Rob Biertempfel writes that the Pirates will increase ticket prices in 2012.
It is expected to be an across-the-board increase, but the team has not finalized the increases for full-season packages, partial plans or single-game tickets.
It would be the Pirates' first major increase in ticket prices in 10 years.
When we bloggers talked to Frank Coonelly last month, he essentially said, not in so many words, that the Pirates were going to increase ticket prices in 2012. Because they haven't done it in so long, their gate receipts are well behind most teams, which makes it hard for the Pirates to compete with other teams financially.
In fact, it sounded like the Bucs would have really wanted to raise prices even if they hadn't won so many games this year, so now that they have, their timing is perfect, since there will be less complaining. (Although I'm sure there will be some; this news is just too juicy for the Bob-Nutting-As-Scrooge-McDuck crowd to ignore.) As long as the new prices aren't exorbitant, and I doubt they will be, I don't have any problem with the Pirates raising them.