It’s that time of year again – Opening Day is officially here, and while hope springs eternal for each of the 30 clubs in Major League Baseball, fans will be paying for that optimism on the secondary ticket market. According to resale aggregator TiqIQ, all but one team will see a significant price premium for Opening Day tickets over their season-long average at home. The Texas Rangers and Boston Red Sox are making the most noise in the Majors, with tickets for their home openers averaging over $250 on the secondary market.
Such high demand is understandable for both the Rangers and Red Sox, who each have expectations of making a deep postseason run come October. The Rangers will open the season without the likes of stars Yu Darvish and Josh Hamilton, but that hasn’t seemed to deter fans from paying big prices at Globe Life Park in Arlington. The average price for Texas Rangers tickets on the secondary market for Opening Day against the Seattle Mariners was $285.05 – a whopping 110% more expensive than the team’s season average of $135.53. If looking just to get in, the cheapest ticket was listed for $97. Both the Rangers’ Opening Day and season averages are highs in the A.L. West this year.
Prices won’t be much lower at Fenway Park when the Red Sox open up against the Baltimore Orioles on April 11. With David Ortiz set to retire following the 2016 season, Boston Red Sox tickets will be in high demand all season long on Yawkey Way. Opening Day tickets at Fenway currently own a secondary market average of $282.10, 109.7% higher than the team’s $134.52 season average. The get-in price for next Monday’s game is now $107. Like the Rangers in the West, both the Red Sox’s Opening Day and season averages are the highest price points in the A.L. East.
The Rangers and Red Sox are just two of 29 teams that will showcase high premiums for Opening Day tickets on the resale market. The 2015 World Series finalist New York Mets and champion Kansas City Royals follow in average price, with the Mets’ home opener on April 8 against the Philadelphia Phillies averaging $268.26, a 149% boost over the $107.73 season average at Citi Field this year. The Royals, who opened their season against the Mets on Sunday night, averaged a $264.72 ticket at Kauffman Stadium. The Royals owned a higher get-in price, however, clocking in at $107 compared to the $94 ticket that can be found for Mets Opening Day tickets.
With the Mets set to defend their National League title from a season ago, they’ll host their opening home game on a Friday for the first time since 2011. It will be a perfect setup for out-of-town fans to experience all New York City has to offer over the weekend. Cheap hotels in New York can be found on Hipmunk.com from just $94 each night this weekend while 4-star hotels start from $153 each night.
While teams with postseason hopes are posting the biggest Opening Day ticket demand, there are several clubs with relatively cheap prices still available. The Milwaukee Brewers will own one of the cheapest tickets in baseball this season at an average price of $58.60 for games at Miller Park. They opened their season against the Giants on Monday afternoon, where tickets averaged just $65.89 and the get-in price was $23. Perhaps most interestingly are the Oakland Athletics, who are the only team in the Majors to see a smaller Opening Day demand when compared to their season average. Oakland A’s tickets averaged just $70.41, 5.6% cheaper than the team’s season average of $74.61 at o. Co Coliseum in 2016.