Two of Major League Baseball’s most storied franchises—the New York Yankees and Los Angeles Dodgers—are meeting in the World Series for the first time in 43 years, and it’s a hot ticket in both glitzy cities.
As of Oct. 23, the cheapest seats for Game 1 at Dodgers Stadium are around $1,000 each on StubHub. Tickets behind home plate are selling for more than $13,000.
The price of admission is expensive when the series returns to New York for Game 3, with the cheapest seats costing more than $1,200 each at Yankee Stadium.
The games will not only attract the teams’ biggest fans but also celebrities across all platforms of entertainment.
“A Yankees versus Dodgers World Series is the marquee matchup for Major League Baseball,” Marty Conway, an adjunct professor of sports industry management at Georgetown University, told The Epoch Times. “It’s been more than 40 years since they have met in the postseason, and these two teams have two of the top three payrolls in baseball. The anticipation is at its peak for fans.
“Baseball fans are expecting to see what could be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to see a player in Shohei Ohtani, who could possibly be the biggest global superstar the game has ever had, playing on the sport’s biggest stage.”
The Yankees and Dodgers represent the biggest media markets in the United States and were also the best in Major League Baseball in the regular season.
New York has the best record in the league and finished at 94–68. The Yankees also rolled through the playoffs, beating the Kansas City Royals in the ALDS three games to one and eliminating the Cleveland Guardian in the ALCS four games to one.
Los Angeles had the best record in the National League, finishing at 98–64. The Dodgers were equally impressive in the postseason, dispatching the San Diego Padres three games to two in the NLDS and knocking off the New York Mets four games to two in the NLCS.
The Yankees have the star power led by MVP candidate Aaron Judge, who batted .322 and led the league with 58 home runs and 144 RBIs in the regular season.
New York also has another superstar in fellow outfielder Juan Soto, who batted .288 with 41 home runs, 109 RBIs, and a .989 OPS during the regular season. Soto has also been among the Yankees’ best players in the playoffs.
Both Judge and Soto are nominees for the Hank Aaron Award, which goes to the best offensive player in each league during the regular season.
The Yankees are expecting a tough battle against Los Angeles.
“You think of the success of these two franchises, that it’s now been 43 years is remarkable,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said at his World Series press conference on Oct. 22. “I know well and good how hard it is to get to this point. So we’re excited about it. We’ll be ready for it. And just looking forward to hopefully a great series.”
While the Yankees have a star-studded lineup, the Dodgers have one of the best players in perhaps MLB history: Shohei Ohtani.
Ohtani, a pitcher and outfielder, became the first player in league history to have 50 home runs and 50 steals in a single season.
“He hits for average, he hits for power, the speed,” Judge said about Othani at a press conference. “Doing what he did this year with the 50 stolen bases, it got talked about a lot, but I don’t think it got talked about enough. He’s an impressive, impressive athlete, the best player in the game, and what an ambassador for this sport.”
Ohtani and third baseman Max Muncy set a franchise record by reaching base safely 17 times in the NLCS against the Mets. In addition to Ohtani and Muncy, Dodgers outfielder/infielder Mookie Betts and first baseman Freddie Freeman are former league MVPs.
Outfielder Teoscar Hernández batted .272 with 33 home runs over the regular season and was a starter in this year’s All-Star Game.
The Dodgers beat the Yankees four games to two when they last met in a World Series in 1981.
“This is going to be a great World Series,” Los Angeles manager Dave Roberts said in a postgame interview when the Dodgers eliminated the Mets on Oct. 21. “This is what the baseball world wanted.”
The baseball world is also willing to pay high prices to see the action. Ticket prices are expected to rise if the series is competitive and goes the distance.
“In terms of secondary market prices for the least expensive ticket, this isn’t surprising considering the collection of star players in this series: Judge, Soto, Stanton, Ohtani, Betts, Freeman, and others,” Conway said.
“I would anticipate that the market for these tickets goes far beyond New York or LA—and that is driving prices higher and higher ahead of the series.”
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