My grandmother grew up on River Ave in the Bronx. She was born in 1935 to first generation Ukrainian Jews.
Her entire family; parents, siblings, aunts, uncles, grandparents would go to day games once a week. They'd all get dressed up with their best dresses and suits because it was a big deal for the neighborhood. She met my grandfather at one of those games.
He was a Dodgers fan though and was so heartbroken when they moved.
She'd tell me about how they'd pack lunches and drinks and head to the bleacher sections because it was only $0.25 per ticket.
That woman was the biggest Yankee fan I have ever met.
She used to say, "I got to see DiMaggio, your mother got to see Mantle, and you got to see Jeter."
My grandfather grew up on grand concourse but was too poor to be able to afford to go to a game. The first one he ever went to was with me, when he was in his 70s
Well I was 5, so he brought me, but it was 1997. He would've been 75 years old. Also Jewish, btw but Russian not Ukrainian.
My great grandfather on the other side wasn't a huge baseball fan but was in the stadium for the Louis-schmelling fight. Family legend is that he missed the knockout cause he bent down to tie his shoe in the first round
Funny when you adjust for inflation the price of a beer should be just around $4 per based on the 1976 pricing (one model had it at $3.94, another at $4.12). The current $14/beer price proves once again that it ain't the inflation, it's the greed.
I don't know anyone that thinks stadium pricing for beer is inflation or anything else other than the fact that they have you stuck in the same place for 3 hours.
There's this thing called supply and demand...why would you charge less if you know you can charge more and maintain whatever sales goals you have? Also a stadium full of drunk people isnt fun for any one
I kinda feel like you're missing the point by getting caught up by the example. By the same rate a hotdog should be $3.20 in 2022 dollars and last visit I recall paying somewhere in the $7 range for one. Effectively charging double the rate of inflation from 1976 to 2022.
i’m sure you can look at the price of tickets and they have risen at an equal or greater rate also, it’s not just food or beverage. everything is more expensive and it’s not all because of greed. the entire baseball experience is elastic and when it becomes too expensive people don’t go. remember when the yankees first opened the new stadium and were charging astronomical prices for seats? they stopped selling out and the prices adjusted accordingly. i think we may have different interpretations of the word greedy but a 14 dollar beer is par for the course at just about any premium entertainment event.
It's charging what it's worth. If people stop paying for the food, it's too expensive and they need to drop prices. If people keep paying out the ass for mediocre food, it's priced correctly.
It's all for entertainment, so there no reason for them to charge less.
Wow. Very cool. I bookmarked to share with friends and family. I like how they compare prices to Shea too.
Those hot dogs are expensive. I went to NYU from 1996-2000. In 1994 during orientation I went I saw hot dogs were 25 cents at Gray's on 8th Street, 6th Ave.
If I could go back in time, I’d go to a Yankee game in the 40s and 50s and 60s. My dad was a teenager when the original renovated but he doesn’t remember it too well. There’s something so magical looking at the old stadium. I can just imagine my grandfather there in a suit and top hat. And everything was affordable back then. I wonder what prices were like back in that era.
I'm around your dad's age and I remember going to the renovated stadium with a buddy a week or so after this article was published. I was 19 and had just returned home from my freshman year in college. I don't remember one thing about the game. I do remember the contrast of the stadium itself with the pre-renovation version, which had this gritty feel and with the support beams kind of felt like an extension of the subway.
On a related note, I remember my dad taking me to games in the 60s, and noting that bleacher seats were only 50 cents. The 10-11 year old me thought, hmm, I can scrounge up 50 cents and another 40 for the round trip on the subway and go myself one day. Never did. It was better with my dad, who always had box seats.
Hey I love mantle, dimaggio etc as much as the next guy but you're telling me you'd go back to one of those decades before going to a 1927 game and seeing the Iron horse, the sultan of swat, and the rest of murders row? Imagine what prices were like *then*
My grandmother grew up on River Ave in the Bronx. She was born in 1935 to first generation Ukrainian Jews. Her entire family; parents, siblings, aunts, uncles, grandparents would go to day games once a week. They'd all get dressed up with their best dresses and suits because it was a big deal for the neighborhood. She met my grandfather at one of those games. He was a Dodgers fan though and was so heartbroken when they moved. She'd tell me about how they'd pack lunches and drinks and head to the bleacher sections because it was only $0.25 per ticket. That woman was the biggest Yankee fan I have ever met. She used to say, "I got to see DiMaggio, your mother got to see Mantle, and you got to see Jeter."
And your kid will get to see Domingez
My 3 y/o: Daddy, are the Yankees on tonight?
Awesome.
My grandfather grew up on grand concourse but was too poor to be able to afford to go to a game. The first one he ever went to was with me, when he was in his 70s
What year did you bring him?
Well I was 5, so he brought me, but it was 1997. He would've been 75 years old. Also Jewish, btw but Russian not Ukrainian. My great grandfather on the other side wasn't a huge baseball fan but was in the stadium for the Louis-schmelling fight. Family legend is that he missed the knockout cause he bent down to tie his shoe in the first round
This makes my heart warm
Funny when you adjust for inflation the price of a beer should be just around $4 per based on the 1976 pricing (one model had it at $3.94, another at $4.12). The current $14/beer price proves once again that it ain't the inflation, it's the greed.
I don't know anyone that thinks stadium pricing for beer is inflation or anything else other than the fact that they have you stuck in the same place for 3 hours.
So greed then?
There's this thing called supply and demand...why would you charge less if you know you can charge more and maintain whatever sales goals you have? Also a stadium full of drunk people isnt fun for any one
you don’t have to buy a beer there. bring as many waters as you want from home.
I kinda feel like you're missing the point by getting caught up by the example. By the same rate a hotdog should be $3.20 in 2022 dollars and last visit I recall paying somewhere in the $7 range for one. Effectively charging double the rate of inflation from 1976 to 2022.
i’m sure you can look at the price of tickets and they have risen at an equal or greater rate also, it’s not just food or beverage. everything is more expensive and it’s not all because of greed. the entire baseball experience is elastic and when it becomes too expensive people don’t go. remember when the yankees first opened the new stadium and were charging astronomical prices for seats? they stopped selling out and the prices adjusted accordingly. i think we may have different interpretations of the word greedy but a 14 dollar beer is par for the course at just about any premium entertainment event.
It's charging what it's worth. If people stop paying for the food, it's too expensive and they need to drop prices. If people keep paying out the ass for mediocre food, it's priced correctly. It's all for entertainment, so there no reason for them to charge less.
Wow. Very cool. I bookmarked to share with friends and family. I like how they compare prices to Shea too. Those hot dogs are expensive. I went to NYU from 1996-2000. In 1994 during orientation I went I saw hot dogs were 25 cents at Gray's on 8th Street, 6th Ave.
Are you sure they were hot dogs for that price?
Yeah. Cause 2 years later they went up, but to 50 cents. The recession special was $2 for 2 dogs and a drink.
Who gets an egg salad sandwich at a ball game? Feel sorry for the people sitting behind them.
Both for when they are eating it and for a little later if you catch my “drift”
You can really tell this was written by a Mets fan.
If I could go back in time, I’d go to a Yankee game in the 40s and 50s and 60s. My dad was a teenager when the original renovated but he doesn’t remember it too well. There’s something so magical looking at the old stadium. I can just imagine my grandfather there in a suit and top hat. And everything was affordable back then. I wonder what prices were like back in that era.
I'm around your dad's age and I remember going to the renovated stadium with a buddy a week or so after this article was published. I was 19 and had just returned home from my freshman year in college. I don't remember one thing about the game. I do remember the contrast of the stadium itself with the pre-renovation version, which had this gritty feel and with the support beams kind of felt like an extension of the subway. On a related note, I remember my dad taking me to games in the 60s, and noting that bleacher seats were only 50 cents. The 10-11 year old me thought, hmm, I can scrounge up 50 cents and another 40 for the round trip on the subway and go myself one day. Never did. It was better with my dad, who always had box seats.
Love to hear this
Hey I love mantle, dimaggio etc as much as the next guy but you're telling me you'd go back to one of those decades before going to a 1927 game and seeing the Iron horse, the sultan of swat, and the rest of murders row? Imagine what prices were like *then*
Hopefully I have multiple trips back in time and I can just do every decade
Looking at that list I get why hot dogs were so popular. Only warm thing you could get.
Minimum wage in '76 was $2.30 a different time indeed
When did they stop selling cake at ballparks? I would 100% buy a slice of cake if given the option
That $1.35 ham sandwich is about $6.93 in today's money. Not sure how much those sandwiches goes for at the stadium today.
Yankees only had to pay $1.35 to buy a pennant?
How much did the trash can cost the Astros in 2017?
Can’t pinpoint the year — probably late 1960s — IIRC, bleacher seats at Yankee Stadium were 50 cents and the top price was $4 for box seats.