When regular-season tickets for the Texas Rangers go on sale March 2, fans will be introduced to dynamic seating in the adult upper reserved seating areas.
Dynamic seating, which is used by more than half the teams in the majors, will adjust the price higher or lower in real time based on demand and factors such as pitching matchups, team performance, opponent, weather and day of the week.
Upper reserved tickets for non-premier games will start at $19 and then be determined by the factors. For the premier games, the starting price is $22.
"This is really going to help us long term in pricing in the marketplace," said team chief operating officer Rick George. "What we've seen on average is the ticket prices go down about $13 per ticket, sometimes up about $3 or $3.50. It's going to allow a lot of pricing options. It will help us increase attendance."
George said the dynamic pricing will only be in the upper reserved area to start the season but another seating section may be added. The dynamic prices cannot drop lower than the price season ticket holders pay for seats in the section.
The club is hoping the introduction of the dynamic pricing encourages fans to buy tickets early. They also hope it means more tickets sold for those seats in the summer when it's triple digits at first pitch at Rangers Ballpark.
Ticket prices at Rangers Ballpark are up this year, with prices increasing from $1 to $4. The only area that avoided a price increase was the children's seats in the upper reserved and grandstand reserved, which remain at $3.
The cheapest adult ticket – the grandstand reserved – has gone from $7 to $11.
"No one wants to raise ticket prices," said George. "We look at it very carefully. We're trying to build a long-term sustainable business model. We sometimes have to raise ticket prices to meet our objective."
The only individual ticket no going on sale March 2 is Opening Day. Tickets for the April 5 game against Los Angeles will be available through an online lottery. Beginning Feb. 1, fans can register online for a chance to purchase up to two tickets for Opening Day. Following registration, which closes Feb. 20, randomly selected entrants will have a chance to buy tickets from the available inventory.
