MLB Baseball Playoff tickets on sale Sept. 19
BY JON PAUL MOROSIFREE PRESS SPORTS WRITER
August 23, 2006
On Sept. 19, the Tigers will play the second game of a late-season series at Chicago's U.S. Cellular Field. They may have a comfortable lead by then. They also could be in the midst of a tight Central Division race.
Either way, at 10 that morning, the Comerica Park box office will begin selling tickets to the American League Division Series. Tickets also will be available at Tigers.com after 2 p.m. that day. Given the limited availability, fans may purchase tickets for only one ALDS game. There is also a six-ticket limit per customer.
This sale, to the general public, is separate from the offer to season-ticket holders, who, in nearly all cases, will be able to retain their seats for the postseason at an increased price.
The Tigers announced the public sale date in a Tuesday news release, which they described as "standard operating procedure" for teams in contention for postseason berths.
ALDS tickets will range from $35 to $110, the team said. According to pricing plans obtained by the Free Press, prices would increase to $75-$150 for the AL Championship Series, and $90-$250 for the World Series. For World Series games, 13 of the 14 seating categories would have a face value of $175 or more.
Duane McLean, the team's senior vice president for business operations, said the team's postseason prices "are competitive, relative to the other three major sports teams here."
The Red Wings, who play in an arena (Joe Louis Arena) with roughly half Comerica's capacity, would have charged between $135 and $450 for tickets to the Stanley Cup finals, had they made it there.
Prices for earlier rounds of the Stanley Cup playoffs were similar to those found in the ALDS and ALCS.
The Pistons, meanwhile, offered a limited number of tickets for less than $20 in all three playoff rounds this spring.
The secondary marketplace for postseason baseball tickets would be very active. Richard Roth, a broker with Farmington Hills-based MAR Tickets, said ALDS tickets could climb to $400-$500. Sean Pate, a spokesman for StubHub.com, said last week he expected rates in Detroit to be similar to averages found last season in Chicago: $166 for the ALDS, $305 for the ALCS and $1,421 for the World Series.
If the Tigers win the AL Central, the first two games of the ALDS would be at Comerica Park on Oct. 3 and 4. An if-necessary Game 5 would be scheduled for Oct. 8.
Tickets are sold in strips only. Strips for season-ticket holders consist of all 11 potential home games and a tiebreaker game. Here are per-game prices for the AL Divisional Series, AL Championship Series, World Series and total price. (Note: Tickets for a tiebreaker game, if needed, would be the same as the regular-season prices shown below; totals include service fees.)



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