Here’s an idea no one’s thought of before: Instead of charging $30 for parking and anywhere from $30 to $120 for tickets, why not just open the doors and let in everyone free and watch them spend all their money on concessions?
Leave it to the Oakland A’s, one of the game’s least successful franchises, to do just that.
The A’s gave away all of their tickets for last Tuesday’s home game against the Chicago White Sox in celebration of the 50th anniversary of their first game in Oakland. Parking is always free on Tuesdays, adding to the cheaper-than-cheap outing. (On Monday, when the Golden State Warriors played a playoff game next door at the same time as the A’s-Sox game, parking was raised from $30 to $40.)
The A’s received more than 300,000 ticket requests, and the park was crammed with fans. Mount Davis, the upper-deck outfield seats named for late Raiders owner Al Davis that usually are closed for A’s games, were open for one night. (The game attracted an announced crowd of 46,028, according to the Associated Press.)
It could have been an epic night, or it could have been a nightmare, based on how inebriated and rowdy the Oakland “fans” planned to be.
Cleveland had a disastrous “10-cent beer night” in 1974 that turned into a riot. The White Sox allowed fans in for 98 cents and a record on “Disco Demolition Night” in 1979, which led to a forfeiture of the game when fans (me among them) stormed the field.
The A’s drew a crowd of 7,416 earlier this year, their lowest since 2003, so it’s not exactly a hotbed for baseball.
Both teams wore throwback uniforms, with the Sox wearing their old baby blue road jerseys that were cool-looking but didn’t exactly catch on.
Maybe free tickets are the wave of the future.