It may come as somewhat of a surprise, but there wasn’t much secondary ticket activity in three of the four markets that hosted Major League Baseball’s wild-card round as 2023 postseason play got underway on Oct. 3.
The lone exception, Philadelphia, is hardly a shock since the Phillies have one of the most enthusiastic fan bases — in addition to having a team that used the wild-card round as the first step to the World Series last year.
A survey of the ticket marketplace within a few hours of play for the opening games revealed that Philadelphia was the only city not offering tickets at the general sale prices. The Central Division winners in Milwaukee (National League) and Minnesota (American League) along with Tampa Bay, the AL’s top wild-card entrant, all were selling tickets at prices established by MLB at the time of the first pitch.
As Orioles fans have learned, SeatGeek, MLB’s secondary ticket marketplace partner, will be more of a factor moving forward, but for this opening round only fans in Philly were paying premium prices.
Perhaps because it hasn’t had a team in the World Series in 40 years, Baltimore quickly became a prime spot for SeatGeek — even though the Orioles won’t open postseason play until Oct. 7, when they face the winner of the Tampa Bay-Texas Series.
Taking advantage of a surge in advance membership plans for the 2024 season, tickets available for the ALDS and ALCS (if needed) in Baltimore were quickly gobbled up, leaving SeatGeek as the only available option through the Orioles website, barring a late drop in demand, which is unlikely, with tickets going for an average of three times the original price.
During the regular season, tickets through MLB’s SeatGeek partnership often dipped below face value. It’s possible the asking prices might drop somewhat closer to game time, but is highly unlikely to be significant.
Watching attendance numbers in the wild-card round should be of particular interest to MLB, especially in St. Petersburg, where the Rays recently announced plans for a new complex to keep the team in the Tampa Bay area for the long term. Less than two hours before first pitch on Oct. 3, it appeared that a good percentage of the tickets were still available on the regular market, while both Milwaukee and Minnesota appeared to be running below sellout status.
For one round, at least, SeatGeek would have to wait.
Jim Henneman can be reached at JimH@pressboxonline.com
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