Minor League Baseball: A Family Bargain

We recently headed to Pawtucket, RI to catch a Pawtucket Red Sox game. The "PawSox" are the AAA minor league affiliate of the Boston Red Sox.

PawSox games offer a family-friendly activity at an affordable price. McCoy Stadium (renovated in 1999) is a clean, comfortable, and fun place to take in a ball game. It seats about 10,000 fans and has free parking on a first come, first serve basis ($2 for late comers).

However, the best part about attending a minor league baseball game is the bargain price. The numbers really jump out at you when you compare prices for a family of four to attend both a PawSox game and a Boston Red Sox game. The PawSox prices shown below are based on my actual costs, while the Boston Red Sox prices are based on ticket prices from RedSox.com and food, parking, and souvenir costs from an informative web site called Team Marketing Report:

Item	PawSox	Boston Red Sox
4 Box Seats	$36	(Loge Box) $340
Parking	FREE	$23
4 Hot Dogs & Sodas	(inc. chips) $20	$27
2 Baseball Caps	$20	$30
Total	$76	$420

These numbers are pretty disappointing. A family of four could attend 5 PawSox games and still spend less than the cost of attending one Boston Red Sox game (as well as the aggravation of driving into Boston). That price discrepancy is even worse considering how difficult it is to purchase Boston Red Sox tickets for face value. Unfortunately, Major League Baseball ticket prices will continue to rise as long as fans are willing to pay.

Please do yourself a favor and check out minorleaguebaseball.com to find the minor league baseball bargain in your neck of the woods. I highly recommend it!