A's Top Los Angeles Dodgers, 28 Other Teams, in Median Ticket Price

Jun 29, 2023; Oakland, California, USA; An Oakland Athletics hat on top of a glove during the eighth inning at Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum. Mandatory Credit: Kelley L Cox-Imagn Images | Kelley L Cox-Imagn Images

When the Athletics announced their temporary relocation to West Sacramento to play in a minor-league ballpark for the next three or four seasons, owner John Fisher said that Sutter Health Park would be the "most intimate" ballpark in the big leagues.

Sutter Health holds 14,000 fans on any given day, with a couple thousand of those seats being located on the grass beyond the right field fence.

Since the A's will be offering 81 intimate evenings of Major League Baseball, they're also making sure they charge like you're seeing Prince at the DNA Lounge.

According to Bob Nightengale, the A's median ticket price, which is $181, ranks tops in the sport. Yes, higher than the Los Angeles Dodgers, who also employ Shohei Ohtani and 26 of the best players in baseball. The boys in blue are a bargain by comparison at $177. They're also the defending World Series champions.

The most expensive median ticket prices for the upcoming season are the Athletics ($181), who play this season in West Sacramento at 14,000-seat Suter Health Park, while the Tampa Bay Rays ($146) rank third playing in the Yankees' minor-league ballpark at George M. Steinbrenner…

— Bob Nightengale (@BNightengale) March 17, 2025

The big reason for the A's being atop this leaderboard is that there are just fewer seats available, and fewer defined sections than at a big-league ballpark, meaning that most of their tickets are going to cost roughly the same amount. It's also important to note that this isn't the average ticket price, but the median.

Nightengale also notes that the Tampa Bay Rays, who will also be playing in a minor-league park in 2025, rank third on the list behind the A's and Dodgers. The Rays median ticket price came out to $146.

It will be interesting to see how this trend continues with the A's moving forward into years two and three in Sacramento. If the team gets their way, they'll be opening up a new ballpark in Las Vegas for the 2028 MLB season, and by the time next year rolls around, there should be some definite plans in place one way or another.

With the A's headed out the door, would they lower the prices a bit? The newness of the team being in town will have also worn off by that point. Then again, this is a young and exciting team for those that will be paying attention. Yet, not everyone will have the chance to see them on national tv.

2025 nationally televised/streamed games by team pic.twitter.com/rq5fMEnjF6

— BrooksGate (@Brooks_Gate) March 15, 2025

In fact, nobody will see them on national TV. The A's and Chicago White Sox are the only two clubs to have no nationally televised or streamed games planned for the 2025 season. Even the Miami Marlins got one, and the Colorado Rockies have two!

The Rays, who will also be playing in a minor-league facility, have five. Granted, they play in the AL East with the New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox, two teams that are on the national broadcasts a lot more. Those games may also be broadcast in New York and Boston instead of from Steinbrenner Field.

While it makes sense that the A's and Rays are at the top of the leaderboard when it comes to both the setting (and lack of tickets available), and math, it does seem as though the A's may have gone a little too high with their ticketing strategy in terms of making going to a ballgame family friendly.

That said, the determining factor for the team will be whether or not they end up selling all of the tickets they have available. If they do, they they hit their target for the season.