Gimme Five
Which MLB ballpark is the best value and where does Chase Field rank?
Sports Illustrated collected detailed fan fedback on ballpark satisfaction and applied that subjective data against objective standards, like ticket prices and team W/L, to arrive at their list*
Again, it's not a list of the best ballpark "stadiums" or "experiences", but an attempt to weigh those experiences against cost to arrive at a measure of value - hence exorbitant little jewels like Fenway and Wrigley rate quite poorly.
Chase ranks in the middle of the pack, with average ticket pricing (per MLB), slightly above average access/amenities (per fans) and a below average team (per any six year old).
Is Chase really an average ballpark experience? Examine the list of teams, top to bottom. See a pattern?
( Think geography. Hint: Wrigley and Anaheim are anomalies, bucking the overerwhelming trend. )
Answer: All the worst value venues(except Wrigley) are in coastal states, and all the best values (except Anaheim) are in interior states.
There could be several reasons for this. Per capita income, cost of living and subjective expectations about pricing and team performance vary regionally. Perhaps a flaw in SI's methodology resulted in a Midwestern bias ? Or maybe red state parks really are better values? In any case, this puts Chase Field's ranking in a different light.
Among "interior state" venues, Chase ranks 12th of 15th**, ahead of only Wrigley, Minute Maid and Toronto. Obviously Wrigley, and we would assert, Toronto, are special destinations that fans expect to pay a premium for. Old Skydome is smack dab in what is arguably North America's most appealing major downtown. Houston provides a better comparison to Phoenix. Their ridiculous ticket prices($26 ave) are tempered somewhat by the Astros 2005 accomplishments. None of the other eleven "interior state" stadiums, however, rate a worse value than Chase.
Diamondhacks suggests Coors Field is the most apt comparison with our hangar. Mountain state per capita income, modern venue, lousy team. (Heck, both teams even wear purple!). The Rockies get a couple extra points for the view and having a hipper bar scene than Copper Square, but everything else scores very similarly. 
Except ticket prices. Coors seats are, on average, $5 cheaper than Chase. Every seat, out of 40-50,000 is, on average, priced five dollars higher in our toasty tin. That's mostly why the Rockies rank 2nd here and the Dbacks bring up the rear.
Diamondhacks recognizes that franchises employ different strategies within their markets to maximize profit. The clear message, however, that Coors Field provides Phoenicians is :
The Diamondbacks are not trying very hard to maximize fans.
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* hat tip on the SI Story: AZ Snakepit
** we treated the Phils and Nats as "coastal state" teams because of their East coast attributes, although a geographer could quibble with that assumption. If both were considered interior state teams, the Dbacks would have ranked 13th of 17.
I would not quibble with the Phils and the Nats being "Coastal State" teams because they are both near the Atlantic Ocean.
But I wonder how you can rate ballparks according to a fan survey, when many fans have only been to one or two parks and there are now thirty teams. I would think that a ranking system requires a comparison, and most fans have not been to enough parks to make a real comparison.
They probably can best compare old parks in their area, such as in Pittsburgh, St. Louis and S.F. with the newer parks.
They can also compare prices of ballpark tickets with other entertainments in their area. For example, it cost me $18 a night(not counting handling fees) to freeze in the wind in the bleachers at Whatever They're Calling It This Year Park in S.F. on Aug 21 and 22. (And I left early on the 22, because once Byrnesie was lifted in a double switch, I didn't want to put up with freezing anymore).
Evening showings of first run movies at my local theatre are $9, in a climate- controlled environment, and a padded chair with a back.
What do the bleachers cost at Chase, compared to the evening movies?
Kellia
Life, Baseball & the only player for whom I would brave frostbite.
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What do the bleachers cost at Chase, compared to the evening movies?
I can safely say a movie costs $9, less for a matinee. Determining the cost of a bleacher seat, however, requires some exercise. They list at $15, but that price isnt available on game day, when they cost $16. If you order online prior to gameday, there's a $2.50 "order charge" and a $2 fee to receive an automated email from which to print your tickets at home. Three more dollars are charged(per ticket), under the self evident heading of "fee". All told, that's $40.50 for two bleacher seats, or $20.25 each.
The $15 list price isnt considered fraudulent because one could, theoretically at least, make a special trip to the box office prior to gameday and buy a $15 ticket to a future game.
Of course, The Dbacks know that nobody actually does that, but the metaphysical possibility evidently keeps the attorney general off their backs.
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They list at $15, but that price isn't available on game day, when they cost $16.
Sounds like my bank, which charges $14.95 for an online credit card payment that is credited to your account the same day.
I am really convinced that baseball does not want the walk-up trade. They want 1) corporations willing to buy luxury boxes, and b) businesses and individuals willing to buy a season's ticket plan.
And they want you to buy tickets on line, where they can fee you to death, and I suspect the long term plan is to be able to lay off box office people.
Kellia
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Hopefully with decreased attendence this year the FO will try to add a little more value to the experience...
Yeah, I know, I'm not holding my breath either.
I did think the analysis by SI was a little unfair. We hear over and over again about how Chase Field has no distinguishing features except the pool... HOW ABOUT THE FACT THAT THE ENTIRE FREAKING ROOF OPENS AND CLOSES? What do they expect to see, statues of all the AZ Diamondbacks greats in the outfield? A monument park dedicated to our dozens and dozens of hall of famers? The stadium doesn't have a lot of history surrounding it because the Diamondbacks don't have a lot of history surrounding them. Also, they beat up on the sound system, which was vastly improved recently. I'm not trying to say Chase is a good value, but I do think they were a little unfair in their analysis.
Here's what they had to say in their analysis of the D-backs sister franchise, the Devil Rays: "Outside of the cigar bar and the sting-ray touch tank, the Trop doesn't have much in the way of character"
Notice a trend? 9 year old teams don't have much in the way of character, and their ballparks reflect it. I'm sure, once they've had another 20 years or so, that Chase will have just as many ridiculous and cheezy gimmicks as every other ballpark.
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"...it doesn't seem to have much to define it aside from the pool in the outfield"
David,
I agree that the editor's parting shot, above, was unfair. Or at least lazy. Like most fans, he probably didnt see the roof open, which wows most people the first time they see it. The throwback dirt lane between the mound and plate didnt warrant mention, nor did the outfield panel doors, nor the underrated rotunda wall murals, depicting the history of Arizona and sports around the world. Nor Baxter's Den, which little kids love. For a professional paid to rate a facility, it doesnt sound like he walked around much - if he was here at all.
But the fans in the survey were here. What I hear most from fans re "character" isnt so much the park's lack of distinction, but that it's distinctive in less than charming ways. Indoor baseball, no matter how you slice it, lacks a certain something. The concourse is run over by corporations hawking everything from $9 hot dogs to credit cards. Even when you're watching the game, the amount of corporate signage in view may be unprecedented in an MLB park.
I've always liked certain features of BOB, but for a century, writers have likened our stadia to cathedrals. Chase may be a temple, but thanks to the moneychangers, it's not a temple to baseball.
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While the sound system is important, as well as the ability to geta good view of the field from wherever you are sitting, the so-called distinguishing features of a ball park should be things that affect the playing of the game itself.
Why, for example, do the Astros have that ridiculous hill in CF?
Pools, murals, corporate signage and monument parks should not be the distinguishing features by which a ballpark is known!
But then I'm old-fashioned enough to go to a ballpark to watch a ballgame, not to build a bear.
Kellia
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"Pools, murals, corporate signage and monument parks should not be the distinguishing features by which a ballpark is known!"
I'm surprised you lumped historic murals and monument parks in with swimming pools and signage. I have no use for the latter, but the former, it seems to me, add a unique sense of place to each facility.
I dont know the full story behind the Astros CF hill, but it's called "Tal's Hill" after exec Tal Smith. I applaud the subtle incorporation of the game's past into the newer parks, but generally feel most of the new parks overdo it. I dont have a strong opinion about the hill one way or another.
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