The Cubs are raising ticket prices–again.
In a letter sent to season ticket-holders this week, the Cubs announced a price hike that will boost the cost of almost every seat at Wrigley Field.
Bleacher tickets will rise from $20 to $24, terrace and upper-deck boxes go from $23 to $26 and some club boxes will surge from $30 to $36.
The Cubs also raised prices after the 2000 season. Before then bleacher tickets cost $15 and club boxes went for $25. That’s a 60 percent increase for the bleachers and a 44 percent increase for the club boxes over two seasons.
In the letter announcing the new prices, the Cubs said that despite drawing 2.8 million fans this past season, the team finished 13th out of 30 major-league teams in overall attendance. It also said that the team’s average ticket price ranked 11th “despite our small seating capacity.”
It certainly won’t rank 11th next year.
“We have decided to rescale our ticket prices to more accurately reflect demand and proximity consistent with other stadiums,” director of ticket operations Frank Maloney wrote in the letter.
The Cubs included maps and pricing plans of eight other ballparks, including Yankee Stadium, Fenway Park and Pacific Bell Park.
Most bleacher seats at Pac Bell sell for $10, but the Giants’ new ballpark is inundated with advertising. Top box seats at Yankee Stadium go from $37 to $65, but bleacher tickets cost only $8.
Fenway Park, with baseball’s smallest capacity of 33,991, charges $18 and $20 for bleacher seats. Wrigley Field holds 39,059.
The least expensive seats remain upper-deck reserved, which will increase to $12 from $10.
As was the case in previous years, the Cubs will offer half-price tickets on seven “value dates.” Those are weekday (excluding Friday) afternoon games from April 9 to May 23.
– The Cubs acquired infielder Ivanon Coffie (first name pronounced EE-vah-nahn) from Baltimore on Friday for a player to be named.
Coffie, who plays third base and shortstop, hit .267 with eight homers and 35 RBIs in 56 games for the Orioles’ Triple-A team in Rochester.
He missed nearly three months after fracturing his right index finger in April.
Coffie, a 24-year-old left-handed hitter and native of Curacao, batted .213 during a 23-game stint in the majors in 2000.
– The Cubs are to begin their spring schedule Feb. 28 against San Francisco and conclude with a pair of exhibition games against Arizona March 29-30 at Bank One Ballpark in Phoenix.
Cubs ticket prices
%% SECTION `02 `01 `00
Club box $32-36 30 25
Field box $30-32 30 25
Terrace box $26 23 20
Upper deck box $26 23 20
Terrrace rservd $20 18 16
Upper deck rservd $12 10 10
Bleachers $24 20 15
%%
