New this baseball season the Blue Jays will jack up ticket prices as demand increases.
It’s called ‘dynamic pricing’ and it means fans who wait to buy tickets to in-demand games will likely be charged more than those who plan ahead.
“Dynamic pricing is something that many teams in major league baseball have been adopting over the last few years, said Vijay Setlur, Sports Marketing Instructor at Schulich School of Business.
“Starting with the San Francisco Giants and what dynamic pricing does is it allows teams to generate as much revenue as possible from the sale of their tickets,” Setlur said.
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For example, on February 11 when Jays tickets went on sale, you could get tickets for $79 in section 125. If you wanted to buy the same tickets today, it would cost you $93.
All single-game and group tickets will be affected with prices fluctuating daily based on market factors including the team’s record, the day of the week, and the opponent. It’s news many fans aren’t cheering about.
“Their walk up gate will probably suffer because if I don’t know what it’s going to cost, or it’s going to cost me a big premium, I’m just going to stay at home and watch it on TV,” said fan Eric Yapp. But many other fans are willing to foot the bill after the season the Jays had last year.
“It’s ideal to strike while the iron’s hot and with the heightened interest in the team, not only in Toronto but all across Canada, and with fans traveling from all over the country to come to Toronto, it only makes sense to try and generate as much revenue as you can from a very loyal and spirited fan base,” said Setlur.
Sports marketing experts believe it’s just a matter of time before every team across North America adopts dynamic pricing, regardless of what the fans think.
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