The Money Mustache Community
General Discussion => Share Your Badassity => Topic started by: snakenbacon on March 17, 2019, 08:41:06 AM
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The fan cost index for attending an MLB game for a family of four currently stands at $230.64. (Source:www.teammarketing.com (http://www.teammarketing.com)) Of course, this price assumes plenty of things, namely: four average price tickets, paid parking, two draft beers, four soft drinks, four hot dogs, and two baseball caps. As anyone on this website knows, a little bit of thrift and accepted inconvenience can lower costs considerably. Here's how me and the Mrs. do it for around $10 a head. For the record, our hometown team is the Milwaukee Brewers.
Games: We generally target games during the days of Monday-Thursday. Generally, seats to these games are far less expensive than compared to Friday-Sunday games.
Tickets: We get our tickets off of www.tickpick.com (http://www.tickpick.com), which we prefer as all their listed prices are "as-is" without a big stack of fees applied on checkout. A $7 seat costs just that. For the ~20 games we've gone to with tickets from this site, we've never had any issues with tickets not working or being delivered promptly. Of course, $7 gets you a nosebleed in the 400 section, but at Miller Park, there's plenty of standing room available down in the 200 and 100 level seating if we want to get closer to the action. Personally, I like 400 level seating behind home plate, as it gives a great view of the field.
For Miller Park, they often give out fan appreciation giveaways on their last homestand for games in April-May the next year, which are generally a pair of 100 level or 200 level seats. Our best example was when we spent $12 for two tickets to a game, and then each got a scratch off for games early the next year, giving us a total of six tickets for $12.
Parking: There are a wide number of free shuttles from nearby bars, with the implication that you patronize their business and tip their drivers. Our preferred shuttle avoids driving into downtown Milwaukee, so we just have a boring 10 minute drive on the less busy part of the highway to get to the parking. In fairness, we do patronize them once or twice a year for a meal, but usually we just go straight for the shuttles. With shuttles, you may have an extra 30 minutes or so after the game where you need to wait for them as they can often be packed, but this offers some prime people watching experiences, and we prefer shooting the breeze with folks waiting for the shuttle for 30 minutes then sitting in our car at the ballpark for 30 minutes discussing our engineering fixes for the problems of leaving a parking lot.
Alcohol: For $7, a tall boy of domestic beer at a ball game is way too much for my tastes. Fortunately, if I'm looking to get a bit of a buzz, that bar with a shuttle usually has midweek drink specials, and they put whatever you order into a plastic cup so you can sip it as you ride to the park. Alternatively, you can take the first shuttle to the game (about an hour before first pitch), fraternize with the tailgaters and likely get offered free alcohol and food out of hospitality.
Food and drink: Carry ins are allowed at Miller Park. So long as the bottle is plastic and sealed, soda, juice, and water are allowed. As food goes, bring whatever you'd like, so long as it's in a soft see through container (Ziploc bag, Tupperware, etc). Of the ballpark foods I've sampled at Miller Park, most are cafeteria quality, way overpriced, and require standing in line for a bit. As I'd need to eat dinner whether I was at the game or not, I usually only include the cost of the water bottle or soda in the overall cost.
Ballpark swag: I'm not really interested in paying to advertise for a baseball team, but shirts for the local team can often be had at a local thrift shop for $3. Every so often, certain games give away shirts or ball caps, so there are options there as well.
So per person, I put our costs at:
Tickets: $7
Shuttle tips: $2
Food: $0.25 (just for the bottle of water)
All in cost: $9.25 a head to see the highest level of professional baseball for around 3 hours.
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These are good tips. As a fellow Milwaukee area resident, which specific shuttle do you use?
As an aside, my workplace just had a sign up to attend a Brewer game that is in some areas of the stadium with all you can eat and drink privileges. It is $90 per person to go. I'll pass.
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When we lived near Denver, we used a similar strategy to attend Colorado Rockies games. King Soopers grocery offers discount tickets with a grocery receipt -- 300-level, but like you, I enjoy the high up seats behind home plate. We usually took light rail downtown and walked a couple of blocks to the field, and packed a lunch for the game. We really enjoyed doing this.
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For those near St. Louis- they do "First Pitch" tickets for $11.20 (I'm fairly certain it started as a promotion in conjunction with 1120 KMOX). Show up at 9 AM to get tickets for $11.20: they can be anywhere in the park. Anything from standing room only to green seats. The tickets don't work until ten minutes before game time. It's an awesome deal- I do it a couple times every summer.
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I started a new job last summer and my boss is all about free tickets. We had 50 yard box seats for 2-3 nfl games last year (free food, drinks, parking) and regular tickets for another game, a mlb game, and 2 concerts. Not really hacking anything other than building good relationships!
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Also a Brewer guy here. Nice opening Day win yesterday. We do for the most part a lot of what you mentioned. No way I am paying for parking when I can still walk and alot of times so will take one of the shuttles as well. The only time it makes sense and you save money is if you go with others and tailgate because then you save a ton on food and beverage.
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Thanks for the tip on tickpick. Should save me some $$$ this year for the Astros games!(Go Stros!)