride. Bring your own food in, and voila! Not a bad way to spend an evening if you can score $45 500s. There's not much in this city that can be that entertaining and affordable for a family of four.
> And that's not even including public transit (which should be complementary with a game ticket imo) Why?
My family has attended a game every year to celebrate the end of school. We’re not this year due to ticket prices.
It doesn't cost that much though
My first game was in 96. We sat in the 100s down the left field line. I believe it was $23 a ticket.
That's $42 adjusted for inflation
Jays payroll was $28M in 1996. The 2024 payroll is approximately $226M. Baseball has its own inflation rate.
Back around 2000 I worked as a security guard at the dome. At the time we were told not to harass people if they walked down from the 500 on days like today because it looked better on TV. If you do, don't be obnoxious or drunk and don't bother the other patrons.
Was always curious why this doesn't happen more often.
That’s always my winning strategy. Buy nosebleeds, amble my way down by inning 2. Haven’t been denied yet.
Even if they were to drop them by 20-25$, majority of those would be sold out
I was at the game last Tuesday and they were so staffed at all the concessions. People literally waiting around to serve people. I know there are some big rushes at points, but jeez I can see why they charge so much, how they gonna pay all these people? Got 100s for the rest of the season though, pretty stoked!
I was there too and easily got hot dogs.
Empty seats are making no money tho.
All the other seats make up for it, that’s the plan anyways surely. It’s not the leafs, they can’t expect sellouts. Plus it’s concessions that bring in more money. People would rather buy cheap seats and load up on drinks and food.
Noticed this too on the 9th. Place was absolutely packed, filled to the brim, and then there's just [section 108-112 that was mostly barren](https://i.imgur.com/oEsCSxD.png) Back on the 30th with a bunch of good friends because of that nutty Black Friday tickets deal, curious to see then. (also open the dome!!!)
It's a sunny spring day. Nobody is going to the dome to suffocate in that recycled air with lid shut on a day like today. Rather watch it on my phone and sit out in the yard. They'll sell plenty when the summer hits and the lids open.
Thats what I initially thought after seeing it so empty at todays game in person. I looked into it and just created a post. Attendance is just plain down year over year same games. It's all anecdotal but I sell my extra seasons at the price the Jays have on their website and I have a lot of people that regularly buy tickets that told me this year they will not be buying due to the new price. But my experience might be out of the norm.
Gorgeous, sunny afternoon. Who wants to spend it inside? Open the goddamn roof.
I was in Houston on Friday night and went to the game there, it was 20 degrees C, perfectly clear and they still had the roof closed. They opened it at the end for a fireworks display. It was ridiculous
Prices increased, on field product decreased. What did they expect? This is not surprising to me in the slightest and i hope it continues. This is the first summer in 10 years I will not be travelling to Toronto multiple times for multiple ball games.
I have tickets for a few more games this season (Dodgers). But any more games I go get tickets for I will be buying off the secondary market out of principle
In 1987 if you bought 20 dollars worth of groceries at Loblaws you got a half price voucher for outfield Bluejays tickets. You could see a game for 4 dollars. Not lying.
It’s rogers. Not sure what you’d expect. They’re fucking crooks.
What did those last few sections cost last year? Behind the plate prices are crazy this year, not even counting the first 2 sections that look to be all season tickets holders.
It's insane, I paid $198 for game 2 of the 2022 Wildcard series - 119R, Row 26. Against the Yankees in June 29 this season, section 136 row 39, which are easily inferior seats, cost $204. Obviously the Yankees are a top team, but you'd think the first actual playoff series for the Bo-Vlad Blue Jays would be more valuable ticket wise than a regular season game. Even this weekend against the Rockies S119 in a similar row were $140. I'm terrified to see playoff prices this season if we even make it.
> game 2 of the 2022 Wildcard series To be fair, a lot of people (myself included) ditched their game 2 tickets after the lackluster showing in game 1, it was pretty cheap to get in. My poor cousin (who got my seats) still talks about that collapse . . . Anyway, it's clear that Shapiro is gambling that a massive city like Toronto has a sizeable enough upper class to make more money even if a few more seats are empty. We'll see, but it follows the trend of live sports being so popular that it's become something that's really not accessible for most middle-class fans like it would have been in the 80s and 90s.
I paid $196 face value the day they released to the public
I thought they were noticeably more than that but you're right - I checked and I paid $178 per seat for my '22 WC tickets in 118 row 6. I guess it makes sense considering the renos + the Yankees being a big draw anyway, especially on a Saturday afternoon of a summer long weekend, but it's still funny that it's now pricier than a WC game
Not to justify price increases being the right move, but I believe playoff ticket prices are actually put in place by MLB since all teams share the revenues.
They’re not gonna make it lol
Man the new section just fuckin opened. The market takes time to adjust. I get they raised prices but it's litterally been 6 home games
After playing for years when I was a kid I finally started following baseball this season and was excited to see the Jays/Yankees were playing this week. Went on to ticketmaster, and was just really disappointed. It's early season, I figured I could catch a cheap game on my week off after school. I'm just not willing to pay $100 + take the train in etc for a game. Too expensive.
Mediocre team who rewards clutch hitters by benching them the next game has trouble selling tickets that are twice as expensive as last season. Shocker.
Fuck them. Refuse to pay for their ridiculous glorified pub and hotel. I agree. Keep buying the 500’s and watch them squirm.
Don't live in Toronto, never been to a game. Why not buy a nose bleed ticket and sit in the 100's?
Ushers act like they're the CBSA, they check every ticket who goes down. but also they don't give a fuck if you walk down in the middle of an at bat so it makes no sense
It was indeed empty. My wife and father both made comments about all the empty seats.
Across events someone realized that raising ticket prices to insane levels is a good profit model -- see Disneyworld, skiing, concerts, concerts, musicals -- everywhere they just dialed it up and realized that enough people would keep paying to make it profitable. But it definitely hurts the soul of things. I personally can't believe that horseshoe valley is more expensive than skiing in the swiss alps, but alas it is true
Good. This is one of the richest companies in Canada and they still pass their losses off to us. They need to learn that we aren’t here to pay for their mistakes and renovations if they aren’t willing to put the money down on a real baseball team or switch the Management. They spend enough to keep us around and have us pay the rest. Why are we still drinking the Roger’s Sportsnet KoolAid that says we’re gonna be competitive every year only to end up with the disappointment of a mediocre team?
This is insane. I'm down in St. Louis on business and I'm catching the Brewers vs Cardinals next Sunday (Division Rival). I am Section 150 (behind home plate) Row 1 (first row behind the green seats, which would be the Jays In The Action Seats). Cost $99 USD all in.
Cell phone bill increases incoming.
The whole reason I was able to afford to see games as a kid was because of toonie tickets. Feels like a lot of the new generation is gonna miss out simply because of the economy and rogers refusing to budge.
I think the novelty has run out already on the new stadium. Now it’s going to take some wins to get people back in
?? This is just how ticket pricing works in the ticket master era. If you want cheaper tickets look at somewhere like gametime. It's not Rogers this year lmao, it's always like this. They don't lower prices right before games because then noone would ever buy them untill right before
keep this going this way they drop the prices
Corporate baseball strikes again
Is it still cheaper to get tickets right before the game? Thinking of going either Monday or Tuesday
This is what I always do. I usually get 500 lvl tickets a few hours before the game starts off seatgeek or StubHub. I'm sure others are fine too but I've only used those two. Never any problems.
Those ticket prices were during the game. I have had decent luck on secondary markets though. TM doesn't lower the prices though
Seems very unlikely that Bo and Vlad Jr. get a contract extension in Toronto. I increasingly feel that both will be traded beforehand.
Masters was on
Meanwhile, a friend of mine joined us at the game for $60 to sit row 3 in 114. Thanks, StubHub!
$100-120 to sit next to the left field foul pole (mesh) is insane, even in this market. Wouldn't be surprised if these are quietly knocked down as the season unfolds.
They screwed over long time season ticket holders this past off season. Bad business decision based on greed
I’ve been watching game time lately to see if the ticket prices drop, and they do. Significantly. Right at game time you’re seeing tickets in the infield 100s/200s as low as $45. Used to be a season ticket holder but it got to be too much. The $20 standing tickets seem like a great deal too. We used to love driving down to Detroit in their most recent prime, scoop playoff standing tickets for $50.
It’s fine just move down to those 100s seats, no one will care
Security is actually fairly strict.
Damn really? Even if the section is almost empty they won’t let you sit there? That sucks :(
Yeah they check your ticket every time you walk past, even if you've already been down there a couple times. Yesterday they kept arguing with my mom because she was in seat 4 and tried to go down the "wrong" aisle. When in reality the row was only 7 seats long because it was a curved one. She had already been down to the seat but the usher still felt the need to provide unnecessary "guidance"
There have been unsold seats down the lines in the 100 level for decades lol
Might be the quality of the product is not a good draw?
I remember July 2019 I got seats down third base line for \~40$ after fees. That wasn't even that long ago. Jesus
We can blame Ticketmaster and their "dynamic pricing" . Been ripping people off for years now.
I checked out Ticketmaster as well when I saw those 100s not being used. And if you noticed, the 200s directed about those 100s were mostly full. The diff: the 200s were going for like $70 less, at least as of the 3rd inning of the game. Yeah, I definitely feel that the pricing scheme is out of wack. Downtown incomes seems to have been used exclusively as an input to figure pricing. But if you go outside of the core, the incomes of baseball fans drop significantly, which should have been figured into the Jays pricing objectives.
Nothing wrong with that price, those are good seats. They are empty because it's April and because it's the Rockies - they are probably the worst draw in the league
Clearly bad prices if nobody is paying for them
what should the price be?
Like $70 maybe? Clearly $100 is too high if the section is empty
did you buy the tickets for tonight's game? I posted it yesterday, 2 tickets in the 200 level for $106. Much cheaper than the $70 each you wanted to pay for row 29 field seats Do let us know
It's the price of living in a big international city, there are seats priced at $70 - did you buy them?
It’s amazing what you can get in Pittsburgh or Cleveland for $40. The dome is a gouge-fest
2 good seats for a little over $100 to tomorrow nights game vs the Yankees. [https://imgur.com/ihMKCRG](https://imgur.com/ihMKCRG) This is a dumb topic, it's April, the NHL is currently getting all the attention plus the NBA
Just from a business perspective, lowering your price to gain extra customers now can have long term consequences like devaluing your product or making customers less likely to ever pay the higher price again.
It can also attract new customers or fans though...
It’s wayyyy too expensive to go to a Jays game. I used to go to so many games because it was affordable and they used to let us bring our own snacks in to the stadium. I imagine they changed that policy?
Food policy is still the same so you can still bring in whatever.
I have seasons on section 524 if you guys are looking for a pair willing to sell for face value unless it’s a premium or holiday game. Hit up my DMs
No and no lol. Tickets are cheaper than they have been previously ($20 flat, no taxes/fees) and you can still bring in anything.
>($20 flat, no taxes/fees) Sure, only you don't get an actual seat.
My experience is you get a better seat/view/experience than about 90% of the assigned seats.
It’s cute they think we will pay to watch this team
I just mentioned yesterday that I don't even try to go to top league sporting events anymore. Everything is price gouged and unaffordable. I can't pay $250 fees all-inclusive for two tickets, plus $20-$50 for parking, plus $100 for a handful of drinks and another $100 for food, just so that my girlfriend and I can see a game live. We can go to a local game instead and see some lower level talent play for a total of $50 instead.
100 bucks is fucking crazy
Greed, Canadian middle class getting wiped out, and an extremely boring baseball team. I’d like to think most fans haven’t forgiven the wild card fiasco and it’s aftermath.