Baseball History, Business of Baseball, Callum, Canadian Baseball, Toronto Blue Jays

500 level seats cheaper than they were 10+ years ago

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The seating chart taken above was scanned from a 1996 issue of “SCOREBOOK” – the official magazine of the Toronto Blue Jays.  It clearly defines the ticket prices for all sections.

Below is the seating chart taken today, with clearly defined ticket prices for all sections:


As you can see, if you wanted to sit in the 500 level behind home plate in 1996, it would cost you $18 1996 dollars. 14 years later, you can sit in those same seats for $14.00, or as little as $11.00 for a non-premium game.

True, field level seats have increased by $30-$50, but the team has not forgotten the value-minded fan.  It costs less to take your family to the ballgame today (if you sit in the 500s) than it did 14 years ago.  You can’t ask for much more than that.

Actually you can.  Check out the ticket prices from the original Exhibition Stadium in 1988:

You could press your nose up against the screen directly behind home plate for only $15.  What a deal!

Callum Hughson
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has written for Mopupduty.com since 2006. Follow Callum on Twitter, LinkedIn and Instagram (@callumhughson)

  • And in the Exhibition Stadium days, if your mom did her grocery shopping at Dominion, you could get the $4 bleacher tickets for $2.

    • A ticket to a Jays game also included admission to the Ex when it was on!

  • Greg E

    Is anybody else’s mind blown that you could get tickets directly behind home plate for only 23 bucks?

    I get the feeling they weren’t maximizing their revenue back then.

  • Early

    I remember these tickets that are now $73 going for $23. It is really crazy to think of that now.

    Even with the Jays drawing 1.5 million instead of 4 million I am jumping to the conclusion that they are making more from ticket revenue now.

    Having the Jays as an attraction to the CNE was a really special and unique situation. Other than cheap tickets it is the thing missed most with the move to the RC.

  • MK

    Those Dominion tickets were lifesavers. We lived at Gladstone & Queen and with a large family we bought a ton of those tix (which were $1 IIRC and you could buy as many as you wanted with a $20 purchase). We had our seats in the grandstand, first section, first row below the entrance. There were rarely a lot of people there. Yes, it wasn’t close but it was an awesome way for us to see a lot of baseball.

  • Tight_PP

    I like how they valued the Upperdeck infield the same as 100 level outfield.

    Good thing they arn’t charging $24/$36 for Upper Deck seats, but those outfield tickets are still a deal at $24 up from $18.