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High ticket prices baseball fans top complaint

Soaring salaries and steroids dominated fans’ worries in past surveys

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Overall, almost 60 percent of poll respondents said going to a game was more expensive than other entertainment they might consider. Yet there was no indication they would stay away because of the prices — only 11 percent who went to a game in 2008 said they aren’t likely to go back this year.

“It might affect the seat price that you opt for. Instead of buying more expensive seats, you might buy less-expensive seats. But probably not the number of games,” said Richard Holmes of Anderson Township, a Cincinnati suburb.

Seattle designated hitter Mike Sweeney saw plenty of small crowds in Kansas City and Oakland in a 14-year career. This season, it could be worse.

“In light of the economic status of our country, there are many blue-collar Americans that probably won’t be able to afford taking their son out to a ballgame, and that’s understandable,” Sweeney said.

In AP-AOL polls in April 2005, October 2005 and October 2006, fans said player salaries were the main problem.

Steroids were a concern, too, in those past polls. Five of the top 12 home run hitters in history — Barry Bonds, Sammy Sosa, Mark McGwire, Rafael Palmeiro and Rodriguez — have been tainted by allegations of steroid use.

In the current poll, 57 percent said no player who used steroids or performance-enhancing drugs should make the Hall of Fame.

“As far as the records of the players like Bonds and some of those things, I don’t think they should be recognized. I don’t think they should let them in,” said Robert Mooore of Clearwater, Fla.

The poll was conducted March 24-29 and involved online interviews with 719 adults who said they were interested in Major League Baseball. It has a sampling error of plus or minus 3.7 percentage points.

The poll was conducted over the Internet by Knowledge Networks, which initially contacted people using traditional telephone polling methods and followed with online interviews. People chosen for the study who had no Internet access were given it for free.

© 2010 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.


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