Photo taken from the standing room only area at Chase Field during an Arizona Diamondbacks game. 

Image Credit: Ryan - Flickr (CC BY 2.0)

Both the Arizona Diamondbacks and Pittsburgh Pirates are now offering their fans subscription plans for home games during the 2017 Major League Baseball season. The program is called the ‘Ballpark Pass’ and requires the download of the MLB.com ballpark app so that tickets can be sent to each fan’s mobile device. The Oakland Athletics were the first team to experiment with a subscription plan for their fans and did see increased attendances using it. The Philadelphia Phillies, Milwaukee Brewers and St. Louis Cardinals have also experimented with similar subscription based plans.

For Arizona Diamondbacks games at Chase Field, fans will be able to attend 25 home games throughout June and July for only $25. Fans with the subscription will be notified where their seats are two hours before the beginning of the game and can purchase up to four subscription plans. Fans will be guaranteed seats in the outfield reserved seating area and will also have the option to pay a small fee and upgrade to better seats. The ballpark pass is an affordable option for families in the Phoenix area that want to bring their children to the ballpark more often. Chase Field consistently ranks near the bottom in Major League Baseball attendance and are drawing 3500 fewer fans per game compared to this point during the 2016 MLB season.

Photo of the standing room only area at PNC Park during a Pittsburgh Pirates home game.

Image Credit: Jon Dawson (CC BY-ND 2.0)

For Pittsburgh Pirates games at PNC Park, fans will be able to attend home games from June through the rest of the season for $30 per month and will only have access to standing room only tickets. The standing room only areas at PNC Park are located on the left field rotunda, the Miller Lite Crow’s Nest, Rivertowne Brewing Hall of Fame Club and the Iron City Skull Bar. The ballpark pass will not be available for Pirates’ postseason home games and cannot be transferred to other fans. To purchase your ballpark pass at PNC Park, please visit MLB.com/Pirates.

We recently reported that the New York Yankees have lost more than $166 million at the box office since opening new Yankee Stadium in 2009. Owner Hal Steinbrenner suggests that Major League Baseball has a “millennial problem” and isn’t attracting fans under the age of 35 effectively enough. The millennial problem could also be tied to the league’s efforts to speed up the pace of games. We think Steinbrenner is onto something. Not only do millennials have the attention span to enjoy Major League Baseball but they also don’t have an appreciation for America’s favorite pastime. Sad.

 

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