Here comes the pitch, bargain-hungry baseball fans: Ticket-reselling sites are blooming with cut-rate deals for the regular season. Forget spring training; the games don't count. Seize this little-known opportunity for steals that matter. Many weekday games cost less than a Big Mac. Weekend games are just a tick more in some cases.
Considering that Major League Baseball tickets averaged $26.91 last year, the dirt-cheap offerings on sites such as StubHub and TicketsNow can provide relief for the entire season.
A phenomenon we'll call Season Ticket Dumping Syndrome is at play. Fans who already paid for full-season plans are eager to recoup some of what they shelled out for each team's 81 home games, according to TicketsNow spokeswoman Jennifer Swanson. So sellers put up blocks of tickets priced to move before the games begin. (Opening Day for most teams is April 5.)
"As the season progresses and top teams are determined, supply will go down and invariably prices do go up, making the preseason a great time to plan ahead and buy," Swanson said.
Even scalpers who troll the secondary markets have a tough time inflating prices. There are simply too many MLB games. Uncertain weather in April and competition from the NBA also affect prices.
Online ticket clearinghouses can level the playing field for cash-strapped fans. "We know that we have a robust secondary market and that is powered by a robust primary market," MLB spokesman Matt Bourne said, citing the 73.4 million fans who attended MLB games last season.
Huffington Post Money took a quick look Thursday afternoon at some of the bigger markets and prominent teams on StubHub, finding great values across the country.
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