Slam Dunk Year for Sports Fans

The ‘90s were a nail-biter for sports fans on a budget. For most of the 20th century, seeing a ball game was a way for average Joe the Plumber types to blow off some steam on a Saturday afternoon. But over the past fifteen years, stadiums developed a habit of courting business execs with expense accounts, and the ticket prices for Major League Baseball and NFL games leapt by 70 percent as a result. Thanks to corporate cutbacks, however, those days are numbered. Teams everywhere are slashing ticket prices to pre-‘90s levels. The Colorado Rockies, one year off a World Series appearance, are offering $1 bleachers seats to seniors and kids, and the Pittsburgh Pirates are selling seats for as low as $7.20. Even playoffs tickets for NFL games are being discounted 10%. “We're too far away from events like the Super Bowl, the Daytona 500 and March Madness to know how they'll price out, but trust me, you'll be shocked,” says sports business reporter Darren Rovell.