This may seem like a joke or some type of scheme that takes your money and never sends you the tickets, but this is the true cost of the Front Row Seats at Coca Cola Park. Aside from the Front Row Seats, you can get a Field Level Seat for $9 and General Admission (Standing room and Lawn) tickets for $6.
Now, you ask yourself, “How can they keep tickets prices so low?” Let’s look at some of the operating costs a minor league team has to cover before turning a profit.
Ultimately, the goal of a minor league team is to groom prospects until they are ready to play at the Major League level. When ready, the prospects can be called up to the majors or can be traded to fill a void in the parent club. (For example, the Cliff Lee trade this past summer) So looking at how the parent team controls the player rosters, who plays where and has ultimate control over a players role in the organization, the parent club also assumes the responsibility of paying the players salaries, bonuses, etc.
While this might seem a lucrative deal to the Minor League team, they do get stuck with the bill on other costs in relation to the team.
First and foremost, the team has to pay its staff, to include Front Office employees and all game day personnel.
The team’s league affiliation also collects “dues” from each team and the amount is determined mainly by ticket sales. These dues go towards league operations and paying umpires.
Note: AAA teams have an extra umpire (compared to A and AA teams) resulting in a higher payment made to the league.
On the brighter side, teams do receive royalty payments from licensing money collected for things like official team merchandise and baseball cards. ($150 for an authentic home jersey, $25 for an authentic fitted hat)
More costs, like any other business, involve taxes, utilities and rent to their stadium. This next cost really surprised me. Where MLB receives a premium for televised and radio coverage, most minor league teams will pay for the opportunity to be broadcast. Also billed to the team itself are uniforms, equipment and all travel costs. With 72 road games, including bus/airfare, hotel accommodations and food per diem, this really adds up quick.
So when you wonder where the profit from a $2 hot dog or $5 beer goes, well, now you know.
To order tickets use the below link:
http://www.ironpigsbaseball.com/tickets/seasontickets/
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