Shohei Ohtani and the new-look Los Angeles Angels cause new-look ticket prices
By Jason Reed
The Los Angeles Angels hit the jackpot last offseason by bringing in Japanese phenom Shohei Ohtani. Now, Angels fans are paying more to see him this spring.
The Los Angeles Angels are the perfect fit for Shohei Ohtani and Ohtani is exactly what the Los Angeles Angels needed. LA needed to bring in another star alongside Mike Trout; another guy that can get the fanbase excited and help the team to win its first playoff game since 2009.
That guy was Albert Pujols, but now, Pujols is nothing more than a grizzled veteran. Sure, he still has some pop in his bat, but he is past his prime and now only serves as exactly that; a hit-or-miss power bat.
The cost of Ohtani is icing on the cake for the Halos. According to Spotrac, Ohtani is only set to cost the Angels $545 thousand this season following his $2.3 million signing bonus. If he is what he is made out to be, Ohtani would easily be worth at least $150 million on the open market.
Although Ohtani’s contract is cheap, the ticket prices to the Angels Spring Training games have gone up. According to Vivid Seats, the median cost of an Angels Spring Training ticket is $49. This is a 44 percent increase from last year, giving the Halos the highest percentage of increase.
And just so you know, this is more than the Los Angeles Dodgers, whose median price is $42; an 8.6 percent increase.
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It is not hard to explain why Angels fans are so excited to go to Spring Training this year. Sure, the team is significantly better with the likes of Justin Upton, Ian Kinsler and Zack Cozart. Sure, the pitching staff should be better now that they are running a six-man rotation and look to be completely healthy.
However, it all boils down to Shohei Ohtani. Ohtani is the MLB’s unicorn, he is something we have not seen since Babe Ruth. Will he be as great as Babe Ruth? Probably not. However, the novelty alone of Ohtani is a sight to behold.
Thus, I would guarantee that there are a lot of outside fans that are buying these tickets just to see Ohtani. Heck, I am a Dodgers fan and I want to go to an April Angels game just to see Ohtani pitch. I have not been to an Angels game in which the Dodgers were not playing in five years.
Next: Evaluating the Angels' ceiling in 2018
So, Angels fans, the one drawback of signing Shohei Ohtani is going to be the increased ticket prices. However, I am sure that is the one drawback that fans have no problem with.