A’s resale tickets for West Sacramento games are among MLB’s most expensive
The average resale ticket price for the A’s is among the most expensive in MLB, especially for the team’s highly anticipated home opener next week.
The cheapest available tickets for the first-ever MLB series in the Sacramento region, next Monday through Wednesday against the Chicago Cubs, averaged about $83 across three secondary market sellers, according to a Sacramento Bee analysis of prices listed as of Tuesday evening.
SeatGeek, which is MLB’s official resale ticket partner, claims the most expensive spot. Prices started at an average of about $86 across the three-game series at 14,000-seat Sutter Health Park stadium in West Sacramento.
The cheapest available tickets for the first-ever A’s game at the West Sacramento stadium started at $101 on SeatGeek for tickets on “Home Run Hill” — the grassy area beyond the right-field wall, where Sacramento River Cats fans for years have watched games from towels and lawn chairs — and $120 for standard seats in the stands. Competitor StubHub showed “lawn” tickets for $99 with other tickets starting at $113. Vivid Seats listed similar home-opener prices, with $97 for lawn seats and standard seats starting around $110.
The Giants’ home opener vs. the Seattle Mariners on April 4, by comparison, averaged about $55 across StubHub, SeatGeek and Vivid Seats.
Ticket prices for the defending world champions, the Los Angeles Dodgers, edged out local resell prices for tickets with an average of $107 across the websites, The Bee’s analysis found.
It’s not just the home-opening series, though those games are particularly pricey. SeatGeek as of Tuesday listed the average starting price for all 81 A’s home games this season at about $59, compared to $55 for Dodgers tickets and just $21 for Giants tickets.
Single-game tickets for direct purchase through the A’s have sold out quickly after becoming available in January, especially for high-profile games. Fans also paid about $183 to $244 per game for A’s season tickets in the second tier of availability, according to The Bee’s previous reporting. The first tier included more premium seating options.
USA Today’s Bob Nightengale reported last week that the A’s have the highest median ticket price among all 30 MLB teams, citing data from ticket analysis website Gametime that showed the median ticket cost at $181, just above the Dodgers at $177. Those figures take into account all tickets, not just the cheapest available.
There are a few possible explanations for high A’s ticket prices. One is novelty: non-exhibition Major League Baseball has never been played in California’s capital region before.
Another factor is supply and demand. Sutter Health Park’s capacity of 14,000 is very small compared to other MLB stadiums. No other full-time MLB venue has a capacity below 30,000.
How can you get cheap tickets?
SeatGeek provides a series of tips for fans to practice in hopes to secure cheap tickets.
The company advises hopeful game-goers to select games against low-profile teams and to sort by the lowest price or best value tickets. SeatGeek showed that the Saturday, July 5, A’s home game hosting the Giants has tickets starting at $115. On Saturday, April 26, when the A’s host the Chicago White Sox — who had the worst record in MLB last year with 121 losses — tickets start at $49.
Tickets can also cost more if the game features a particularly enticing promotional giveaway item for fans. And weekday games are typically less expensive than weekends.
The reseller also advises residents to sign up for alerts and to check SeatGeek for promotions. While the resale website notes better deals can be snagged by buying last-minute, this practice risks not getting a ticket at all, especially for high-demand games.
