In yet another move that feels designed to tick off long time fans while boosting the returns for short term investors, the San Francisco Giants announced this morning that effective this season, fans ages 17 and under will no longer be permitted to attend games at Oracle Park. Yes, the move is surprising, because Baseball is a kids’ game and the sport has always been a draw for families, but some stark market realities have influenced the decision.
On the condition of anonymity, I exchanged some texts with an unnamed exec in the Giants front office, who had this to say about the move:
The biggest complaint we receive every year is that families are struggling to afford attending games, between our FMV [fair market value] tix, concessions, and parking.