White Sox season ticket holders got their invoices for 2011 within the last week. And according to Ed Sherman at Crain's Chicago Business, the increases are about in line with what the Sox have done in recent years. Sherman writes:
↵↵I have a friend who has seat lower deck seats between the bases for 81 games. He said his seats went up 2.5 % or an average increase of $1.11 per game.↵↵↵↵Another friend with a 27-game plan said the increase for his seats was 5 %. That's due in part to the number of higher-priced premium games (Cubs, Yankees, Twins, etc.) in the package. ↵
↵Brooks Boyer, vice-president and chief marketing officer for the Sox, said: "Our pricing philosophy is the same as it has been for the last several years. No signficiant jumps, just small incremental increases ($1 or $2) each in season and individual game ticket prices."
That sounds OK, but check out this cautionary tale:
↵↵Mr. Boyer said the Sox haven't set prices for the three-game series against the Cubs at U.S. Cellular Field. Last year, the Sox decided to set their prices comparable to what the Cubs charge for the Sox games at Wrigley Field.↵↵↵↵If the Sox do follow suit, get ready for the $72 outfield seat at U.S. Cellular. That's what it will cost you to sit in the bleachers for Cubs-Sox games at Wrigley Field.
Actually, it'll cost you more than $72 to sit in the bleachers for those Wrigley games. The $72 price announced by the Cubs recently doesn't include taxes -- the real price of those "$72" seats is $81, more if you buy them online and pay tickets.com fees.
↵↵Last year, it cost $59 to sit in the bleachers for Cubs/White Sox games at the Cell. The Deep Dish figures that will go up, as Brooks Boyer said, by about a dollar or two.