Tonight the Chicago White Sox will play a baseball game against the New York Yankees. There’s nothing unusual about that. The teams have been competing against each other for more than a century. What’s unusual is the location of the game.

The teams will be playing in Dyersville, Iowa. That’s where you’ll find the field that was featured in the baseball film “Field of Dreams.” You remember the movie, don’t you? Shoeless Joe, ghosts walking in and out of a cornfield, Burt Lancaster saving a young child, and Kevin Costner having a catch with his dead father. Good stuff!

A replica of the field was built near the original site. The two teams will play there in the game that was scheduled for last season but was postponed due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Tickets for the game are at a premium. The field seats only 8,000 fans. The demand for tickets far exceeded what was available.

It was decided that residents of Iowa would have the first opportunity to purchase tickets. They held a lottery and if your name was chosen, you would get the chance to buy tickets at face value. The price, including fees, is around $400. That’s right…FOUR HUNDRED DOLLARS!!

Pretty pricey for a regular-season game, even at a special location. However, that’s nothing compared to the resale market. If you check Stubhub, you’ll find seats starting at $880 and going as high as $13,000. That’s right….THIRTEEN THOUSAND DOLLARS!!!!!

Those numbers price out most people. It made me think back to a couple of other sporting events that I wanted to attend but the costs made it almost impossible.

In 2018, I went to the Rose Bowl game, in Pasadena, California. Oklahoma was playing Georgia with the winner advancing to the college football championship game, in Atlanta. When Oklahoma had a two-touchdown lead at halftime, we started seriously thinking about going to Atlanta for the title game. When we found out game tickets were going for $2,000, it gave me second thoughts. Actually, there were third, fourth and fifth thoughts, too. Good thing the Sooners blew that fourteen-point lead and lost in overtime….at least a good thing for my pocketbook.

Two years earlier, the Chicago Cubs were playing the Cleveland Indians in the World Series. Before game five of the series, I decided to go over to Wrigley Field to take in the atmosphere. I brought $500 with me in case there was a chance to get a game ticket. None of the fans had any extras for sale, so I decided to check with a broker. When he told me his seats cost $2,000, I told him I would be watching on tv, even if it meant putting up with Joe Buck. Actually, I was relieved. I really didn’t want to spend the five hundred bucks.

I understand that like everything else these days going to games is going to cost major dollars. I realize it’s no longer the 1960s when you could get a seat in the bleachers at Wrigley Field for $1. That’s right….ONE DOLLAR!! But, everyone has that line where the price makes it no longer feasible to attend a game, no matter how much you want to see it live. I’m not sure where that line is, but it’s definitely there.

So, if you want to attend tonight’s Field of Dreams game, you still have time to get to Iowa. Just get out your credit card and head to the Stubhub site. Is $13K too much for you?

Related Post: Thanks Rizz….see ya on the other side

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