John Allen, Reds chief operating officer, was asked to pick the best seat for the money at Great American Ball Park. He pointed to a seat in the first row of Section 418. It's in the upper deck, next to the signature “Notch,” along the third-base line.

Ticket prices in the new Reds ballpark provide something for everyone. (Cincinnati Reds, HOK Sport) | ZOOM |

        “It's a pretty cool spot,” Mr. Allen said at news conference Friday announcing ticket prices for the park's opening season, 2003.

        The cost for such a prime location: $16. If that sounds like a bargain in this era of rising tickets prices, that's the idea.

        “It was extremely important for us to maintain affordability,” Mr. Allen said. “Cincinnati, the Cincinnati Reds, have long been known for keeping our average ticket price reasonable, making it affordable to all our fans. I refer to it as tiered pricing. We've been able to do that.”

        The “Diamond” seats were $175 (all 312 are sold), but most of the seats are comparable in price to those at Cinergy Field.

        The Reds have priced 90 percent of the seats under $30 and 56 percent under $16. The team actually lowered the price of “Scout” seats from $80 to $60 because the Reds sold out of $50 club seats.

        “It was a good problem to have,” Mr. Allen said. “We wanted to add more. They were so close to Scout seats, it wouldn't be fair to charge $80 for them.”

        So the price of scout seats was dropped to $60. The Reds set their prices largely based on what Pittsburgh, Milwaukee and Detroit charged.

        “We didn't just wing it on these ticket prices,” Mr. Allen said. "We did a lot of research. We talked to a lot of different ballparks. We did research here in Cincinnati. . . . We spent a lot of time talking to their staffs to see how it went over in their cities.”

        Mr. Allen said the team will re-evaluate the ticket pricing during the 2003 season.

        Mr. Allen said the new ballpark could add $20 million to $30 million to the Red's local revenues, but some expenses will rise. The Reds will pay $2.5 million a year in rent and about $9 million a year for maintenance of the ballpark, expenses they didn't have at Cinergy.

        The new ballpark also will likely cost the Reds money they had received in revenue sharing from Major League Baseball. Mr. Allen said the Pittsburgh Pirates, while in Three Rivers Stadium, received $10 million to $12 million in revenue-sharing payments. Last year, the Pirates' first in PNC Park, payments fell to $1.7 million.

        Mr. Allen said he expects a similar experience for the Reds, so the net effect of the new ballpark on the team's revenues is expected to be $10 million to $15 million.

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