Going to see a Chicago Cubs game isn’t cheap anymore. Going to see the Cubs in the playoffs? It could set you back a mortgage payment on your house.
The Chicago Cubs locked in for the playoffs before anybody else. Now they own home field advantage through the National League side of the playoffs. Couple that with a “slight drought” since their last World Series and you get a pricey ticket. While it’s great to see the excitement for this Cubs team, it’ll be difficult for the everyday fan to go see a playoff game this season.
The average price of a ticket via TicketIQ is $920. That tops the previous record of–you guessed it–last year’s NLDS which averaged $632. Now, that doesn’t mean that’s the cheapest ticket. If you’re willing to sit in some less than ideal seats to be there, $250 each can get you into the game. But that gets you the 500 section in the upper deck, or partially obstructed seats in the 200 section. Not impossible, but difficult for a family of four–if you can even get four together.
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If the Cubs win and advance to the LCS, it only gets worse. Last year, tickets for the Cubs and Mets had an average of $1,218. This season the increase looks to be about 25% to $1,523. It becomes a little more difficult to “get in the door”, with the cheapest ticket at $660.
Big money for history
What if the Cubs make the World Series? It might be a good time to use that card you have with a famous friend or celebrity. The average price for the three games at Wrigley are $4,159. This is up in the stratosphere of Super Bowl tickets–and that’s a one-game take all. The previous high for World Series tickets was in 2010 in San Francisco. The average ticket went for about $1,661.
The expectation is the prices will come down in the next few weeks. But that doesn’t change the fact that it will be a hefty price to see the Cubs in the playoffs. When the Cubs went up on the Florida Marlins 3-1 in 2003, my friends and I decided we’d “wait” until the World Series to go to Wrigleyville to be part of the atmosphere. While a game was never in the works, it’s a mistake that I deeply regret 13 years later.
The Cubs may make the playoffs for many years to come, that what we all hope at least. But if you have the means or opportunity to go, I say go for it. Don’t do what I did and deal with the regret of it for years after. Being there wasn’t going to change the outcome (or would it?). But it’s an experience I wish I would have taken part in. I lived an hour away back in 2003. Charlotte, N.C. is just a little bit further. But don’t put it past me.
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