White Sox to cut season ticket prices an average of 10 percent

August 15th, 2024

CHICAGO -- Invoices for 2025 White Sox season tickets will be going out on Thursday, and there will be an average 10 percent decrease across the board, according to Brooks Boyer, the club’s senior vice president, chief revenue and marketing officer.

“It’s going to be a little bit different, understanding what has transpired here overall the last couple of years,” Boyer told a group of reporters shortly before Wednesday’s first pitch against the Yankees at Guaranteed Rate Field. “There’s a price reduction.

“We understand where all the ticket prices are, whether it’s season ticket prices, secondary market, with everything that is going on. After looking at that, understanding where we are organizationally, we thought it was important that it’s something we do for our season-ticket holders who have been very loyal to us.”

The White Sox lost 101 games in 2023, Pedro Grifol’s first season as manager. They entered Wednesday’s series finale with a 29-92 record and already eliminated from American League Central title contention, with Grady Sizemore taking over from Grifol as interim manager.

This rebuild under general manager Chris Getz does not figure to be an immediate fix, which could mean another season or two focused on developing prospects from within the system before an increase in spending begins.

“Some people might be like, ‘Why are you putting this out Aug. 15?’” Boyer said. “We kind of like to know going into an offseason where our season-ticket base [is], what it’s going to look like so Chris can make some decisions based on where we think things are going to go.

“But he can’t tell us free agency or trades or anything like that. You just don’t know. It was something that, when we looked at the data we have, we felt it was necessary.”

Boyer also was asked about personnel for the new Chicago Sports Network, beginning with the Blackhawks in early October, but said there was no update. He said he thinks highly of the people currently working on NBC Sports Chicago, which broadcasts the team’s games, including World Series-winning manager Ozzie Guillen, who handles pregame and postgame duties.

When asked if he expected John Schriffen to return as television play-by-play announcer, Boyer said, “Oh yeah.” He also fully expects Steve Stone to return as the television analyst.

“If you listen to the baseball broadcast, they’re really good. They are a quality broadcast,” Boyer said. “Steve Stone is one of the very best in the business. John does a really good job of bringing Steve in and out and letting him be what he is, which is an amazing analyst.”

A first payment deadline for 2025 season-ticket packages is Sept. 30, and a letter from the White Sox will go out to the season-ticket holders with the invoice.

“Again, we see what tickets go for on the secondary market with our season-ticket holders,” Boyer said. “We want our season-ticket holders to be able to make some money if they decide that’s how they want to fund their season tickets. We took all of it into consideration.

“We try to stay away from a situation where, [the team is] bad? Flat. Good? Big jump. You never wanted to punish our season-ticket holders for having good seasons, and they have been very loyal to us. It’s always been small incremental increases or it’s been flat.

“There hasn’t been many seasons like this. And when you look at kind of the rolling two years of what’s been going on, it made sense to us. Looking at the analytics around this, it absolutely makes sense to lower the prices.”