AT&T Park: the house that Tim Lincecum, Matt Cain, and Brian Wilson built. A place where dominant and lights-out pitching is king. It’s a brick-covered building festooned in orange and black. AT&T Park is home to your 2010 World Series Champions: the San Francisco Giants.
As Giants fans, we’ve endured a rollercoaster 2010 season filled with excruciatingly close 1-run wins, bullpen meltdowns, and late inning game winning homeruns. And as the season progressed from spring training to the playoffs; we also had to endure rising prices for tickets and merchandise as well.
Prices for game tickets rose sharply as the Giants steamrolled opposing teams from the NLDS to the World Series. The prices for Giants tickets finally reached an all time high during the World Series. View level seats that areusually had for around $20 were priced at $500 per seat for the first 2 games at AT&T Park. Prices for box seats were even more expensive for Giants fans. People paid upwards of $5,000 at least for a pair that was 190$
A lot of diehard Giants fans who couldn’t afford the high prices were fuming at the price gouging done by scalpers, season ticket holders, and electronic-scalper websites like StubHub. A little known fact is that a lot of seats are actually under the control of electronic-scalping websites, and they can sell their tickets at market value. And with playoff fever in full swing, they can charge pretty much what they want.
Giants Management also got into the price frenzy by offering 2011 season tickets for $1,500, which came with World Series tickets included in the package.
Lots of frustrated Giants fans refused to pay those ridiculous prices, and eventually just stayed home to watch the games. Many even resorted to taking turns for 3-innings at the small port-hole windows on the right-field section of the park.
Prices for San Francisco Giants clothing and memorabilia also went up as the season moved to the playoffs. A lot of items sold in Giants Dugout stores experiencedsubstantial hike in prices. Numbered player shirts that used to sell for $25 were now being sold for $30. Jackets and authentic jerseys were also sold at significant marked-up prices as the Giants got deeper into their playoff run.
Fortunately for fans that are “in the know,” when it comes to Giants gear, they knew to check out the mom and pop sports memorabilia shops to find the better deals. Giants World Series Championship shirts that sold for $30 at the Giants Dugout stores was $5 dollars cheaper at least in locally-owned stores that were in the neighborhood malls. Not only were Giants fans given a cheaper price, they avoided the long lines and a more plentiful selection.
And more entrepreneurial fans took it to themselves to produce their own cheaper priced clothing and memorabilia as an alternative to the more costly items found in stores.
This “unofficial” Giants gear such as the “Fear the Beard” and “Let Timmy Smoke” shirts were a hit among the fans with their creativity, uniqueness, and cheaper prices.
As a new season starts in the spring of 2011, there is a chance Giants fans will spend a little bit more extra coming to the ball park. While there are a lot of player contracts coming off the books, the Giants have to sign their
free agent players that are coming off breakout seasons that will demand a significant price. The Giants are also in a bind because these free agent players ,such as Juan Uribe and Aubrey Huff are also fan favorites and it would be a big disappointment if they are not back.
Key members of the 2010 championship team like Tim Lincecum and Andres Torres, are also due for raises. Thus the Giants front office has admitted that their payroll will be significantly bigger so they have the ability not to break up the roster.
Even with an almost certain price increase for this upcoming season, Giants fans somehow cannot seem to be bothered by it. I guess that is a small price to pay for what this city and these Giants fans have been waiting for since 1954- the first ever World Series title in San Francisco.
