Red Sox Sticker Shock
Want to see the Boston Red Sox versus the Baltimore Orioles at Fort Lauderdale Stadium this spring? It’ll cost you at least four games, if you want to sit in box or reserved grandstand seats.
That’s right: Red Sox Nation is so huge and demand to see the team so high, the Orioles are requiring fans to purchase full spring season tickets (15 games) or a four-game package to get the best seats for the one Red Sox game in Fort Lauderdale this spring on March 7. Fans can choose the other three games to package with the Red Sox game, but they must all be in the same seating area and include only one New York Mets game.
The idea is to ensure the Orioles’ most loyal fans have the best shot of seeing the 2007 World Series champs from the stadium’s best seats.
“Clearly there’s a great demand for this specific game and the Orioles want to reward those fans who are coming to several games with access to tickets first,” Orioles Director of Communications Greg Bader said. “We believe this is the fairest way to distribute tickets to a game that clearly is the most in demand game of our spring season.”
The Orioles are also charging $2 extra for the Red Sox and Mets games. The Mets are charging significantly more when the Red Sox visit the Mets' spring home in Port St. Lucie.
Orioles' spring individual tickets go on sale Saturday at 10 a.m. and tickets to the lone Red Sox contest are expected to sell out within minutes. If any box or reserved grandstand seats are not claimed, they’ll be put on sale at a later date, Bader said.
Box seats cost $20 -- and $22 for contests against the Red Sox and Mets; reserved grandstand are $14 and $16 for the Red Sox and Mets; general admission are $10 and $12; and general admission kids (14 and under) are $5 and $7.
Meanwhile, the Mets are charging $35 up from $25 in premium box when the Red Sox come to Port St. Lucie; $30 up from $20 in field level terrace; $30 up from $18 in lower reserved; $25 up from $12 in upper reserved; and even the bleacher/berm are $10 up from $6.
CRAIG DAVIS In more than 33 years at the Sun Sentinel, Craig Davis has written about a wide variety of sports topics from baseball to yachting, fishing to triathlons, and also worked as a copy editor and page designer. Recently he reported on local sports, including running, swimming, cycling, equestrian and beach volleyball. He enjoys sports as a participant as well as a spectator, is active in the South Florida running scene plays in the curling club at Saveology Iceplex. This blog offers a glimpse at the business side of sports in the interest of enhancing enjoyment of the games and sporting options as a spectator as well as a participant.