A Budget - Conscious Fan's Guide to MLB Games
- Kurt Smith
- 5 minutes ago
- 6 min read
No baseball fan needs to be told about the cost of seeing live baseball. According to Action Network, the average price for a family of four to attend an MLB game is $319.26, including tickets, parking, and concessions.
But it doesn’t have to be. With a fair bit of planning, you can enjoy a beautiful day at the ballpark for much less than you’d expect.
Through some research and planning, I recently took in a game at Fenway Park, one of the most expensive ballparks in baseball. For a ticket, transportation and food at the game, I paid under $50. So yes, it can be done. (You can read about how I did it here.)
Below are some of the better money-saving tips for enjoying America’s pastime on a budget.
Take Advantage of Team Ticket Offers
Ticket deals are your biggest opportunity for savings on live baseball. My favorite tip for saving money on tickets is this: sign up for team email ticket alerts. (You will need an account on MLB.com). Every baseball team offers ticket deals, especially when they aren’t enjoying great success on the field.
The Yankees, for example…a team you wouldn’t expect to make games affordable for fans…actually offer some very nice discounts. As this sentence was written, you can find $10 seats, half-price deals for MasterCard holders, and up to 80% discounts on single seats for games. There’s also ticket discounts for military members, teachers and seniors.
Every team will make you aware of specials they’re offering in their email alerts. Beyond that, they’ll tell you about giveaway nights too, where you can score souvenirs, T-shirts, or kids’ activities without shelling out extra cash.
If you don’t mind the extra notifications, it doesn’t hurt to get text alerts and follow teams on social media too.
That said, buying tickets through the team isn’t always the cheapest route. There are third party ticket re-sellers too, like Gametime, SeatGeek, and StubHub among many others. It’s a great opportunity to find deals…if you play it right.
Shop Around – And Be Flexible
The more flexibility you have for which game to attend, the better your opportunities to find cheaper tickets, especially through third parties. Baseball ticket prices vary greatly by time of year, day of the week, and the team’s opponent.
I’ll use Fenway Park and the Boston Red Sox as an example. A Saturday night game in July against the rival Yankees is going to cost far more than an Wednesday day game in April against the Athletics. That’s probably common sense, but the point is to choose something that is low demand.
June, July and August games are the most popular for most teams, while April is usually the easiest time to find cheaper tickets. In April, the kids are still in school, the weather can still be chilly, and teams aren’t usually generating excitement with their performance yet.
Weekday games are less expensive than weekends, and games against popular rivals, especially teams that aren’t far away, will draw more fans. If a team is out of the playoff hunt by September, you can often find great deals on third party sites.
Timing matters, too. If it’s not vital to see the game you want, try waiting until the last minute. It’s very possible that ticket prices will drop precipitously as fans get desperate to unload their unusable tickets. With today’s smartphones, you can be right at the gate of the ballpark when you buy. If you see something you can live with, though, don’t hesitate; jump on it right away.
Finally, use the weather! If a blazing hot or excessively frigid day portends a less pleasant experience, you can sometimes find a deal. There‘re always ways to escape the elements during a game if you need to.
Getting To The Game Cheaply
Parking can sneak up on your budget, especially if you just show up without a reservation. Don’t do that, plan ahead. With a little research, you can cut this cost way down. Apps like SpotHero (my favorite) and ParkWhiz let you book in advance and save quite a bit of dough.
If the ballpark is in a residential neighborhood or in the heart of the city, there will likely be plenty of parking options. People even sell their driveway spots. Recently I parked in a driveway about a five minute walk from Wrigley Field for $16 – which, for that distance, would cost around $50 in an official Cubs lot.
Incidentally, at Wrigley you can even do better than that. The Cubs offer free parking at a remote lot for night games, from which you can hop on their free shuttle service. So it doesn’t hurt to check and see if teams offer such deals.
You also don’t have to drive and sit in gas-guzzling traffic to get to most ballparks. There are almost always one or more money-saving public transit options, especially if a ballpark is in the heart of the city.
Baltimore’s light rail is a great example. You can park in one of a number of lots for free outside the city, and hop on a streetcar that will drop you off right at the warehouse entrance of Camden Yards. The ride is just $4 round trip as I write this.
One more tip for parking savings – in some cities, there are a few taverns and restaurants that will let you park there for free, and take you to the game in their shuttle if you order a meal or a drink there. Try doing a search for “<ballpark> shuttles” and see what comes up.
Save On Food And Drinks – Bring Your Own
It’s less of a secret these days, but most all MLB teams will allow you to bring your own food and drinks into the ballpark.
There are limits of course. You can’t bring in alcohol (anyone familiar with Ten Cent Beer Night in Cleveland knows that wouldn’t end well), in some ballparks you’re only allowed one bottle of water for a drink, and bottles must be plastic and sealed. Each team has different rules; you can do a search for “<team> bag policy” and usually find what they won’t let you do.
Bringing your own, as you can imagine, is a huge money-saver over ballpark food prices. There will often be vendors outside selling soft pretzels, peanuts, drinks etc., but even that will cost significantly more than a short trip to the supermarket before the game.
But if you like to get at least something at the game…like a hot dog…go for the “generic” stands that just sell the basics, as opposed to the fancy offerings. You can often find a meal deal, but if not, they’re still the places for the cheapest food items like basic hot dogs.
No one loves a beer at the game more than I do, but you can save mucho dinero avoiding alcoholic drinks inside the ballpark. Not only are the prices of drinks highly inflated, many teams offer a “designated driver” program, where they’ll give you a free soda for promising not to imbibe.
Getting The Extras At A Discount
It’s always fun to see the jerseys, tees, mugs, pennants and other team logo-adorned stuff in the ballpark’s team store, but you’ll pay top dollar for most anything there.
If you’re liking that official team jersey, try this: go to MLBShop.com on your phone and look for it. See if the price is the same there or less. It might be the same, but the website could offer a discount code or some other deal. There’s also eBay, if you don’t mind that someone wore it once.
At many ballparks, there will often be vendors and even stores selling team-related items cheaper than inside. Remember: outside vendors are often prone to haggling! When they tell you the price of a cap, offer to buy a second one at half price. After the game especially, these folks may be desperate to unload their extra stuff.
Yankee Stadium is my favorite example of this; there are not only vendors everywhere, but also several stores right there with tons of great stuff for fans. But wherever you are, if you have time, wander around a bit after the game.
Saving Money on MLB Games - It’s All About Planning + Knowing
Hopefully this piece helps you enjoy live baseball for much less than you expect. It just takes some planning, timing, and maybe a little patience. When it comes to baseball tickets, transportation, food, and souvenirs, take advantage of the one tool that our grandparents didn’t have…the Internet.
Because when it comes to enjoying live baseball, a little research goes a long way.
Kurt Smith is the author of Ballpark E-Guides, the ultimate website for making the most of your game experience at 18 MLB ballparks, including Wrigley Field, Fenway Park, Yankee Stadium. You can find many more great ballpark tips at his website: https://ballparkeguides.com.
