Mets, Yankees ticket prices for League Championship Series are hardly a steal, but seats are available
Mets’ Brandon Nimmo waves to fans as he is introduced before the start of Game 3 against the Philadelphia Phillies in the NLDS on Tuesday at Citi Field. Credit: Newsday/J. Conrad Williams Jr.
As it turns out, you can put a price on sports memories.
A very steep price.
The Mets clinched a spot in the NLCS on Wednesday night, and by Thursday afternoon, tickets for home games sold by the Mets/MLB — the primary ticket seller — were virtually sold out. As of Thursday night, a lone ticket in Section 109 for Wednesday’s Game 3 (the first game at Citi Field) was available for $741.50. The other two games, scheduled for Thursday and, if necessary, Friday were sold out.
Tickets on Ticketmaster, a secondary market for MLB games, were almost sold out as well. The very few available for any of the three games ranged from $656.50 in Section 109 to $1,493.50 for a spot in the swanky Cadillac Club that abuts the warning track in right.
Things were slightly more affordable elsewhere. StubHub had tickets for Wednesday’s Game 3 starting at $272. A close-up look at Pete Alonso is going to cost you, though, as seats closer to the action were listed at more than $11,000 for Game 4. Because those prices are dictated by the fans who own them, however, there likely will be more fluctuation as the games draw closer.
The Yankees, who were hoping to clinch an ALCS spot Thursday night, appropriately had more affordable options for the ALCS. General admission prices for the four potential games (Monday, Tuesday and Oct. 21 and 22, if necessary) ranged from $168 to $763 on Ticketmaster. Thrifty fans can opt for the Pinstripe Pass, which is a standing-room-only ticket that comes with a free drink — either a 12-ounce domestic beer, a Pepsi product or a bottle of water — beginning at $153. Highballers, meanwhile, can look to the Legends or Champions suites, where tickets averaged in the $900 range.
This isn’t a case of East Coast inflation, though.
The Tigers were selling tickets from $218 to $3,195 for a possible ALCS. The Royals, who are playing the Yankees, had prices in the same ballpark (metaphorically, not literally). The Guardians — who needed to beat the Tigers twice to advance, entering Thursday, had the majority of the best deals of the bunch, with seats going from $146 to $721 on Ticketmaster (one outlier was being sold for $1,805).
The Dodgers boasted the highest overall price for a potential NLCS tickets — a seat near the dugout for more than $31,000, listed on Ticketmaster. The Padres, perhaps not wanting to tempt fate, had nothing listed on Ticketmaster, but there were seats on StubHub, with prices for a potential Game 1 against the Mets Sunday ranging from $251 to more than $6,000.
Laura Albanese is a reporter, feature writer and columnist covering local professional sports teams; she began at Newsday in 2007 as an intern.
