Are Globe Life Field tickets set to be too expensive? Texas Rangers say no
Globe Life Field will have fewer seats and fewer suites than Globe Life Park, so there will be smaller supply, and, the Texas Rangers hope, higher demand.
Yes, that means higher ticket prices in some instances.
But the Rangers say they have heard fans’ concerns about being priced out of the Rangers’ new $1.2-billion home, which comes with a retractable roof and air conditioning.
With dynamic pricing, in which ticket costs can fluctuate from game to game and section to section, the Rangers can’t yet lay a percentage on how high prices will jump overall from last season at Globe Life Park.
The club, though, firmly believes that a family will still be able to afford to come to a Rangers game.
“Less than 10 percent of our inventory is premium, so that leaves a lot of inventory for folks to come out and watch baseball,” executive vice president Joe Januszewski said. “Affordability is a huge part of our model. It’s very important to us. We’re not going away from that.”
He said full-season equivalent sales have increased 15% from last season, the final at Globe Life Park. That figure doesn’t include 20-game packages, which the Rangers begin selling their 20-game packages at 10 a.m. Monday (texasrangers.com/tickets or 972-RANGERS).
There are three levels of the 20-game package, with the MVP package assuring fans a ticket for the inaugural game at Globe Life Field on March 31.
Prices for the 20-game packages start at $18 per ticket.
Individual tickets will go on sale in early March, and a $9 seat will be available. There are tickets that will cost more than $100 a game, Januszewski said, but those seats are the exception rather than the norm.
“People have been concerned, based scuttlebutt that ‘Now that they have fewer seats and they’ve got to pay for this thing, we’re all going to be priced out,’” Januszewski said. “That could not be further from the truth.
“Do we have really high-end premium offerings? Absolutely, and we’re bringing to bear the elements of the value to justify that to those who want that kind of experience.
“But for those who just want come out and eat a hot dog and have a soda and see top-flight baseball and be comfortable and not worry about getting heat stroke, guess what? You can do that and you can still bring a family of four out here and you can still do it for significantly less than $100.”
Globe Life Field capacity will drop by some 8,000 seats from the 48,000 at Globe Life Park, which had 126 suites on two levels. Globe Life Field will have fewer than 100 suites, and they will be on the same lower level.
The sales staff has been focused on premium tickets because there wasn’t much of it at Globe Life Park. The Rangers are down to fewer than 10 of their 71 long-term suites, which require a multi-year contract.
They continue to work on selling from a pool of 2,200 premium seats with access to five clubs and certain amenities (parking, food, alcohol) included. They had 80 of those seats at Globe Life Park.
“That’s a heavy lift,” Januszewski said. “They’re all season tickets, and they all have terms from two years to 10 years. They have some inclusive element. We have a customized offering based on the club you pick, and the clubs are tied to certain parts of the ballpark.”
The 20-game offerings might also make for heavy lifting in response to the Comerica Peek at the Park last weekend. While players were brought in to sign autographs, the purpose of the event was to fuel ticket sales.
After seeing the long lines to catch a glimpse inside Globe Life Field and hearing from fans, Januszewski said there is a heightened energy in the fan base.
“The most powerful sales tool is actually allowing people to see how incredible Globe Life Field is and is going to be,” he said. “It gives people something to look, see and feel. This is imminent.”
