Ticket prices are soaring on the secondary market for Braves spring training games as a result of reduced capacity at CoolToday Park in North Port, Fla.
The average secondary-market list price for tickets to the Braves’ 14 home exhibition games currently is $114, up 119% from an average of $52 a year ago, according to data provided Thursday by Jesse Lawrence, founder of ticket search-engine TicketIQ.
The Braves are scheduled to play their first Grapefruit League home game of the year Tuesday against the Minnesota Twins, and prices for tickets to that game range from $50 to $235 on reseller StubHub (as of Thursday afternoon). Prices were similar at several other resale sites.
The Braves have said they plan to limit the seating capacity of CoolToday Park to about 1,800. That’s 22.5% of the stadium’s full capacity of 8,000 and will allow for at least six feet of distance between pods of occupied seats amid the continuing coronavirus pandemic.
Before Tuesday’s first home game, the Braves will open their Grapefruit League schedule with two road games, playing the Tampa Bay Rays in Port Charlotte, Fla., on Sunday and the Boston Red Sox in Fort Myers on Monday.
Across the Braves’ home spring training schedule, the “get-in price” on the secondary market – the cheapest available ticket for each game -- ranged as of Thursday from $24 to $90, depending on date and opponent, TicketIQ’s Lawrence said.
Another ticket resale marketplace, Gametime, said the average price on its site for Braves exhibition games through March 15 is $175.13 (as of Thursday afternoon).
Secondary-market prices can fluctuate frequently.
Few spring training tickets have been available to the general public directly from the Braves this year because most seats in the limited-capacity configuration went to the team’s Grapefruit League season ticket holders. On Thursday, the Braves’ official tickets website showed all 14 home exhibition games as “sold out now,” and fans were advised to “check back soon.” The Braves have said they may be able to make more tickets available to the public if players don’t use their full allotments for games.
