So, How Much for Cubs Playoff Tickets?

Last week, I was talking with a friend about the Chicago Cubs beginning the playoffs with the NLDS (National League  Division Series), when he casually mentioned that he had been offered a chance to purchase tickets to Game #2 from a friend. I thought that was really cool...until he told me the asking price.

"Five hundred," he told me, "that's per seat." Okay, I thought. A thousand dollars to catch a playoff game after a historic season is pretty high, but if being at a Cubs playoff game is on your bucket list, there are plenty of folks who would be willing to shell out that much to put a check-mark next to a bucket list item.

The next big question, of course, was to ask where the seats would be. He pointed out that you'd be as far away from the action (and still be in the ballpark) as possible, and that the seats were "obstructed view." I knew right away what I would (or, in this case, would not) do. Being that I have a fairly good-sized high-definition TV, a comfortable chair, my own wait-free bathroom, and a fridge full of beer that's already been paid for, there's no way that I'm paying that kind of freight just to say that I was there. I can do that anyway. It's called "embellishment." Or, lying. He felt the same way. So, if those tickets went for the proposed price-point, they didn't go to either one of us. Since the game was reportedly completely sold-out, it stands to reason a sale was made.

If you're looking to purchase tickets for this weekend's start of the NLCS (National League Championship Series), be prepared to part with some dough, according to CBS Chicago:

Secondary market websites are selling standing-room-only tickets for Game 1 of the NLCS at Wrigley Field on Saturday for $347 to $500, a far cry from last week, when standing-room-only tickets for the NLDS sold for $125. Bleacher seats for the first game against the Dodgers or Nationals were selling for $450 to as much as $20,000 on StubHub.

Too rich for your blood? Yeah, me too. If only we were Chicago politicians. Brad Edwards at CBS Chicago explains: