The 2022 MLB season will officially toss its first pitch on Thursday afternoon after a labor stoppage threatened the season completely. A little arguing here, a little bickering there, and a couple weeks of a fast-tracked Spring Training and we’re finally here. And since the league and players association spent all offseason up in arms about money, let’s take a dive into a report about what a standard day at the ballpark will cost the fans around the league, but more specifically the ones attending a game at Wrigley Field this season.
You can find the full breakdown and infographics of the report here courtesy of time2play.
Methodology
In February 2022, they surveyed 1,110 baseball fans, 50 percent male and 50 percent female, from across the United States to ask them about their budget and comfortability when it comes to attending the ballpark for a 2022 MLB game. They also analyzed data on each MLB stadium from 2019 and 2021 (2020 not included for obvious reasons), to compare the costs and pricing differences across baseball in 5 categories: general tickets, beer, hot dogs, parking, and souvenirs.
After all of that, here’s what they found in general terms:
“For those making plans to go to the ballpark, the average budget per person is $106 with 45% of people willing to spend $0-99 per person for a ticket, food, beer, parking, and souvenirs. It’s no surprise 79% of people want most of the money to go toward their tickets/seating and the average budget for a ticket is $75.
When it comes to quenching their thirst, 46% of people are willing to spend $5.99-$9.99 for a beer. Overall, 32% of people say food and alcohol costs impact their decision on whether to attend a game or not.”
The 2022 Chicago Cubs are an enigma. Are they good? Are they not? Are they at least moving in the right direction? No one knows, but at least they have a DH now. One thing we do know is that Wrigley Field is the most expensive ballpark experience in the entire league. If you want to head to Wrigley Field, have two beers and a hot dog, and pay for parking you’re going to drop at least $110 ($111.15, to be specific). Per Fangraphs, the Cubs are projected to finish 75-87 this season and tie the Cincinnati Reds for third in the NL Central. Imagine dropping a Ben Franklin plus some to watch a team 12 games under .500. But that’s Wrigley for you.
Nonetheless, folks are fine with this. It’s always been a thing, even when the team is piss poor and I am a culprit of this too. A few rumblings have been going around social media this week about how the get-in price for the Cubs home opener vs the Milwaukee Brewers is astonishingly low. Tickets can be had for price tags in the teens right now for Thursday’s bad weather opener. It’s true, but those prices will regress towards their true mean as the weather warms up, actual baseball is played and fans slowly get in the baseball mindset. Long story short, no one really cares about Bleacher Bummin’ when it’s 43 degrees out. Come August those ticket prices will match the temperature and we’ll be mad again.
Cubs Opening Day tickets available on StubHub at, um, reduced prices. 😬 pic.twitter.com/1K7b6VnCIa
— Bleacher Nation (@BleacherNation) April 5, 2022
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86 percent of those surveyed said they feel comfortable going to a baseball game in 2022 and that 65 percent of those individuals plan on attending at least 2-5 games during the 2022 season. By that, at Wrigley Field, the average person could spend a total of $555.75 for five baseball games, 10 beers, five hot dogs, and parking for the entire thing. Good deal? We’re not sure.
Photo by Heather Maguire on Unsplash