The World Series Is Not For Poors

Lately, there has been a lot of commentary online about how expensive tickets to the 2024 World Series between the Yankees and Dodgers are. And I don’t know how to break it to those complaining but… you’re poor.

I’m obviously being hyperbolic. You aren’t actually poor (unless you are) but you most definitely are not competing with rich people for the most sought after MLB World Series tickets in recent history.

However, the competition is not solely the fault of the rich (as much fun as it is to hate the rich) but third-party resellers.

I actually got an email the other day from Capital One inviting me to participate in a presale offer for World Series tickets. All I had to do was make it through the queue of over 16,000 people then when it was my turn, enter the first six digits of my credit card, and I would receive early access to the highly desired 2024 World Series tickets for the game of my choosing.

I chose Yankees game three (GO YANKS) and waited for about an hour for my turn.

Then, I noticed the queue was dropping rapidly. 

13,000… 9,000… 4,000…

The tickets must be more expensive than some of the queue had anticipated, I thought. But when it was my turn, I couldn’t believe there were still tickets available. 4 pairs of 400 level tickets above home plate, to be exact.

I entered the first six digits of my credit card number and waited to see the price revealed but to my surprise, I got an error message saying my code had “already been used.” 

(I blacked out the six digits of my credit card number. I have no idea why since apparently IT’S BEEN STOLEN ALREADY.)

How could that be? I didn’t use it.

So I tried another capital one card (yes, I have two) and you’ll never guess… that one was ALSO already used. 

I took to Twitter (X) to see if anyone experienced something similar or if this was a case of user error, but it wasn’t.

Apparently, during these types of presale events it’s quite common for third-party resellers to hack all the possible combinations of promo codes (or in this case my actual credit card number) to buy up as many tickets as they can for the resale market.

Presale ticket prices were listed around $300-$500, which is expensive but doable. These same tickets were quickly relisted the next day by every ticket agency in the world for double and triple the price.

A friend of mine (unnamed) who works for a “ticket agency” in Miami did share with me that the day of the presale, his company only had in their possession eight tickets.

But the next morning… 760!

And they were relisting these tickets for an average of $1750 per ticket. 

Now, we all know ticket prices for concerts and sporting events have gone up exponentially over the years but desired World Series matchups in the last two decades have averaged similar prices.

In 2016, the Chicago Cubs returned to the WS and won their first championship since 1908. The tickets for their first games back at Wrigley Field vs. the Cleveland Indians averaged $3870 per ticket.

In 2004, the Boston Red Sox battled the St. Louis Cardinals to win their first championship since 1918. The tickets for their first games back at Fenway Park averaged $1718 per ticket.

My dad was actually at game seven of the WS at Shea Stadium between the Mets and Red Sox. He still has the stub. Get in price? $30!

Fast forward to 2003, I was lucky enough that my dad wanted me to be able to experience a WS first hand - between the Yankees and Marlins, no less.

So he drove down to Pro Player Stadium (now Hardrock Stadium) and paid cash at the box office for left field-lower bowl tickets. Price? $60 each!

We were not a family of means and if this were a story from today’s ticketing world, I would not have gotten a chance to participate in this once in a lifetime opportunity to see my favorite team(s) play each other on the biggest stage baseball has to offer.

Reading all the stories today of people disappointed that they could never dream of going to a World Series because of the resale market prices makes me sad actually.

Sad that we have allowed third-party resellers to completely take over the ticket market. 

Sad that experiencing sporting events first-hand is just another part of our lives being stolen from us by greed.

And sad that there is a little boy (or girl) somewhere whose Dad wants to share the once-in-a-lifetime moment of seeing their favorite baseball team play in a World Series with them, but will never get the chance.

But being sad is a human trait. Being rich or poor is a HUMAN trait.

Buying tickets to the World Series however… that’s reserved for bots.