During my 6 ½ years of college, I took a course in marketing theory, which the instructor boiled down to three words:
“Change equals pain.”
It is self-explanatory, of course, because it’s only three words and because it’s the kind of thing Howard Cosell used to call “a piercing look into the obvious.”
That’s why the Orioles have to know they are tiptoeing through a marketing mine field with the new ticket policy they just announced for the 2026 season and beyond.
Gone are the 13-game and 29-game plans, which will be replaced with 20-game and 40-game plans at a slightly higher price per ticket, and a 10-game plan for the budget-conscious. Gone, too, are some guarantees of seat location, in part because of upcoming stadium improvements.
In their place are upgraded plans with varying benefits, some of which will be well-received – such as a dedicated entry gate so elite Birdland members can’t be shut out of popular limited promotional giveaways. Some will not, like the price increase and reduced benefits for 10-game plan holders on the heels of a very disappointing 2025 season.
President of business operations Catie Griggs told The Sun and The Baltimore Banner that the new plans will provide more transparency and flexibility, then admitted that even fans who upgrade to the 40-game plan may not be guaranteed their current seat location next season because of some logistical uncertainties.
There is plenty to like in the new policy, depending on how much more you’re willing to spend to see next year’s team, but the club’s unexpected downturn this season has already had a huge impact on attendance and there’s no guarantee the front office will be able to engineer a dramatic turnaround next year.
Executive VP/general manager Mike Elias just traded away most of the solid bullpen arms and several controllable veteran players for a tour bus full of minor league prospects – few of them ready for prime time. That gives him more talent to deal for immediate help this winter, but it also suggests he might be looking at the horizon beyond 2026.
The ticket price increase, no matter that it will average just 3 percent, will not sit well with a lot of disenchanted fans, but it will become more palatable if the team makes some aggressive moves in the trade and free agent markets in the offseason.
It remains to be seen how season ticket holders respond to the major change in the plan sizes, but I’m guessing that many will embrace the added amenities for the larger plans and budget-sensitive fans will pare down to the bare-bones 10-game alternative or just go with single-game tickets like the rest of us.
Considering all that has gone on this year and the impact of the upcoming stadium upgrades, it might have made more sense to wait until next year to mess with the season-ticket status quo, but team officials dating back to the past ownership have been pondering dramatic changes in ticket policy.
It is true that change equals pain, but most of us eventually get used to it.