Finally, the Cubs Are Best at Something

The Cubs have stated before that they believe their tickets are recession-proof and they are doing their best to prove it to the world by pricing them higher than any other team in baseball.

Paul Sullivan reported yesterday:

Despite the sluggish economy and a disappointing 2009 season, the Cubs now have the highest average annual ticket price in major-league baseball at $52.56, according to an analysis by Team Marketing Report.

The Cubs barely edged the Red Sox ($52.32) and the Yankees ($51.83), while the White Sox rank fourth at $38.65.

I'm not sure how the averages were done, but what may have pushed them over the top was their reverse sale where they added 20% to ticket prices if you wanted to buy them the week before they went on sale for the printed face value.  But however it happened, they have elbowed past the Red Sox, who have traditionally led the league in recent years, and the Yankees, who sold some individual seats for $2,700 each last year. So that's almost like winning the World Series, right?

I'm sure the Cubs have to be pleased with the timing of this news as they have managed to stumble out of the gate with two very horrible losses that have done nothing to give people much optimism for the rest of the year (unless Twitter had ruined our optimism already).  People have to be asking themselves what they get for these most expensive seats in all of baseball.
 
Well, I got a "thank you" for the first time in twelve years.  That was nice.  Though maybe I would rather have a rude guy and cheaper tickets.  But there is no going back now.  These tickets are super-expensive and at least we are getting thanked for handing over these large piles of money.  So there is that.
 
Also, Sullivan mentioned later that Wrigley will be featuring giant photos of players and Lou Piniella hanging on the exterior of Wrigley.
 
The 19-foot-by-14-foot photos of Alfonso Soriano, Carlos Zambrano, Derrek Lee, Carlos Marmol, Aramis Ramirez, Ryan Dempster, Ted Lilly and manager Lou Piniella will flank the historic marquis at Clark and Addison streets for the opening week as part of the Cubs' new marketing slogan: "It's a Way of Life."
 
"It is a way of life, and everyone has unique memories of coming to Wrigley Field, and we wanted to capture that," said Wally Hayward, the Cubs' executive vice-president for sales and marketing.
 
That is true.  I have several unique memories of my games at Wrigley Field.  There was my first game when I was seven when I learned from the drunk guy in front of me that Dave Kingman was "worthless."  The Cubs lost that one 7-0.
 
There was the one where a foul ball changed the life of a dude who happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.  The Cubs lost that one 8-3.  They lost the next night too while I was there.
 
Now that I think about it, most of the memories seem to involve losing.
 
But the game on the field is not important in this new era of increased revenue streams.  Wrigley is a place of wonder.  It is a place where people can forget about their everyday cares and worries by experiencing baseball as it was intended (with a few well-placed advertisements thrown in).  You have to expect to pay pretty good money for that.
 
And you will.