Average Ticket Price Up 5.4 Percent in MLB. Yankees/Mets Skew Total

Team Marketing Report has released details on their forthcoming Fan Cost Index and average ticket pricing reports, and with it, the league will see a decidedly “New York” hue to the overall pricing for tickets, concessions, and merchandise at the ballpark this year. Based on season-ticket prices and TMR’s weighted system, the Yankees’ average ticket is an eye-popping $72.97, according to TMR calculations, and the Mets’ 36.99. Both increases helped the league-average ticket price up 5.4 percent in 2009, to $26.74. If you take the Mets and Yankees out of the equation, this year and last year, and the average ticket for the other 28 teams ($23.07) would be up just .09 percent. So the New York teams, who certainly help their peers’ bottom lines with impressive road attendance, are worth about $3.67 to the total average of the league. The league’s Fan Cost Index is up 3.4 percent to 197.17. The Fan Cost Index (FCI) measures the cost to take a family of four to a sporting event. (For TM...