In an effort to bring fans back to U.S. Cellular Field, the Chicago White Sox are in the process of reducing ticket prices for the 2013 season.
More than 87 percent of all full season-ticket prices for the 2013 season will either drop or stay the same. More than 54 percent of the full season tickets will decrease in price by an average of 26 percent.
The cost of parking will drop to $20, a decrease ranging from $3-$5.
"This was the first step of many things we need to do," said Brooks Boyer, the Sox's senior vice president of sales and marketing, noting that the economic climate over the past four to five years has changed people's habits.
The bleacher and outfield reserve sections will receive the biggest drop in price, by 32 and 30 percent, respectively, for full season tickets.
Full season tickets in the upper reserved section will be available for as low as $810 per seat, and split season plans will be as cheap as $297 per seat.
All 27-game plans will decrease by an average of more than 25 percent.
These details were released as the Sox are in the process of contacting season-ticket holders this week and comes after the Sox failed to reach the 2 million mark in home attendance for the first time since 2004.
"We had to sit back and listen," Boyer said. "We don't have the answers."
Corner seats in the lower deck will be available for $20 on a daily basis, and upper-deck seats will be available for $7 for every game but opening day and the two home games against the Cubs.
The season-ticket holders who will have a price increase will be contacted personally by the team.
The Sox commissioned a comprehensive research project by Rich Luker, who helped review Sox fans' sentiments on several issues, including ticket prices and other factors affecting fans' decisions on whether to attend Sox games.
Luker is the creator of The ESPN Sports Poll, author of "Simple Community," and the Up Next columnist for the Sports Business Journal.
Boyer said he received about 400 pages of comments from fans who participated in a survey about attending games at U.S. Cellular Field.
The biggest issue involved parking prices.
"In my nine years (with the Sox), I never saw a groundswell of complaints about the parking prices (like this)," Boyer said. "It reached a tipping point."
The Sox will be challenged next year when the CTA Red Line closes in May for repairs. Boyer said the lowering of parking prices serves as an option, as well as the CTA Green Line that has a stop only a block away from the Red Line near U.S. Cellular.
Boyer also hopes that fans commuting from the south will consider the Metra train option.
"We're looking at everything," Boyer said. "From the broadcasts to the in-game entertainment. I'm really fired up."
