MLB: Overpriced

The average ticket price for a New York Yankees game has soared to $72.97 – a 76% increase from last season as the Yanks try to pay for their new $1.5 billion ballpark.

Oh, and C.C. Sabathia – pictured above in video game format back when he was with the Cleveland Indians.

“Small amounts of our tickets might be overpriced,” Yankees’ managing general partner Hal Steinbrenner admitted to ESPN yesterday.

Uhh … “small amounts?”

“Might?”

From the Worldwide Leader:

“I think if anybody in any business had known where this economy was going to go, they would have done things differently,” Steinbrenner said Thursday. “Look, there’s no doubt small amounts of our tickets might be overpriced.”

“You know, we’re continuing to look into that. But the bottom line is, the vast majority of them, it seems like they’re right on because we’ve sold 35,000 full-season equivalents, and a lot of the tickets have, you know, sold quite well. And, well, despite what’s out there all the time … there’s thousands of very affordable seating. And, you know, the public is excited, as excited as we are, I think.”

Wow. Talk about “Trust-fund-o-nomics.”

Somebody stick a pacifier in that kid’s mouth.

Anyway, the Yankees are the runaway leaders when it comes to 2009 MLB ticket prices, with Boston ($50.24 – 0.3% increase), The Cubbies ($47.75 – 10% increase), and those bailout-stadiumed Mets ($36.99 – 8.6% increase) rounding out the top four.

The cheapest MLB average ticket? The Diamondbacks, who charge just $14.31 per seat.

Three other teams – Pittsburgh, Atlanta and Tampa Bay – all feature average ticket prices that come in below $20.

Across the league, the average seat was $26.64 – up five percent from last year.

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