By Tuesday, he had reached a highly satisfactory compromise but was extremely confused \u2014 and soon so was I. A ticketing rep had offered him a steep discount, $12,500 for his two seats, if he would move from Section 56 to 58.<\/p>\n
I asked Moran where his 2026 seats were compared to the ones we were sitting in. He pointed just across the aisle \u2014 a distance so short you could pass a beer over the rail.<\/p>\n
\u201cOn this side of the line, it\u2019s $34,000,\u201d Moran said. \u201cOn that side of the line, it\u2019s $12,000. It makes no sense.\u201d<\/p>\n
After spending the last week trying to digest stories I\u2019m hearing from Birdland Members about their season ticket renewals and put the puzzle pieces together to deduce the master plan, that\u2019s the biggest thing I\u2019m struck by as well. Very little of what the Orioles are doing makes sense when taken as a whole.<\/p>\n
Moran\u2019s story is an outlier based on the sample of fans who have reached out to share their stories, but all over Camden Yards people are scratching their heads. <\/p>\n
There are 300-level customers being told they have to get 81- or 40-game season packages or get displaced. As the club touts that these bigger (and higher-cost) packages offer better benefits, even at the 40-game level, there are fewer benefits than there were just a few years ago. Fans getting moved from their seats for renovations or construction work aren\u2019t being given that explanation by their ticket reps.<\/p>\n
The stated goal by President of Business Operations Catie Griggs \u2014 \u201cPart of what we\u2019re moving toward is greater transparency for our fans,\u201d she said Thursday in a call-in to 105.7 The Fan<\/a> \u2014 doesn\u2019t square with how the Orioles are treating Birdland Members. Most of what I\u2019ve heard is frustration and confusion. <\/p>\n An Orioles spokesperson did not respond to a request to speak to Griggs.<\/p>\n If the Orioles\u2019 goal was to raise the stakes on season ticket holders, shepherding them into buying bigger packages with fewer overall benefits<\/a> with only a short time to decide, they\u2019re about to find a lot of fans ready to call their bluff. <\/p>\n I\u2019m no finance or economics expert. When it comes to market rates and dynamic pricing models, you might have to speak to me a little slowly. But, even to a layman, the consequences of miscalculation here feel disastrous.<\/p>\n Orioles fans celebrate their team\u2019s home-opening win against the Boston Red Sox in March. (Ulysses Mu\u00f1oz\/The Baltimore Banner)<\/p>\n I spent the last few days talking to Janette Moser, a 40-year-old living in Manchester, who was having trouble accessing the Orioles\u2019 online ticket portal after she was told she had to leave her Row 2 seats in Section 332, now earmarked for full-season ticket holders. After feeling flustered as she tried in vain to get a ticket rep on the phone for two days, she finally got a look at a 40-game package that would cost about $900 more than the 29-game package she\u2019s paying for this season.<\/p>\n Everything that happened in the last week has left her shocked, she said. She still drives in from Carroll County for her games, even though the team sold off popular players at the MLB trade deadline and is in the standings cellar.<\/p>\n \u201cI thought that they would kind of be like, \u2018Please come back. We need people in the seats. We need some kind of dedicated cash flow.\u2019\u201d Moser said. \u201cI don\u2019t understand. We\u2019re the only ones showing up and spending money with the team playing like it is. I just don\u2019t get it. Who are you trying to court with these measures?\u201d<\/p>\n Here\u2019s what the Orioles say: These changes are in line with what 28 other major league teams have done to implement 20-, 40- and 81-game plans. The old 29- and 13-game packages are anachronisms. They also say the Orioles have been one of the best values in baseball for years leading up to this one. To get more in line with other baseball markets, the team says, this is what it has to do.<\/p>\n But here are a few other things that don\u2019t make sense: Even though the franchise has supposedly wanted to implement these changes for years, the fan base is just learning of this now. Griggs has pointed to the guaranteed giveaways to Birdland Members as evidence of better perks \u2014 \u201cwe\u2019ve been able to add some of the benefits that our members have been clamoring for,\u201d she said on The Fan \u2014 but partial plan holders have noted the benefits are not what they used to be.<\/p>\n If you up your investment from 29 to 40 games, you still don\u2019t get club-level access, which was taken away this year (partial plan holders can buy access with loyalty points). No plan gets an alcohol discount, which was also phased out for the 2025 season<\/a>. The 40-game plan includes \u201cguaranteed Opening Day access\u201d for the number of seats you purchase \u2014 but does not include the cost of those opening day seats. And many people who spoke to me last week and this week are wondering why the sellback program is good only for 2027 renewal credit \u2014 a season in which the MLB could credibly have a lockout<\/a>, and fans can\u2019t be sure how many games will be played.<\/p>\n Does that sound like escalating perks?<\/p>\n The \u201cflexibility\u201d options for budget-conscious fans now include a 10-game package, which doesn\u2019t carry benefits such as merchandise or food discounts, or flex plans, which were defanged themselves last year<\/a>. But people who are considering those more affordable plans are wondering, if attendance doesn\u2019t pick up (Camden Yards averages about 50% capacity this season), why wouldn\u2019t they just pay as they go, or hawk up tickets on the secondary market if prices drop?<\/p>\n The Orioles\u2019 strategy flies in the face of the answers to these questions.<\/p>\n Adding to the confusion is a rollout that has agitated customers even more. The Orioles have said the conversations between ticket reps and their Birdland Members have gone relatively well in the face of difficult changes, which I heard from many people as well. But getting reps on the phone hasn\u2019t been easy. The Orioles make it a point to handle customer service internally \u2014 \u201cIt allows us to learn firsthand from the fan so that we can listen and respond,\u201d an Orioles spokesperson said \u2014 but the trade-off is that some fans (like Moser) have been waiting a long time to hear from their reps.<\/p>\n Jake Gardner was disappointed to learn he was getting kicked out of his Row 2 seats in Section 47 (slightly to the right of home plate and covered from sun and rain) and even more disappointed to learn, if he had been in Row 3, he might not have been moved. It was more confusing when it seemed no comparable seats were available in adjacent sections.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/EFBZTAKUX5B5FB6BSH7HNECPJA.jpg\")
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