Arizona Gets An "F"

Arizona received an ""F" for economic prosperity from the Corporation for Enterprise Development, joining Louisiana, Texas, Arkansas and Nevada at the bottom of the national class. We mention this with regard to Diamondback ticket prices and how the club has marketed itself in the Valley recently.

Team strategy in this rather dreary economic market, as repeatedly voiced by President Derrick Hall, has been to claim baseball's "lowest ticket prices" without actually delivering on that promise.

According to the 2006 TMR, Diamondback prices rank 18th, slightly lower than MLB average. What's more, the TMR reflects season ticket prices and doesnt account for a) single game price differentials or b) "premium" game price differentials - both of which the Diamondbacks exploit to unusual advantage by MLB standards.  For example, almost a fourth of the Diamondbacks home schedule (20 games) are designated "premium" games.

Contrast that with the number of "premium" games hiked elsewhere within the division:

Colorado 14

San Francisco 13

San Diego 8

Los Angeles 0

That's certainly not to say tickets in the lucrative LA market are cheaper overall, but merely to point out costs hidden from the TMR rankings, above. An even greater hidden cost is single game differentials (the premium over season ticket price that single game buyers pay) . It's harder to get a quantitative handle on that because each section in each stadium is different, but a quick eyeball of the Chase seating chart reflects some enormous differentials.

In the middle deck, single game purchasers pay between 25% to 78% more than season ticket holders. My old seats in Section 118, within one of the largest seating area pricepoints, tack on a 61% differential. It bears mentioning that the largest seating area in the entire ballpark (the huge red upper deck area on the map) also sports the largest price differential - a ******** 87% - considerably more in real terms after various single game online fees. Lower differentials can be found in the bleachers (25%) and the $5 area (0%), but a look around MLB's various club ticket portals show Chase differentials to be among the highest in baseball.

All this to say, that in real pocketbook terms, Diamondback baseball tickets are somewhere around the MLB average, perhaps even a little higher. In one of only five states with an "F" prosperity rating. Some might say that metro statistics would be more relevant than state stats here and they'd be right - but keep in mind that most of Arizona's population resides in Maricopa County and Greater Phoenix Metro - the primary catchment area for Diamondback ticket buyers - unlike Texas or California, whose massive, dispersed populations influence their state economic ratings more than one metro area.  Besides, Phoenix has the lowest personal income of any MLB city, slightly below Tampa, and far behind many MLB cities. Louisiana, Arkansas and Nevada pretty much speak for themselves.

The Diamondbacks can charge whatever they want for tickets. But their endless list of excuses for their astonishingly low attendance (given a surging first place team), is a steady source of amusement. At least here. The fans dont understand baseball. The fan base is transient. The fans dont understand the team is good and in first place. School is in session. We're doing everything we can to get fans to the ballpark. Blah, blah, blah.

Economic prosperity isnt the only thing in Arizona that deserves an "F".