{"id":545988,"date":"2026-01-30T15:05:20","date_gmt":"2026-01-30T15:05:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/545988\/"},"modified":"2026-01-30T15:05:20","modified_gmt":"2026-01-30T15:05:20","slug":"the-orioles-have-had-a-busy-winter-and-say-its-boosted-ticket-sales","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/545988\/","title":{"rendered":"The Orioles have had a busy winter, and say it\u2019s boosted ticket sales"},"content":{"rendered":"

There was an element of bad timing when the Orioles released details about the changes to Birdland Memberships last season<\/a>. What had been in the works for years, team officials said, was released during a major stumble for the club.<\/p>\n

The reactions from many fans weren\u2019t positive. Catie Griggs heard them.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat we heard from fans, in many cases, was, \u2018Well, show us what you\u2019re doing? Show us why we should be supporting this?\u2019\u201d said Griggs, the Orioles\u2019 president of business operations.<\/p>\n

In Griggs\u2019 view, the front office has helped answer some of those questions, particularly with the signing of first baseman Pete Alonso<\/a> for $155 million over five years. The active winter \u2014 which may still be incomplete, given the lack of a front-line starter and questions about the bullpen \u2014 has been a positive in the Orioles\u2019 quest to pack Camden Yards.<\/p>\n

\u201cOne of the things that has been really exciting over the course of the offseason is that there has been significant movement on bringing in new talent and exciting talent and long-term agreements,\u201d Griggs said. \u201cI mean, you had [agent] Scott Boras<\/a> sitting here in the warehouse, which is something that perhaps hasn\u2019t been seen in the past. We have an exciting coaching staff that\u2019s in place. And, as we have demonstrated our continued commitment to making sure we\u2019re playing top-tier baseball, our fans have acknowledged that. There is definitely excitement in this market. We are seeing that in ticket sales.\u201d<\/p>\n

Griggs didn\u2019t offer specific sales figures, but she said: \u201cUltimately, they wanted to see that we were as committed as they are to this team, and I think my hope, and what we\u2019re seeing in terms of ticket sales, is that we\u2019re delivering that.\u201d<\/p>\n

The midseason announcement of changes to the Birdland Memberships rankled some of Baltimore\u2019s most loyal fans, who told The Banner\u2019s Kyle Goon<\/a> all about it in August. Some of the complaints stemmed from a need to move seats or face price changes, as well as the reduction of benefits<\/a>.<\/p>\n

There are new benefits as part of the modified season ticket<\/a> packages, such as a guaranteed giveaway gate for season ticket holders. Griggs said her email has been full of fans since the announcement of a Tupac bobblehead<\/a> who are grateful for the guaranteed giveaway gate.<\/p>\n

Still, some of the goodwill that was lost with the ticket changes \u2014 which included a departure from 13- and 29-game ticket packages for 20- and 40-game plans \u2014 will require more than a bobblehead to mend.<\/p>\n

The front office\u2019s commitment to strengthening the roster helps, as would winning games. So, too, will some of the upgrades coming to Camden Yards. Griggs said the stadium is on track to be ready ahead of opening day, because there\u2019s an exhibition game against the Washington Nationals on March 22.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are over the moon to get to show everyone what\u2019s in place here,\u201d Griggs said.<\/p>\n

That includes a new sound system, main scoreboard and video board, ribbon boards on grandstand facades and a club-level bar. The premium club behind home plate will open as well.<\/p>\n

\"\"The scoreboard at Oriole Park at Camden Yards under construction seen during a Birdland Caravan event at the warehouse on Jan. 23. (Ulysses Mu\u00f1oz\/The Banner)<\/p>\n

One improvement that Griggs emphasized is the addition of more TVs in the concourses, offering fans a way \u201cto stay connected with the game\u201d when they\u2019re grabbing food or a drink. <\/p>\n

\u201cThere is an investment in that experience throughout the concourses, in addition to bringing back a lot of the [concession] favorites, as well as bringing in some fun, new additions we\u2019ll be in a position to talk about over the next month or so,\u201d Griggs said.<\/p>\n

Despite the stark rise in season ticket prices for some fans, club officials at the time said prices are increasing by about 3%. <\/p>\n

There has also been sticker shock for some fans seeking single-game tickets through the Orioles.<\/p>\n

Dynamic pricing models are nothing new to the Orioles or baseball in general. In 2013, The Baltimore Sun<\/a> wrote that the club was expanding its variable-pricing system for marquee matchups. And again for 2026 the demand for certain games (particularly on giveaway nights) is leading to sharp increases from standard prices, even in the upper deck.<\/p>\n

Griggs often highlights the affordability of attending Orioles games, and she pointed to $19 lower-level tickets on weeknights<\/a> as an example. But that\u2019s not the case for all games.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s part of the value of a season ticket membership, right? You get all of those games as part of it, and you get it at the best price that anyone will ever get them at,\u201d Griggs said. \u201cIt\u2019s no different than what you\u2019ve been seeing for decades, not only in sports, but think airlines. The reality is, there is somewhat of a demand base, because what we don\u2019t want to see is a scenario in which we can sell a ticket for $10, but if we sell a ticket for $10 that immediately will be resold for $80, that\u2019s not good for anyone either. We want to deliver tickets to our fans in the most affordable way possible.\u201d<\/p>\n

Griggs continued: \u201cThis is a space where we want to make sure all of our fans have the opportunity to come and have an incredible experience at a price point that works for them, but we also recognize we can\u2019t do that the same way for every single game. That\u2019s just unfortunately not how the world works.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"There was an element of bad timing when the Orioles released details about the changes to Birdland Memberships…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":545989,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2374],"tags":[70875,143,47,2538,5,1404,4,12212,1407,125,70876],"class_list":["post-545988","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-baltimore-orioles","tag-balitmore-city","tag-baltimore","tag-baltimore-orioles","tag-baltimoreorioles","tag-baseball","tag-camden-yards","tag-mlb","tag-os","tag-oriole-park","tag-orioles","tag-orioles-caravan"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@mlb\/115984672182892258","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/545988","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=545988"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/545988\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/545989"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=545988"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=545988"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=545988"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}