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Rays Playoff Tickets Prices At Trop Reach Top Tier

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By TED JACKOVICS | The Tampa Tribune

Published: October 7, 2008

Updated: 10/07/2008 11:20 am

TAMPA - OK, so Tampa Bay Rays playoff tickets might not be worth $20,000 each. But would you believe $19,999?

That's the price someone is asking through the online ticket broker StubHub.com for two tickets just off home plate to Game 2 of the American League Championship Series against the Boston Red Sox on Saturday.

Other asking prices on StubHub.com run as high as $10,900 for Game 6 on Oct. 18 — if that game is necessary — and $5,500 for tickets to Friday's Game 1.

Rays home ALCS tickets on TicketsNow.com, a Ticketmaster-owned reseller, go as high as $8,453 each.

The good news is that tickets at more reasonable prices are available from StubHub.com, TicketsNow.com, TicketNetwork.com, TicketLiquidator.com and other online sites for the games at Tropicana Field and Fenway Park. Some Tropicana Field tickets are being sold for as little as $102, and some in Boston for as low as $149.

"One thing to remember is that most of the secondary sites online have the same inventory," said Don Vaccaro, chief executive of TicketNetwork.com. That means an individual might try to sell the same tickets on multiple sites at different prices in hopes of getting top dollar.

"So you should shop around because there are huge price differences," Vaccaro said.

The Rays completed their sale of tickets on Monday for fans who successfully entered a random online drawing.

The highest prices for Rays' home ACLS games dwarf the top prices for tickets to the Rays' road games at Fenway Park, where the highest price is $3,745 on Oct. 16 — if Game 5 is necessary. So some fans might be able to rationalize a trip to Boston as being less expensive — including travel and accommodations — than the top ticket asked at Tropicana Field.

Of course, sellers who offer tickets for sale through online brokers are able to monitor the demand and adjust the price, so some of those premium prices could drop, while others could rise.

Ticket scalping became legal in Florida in 2006 under a law signed by then-Gov. Jeb Bush.

Reporter Ted Jackovics can be reached at (8130 259-7817 or tjackovics@tampatrib.com.

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