Going to a Pirates game is a bargain compared to most places and you get a great ballpark experience out of it to boot. Part of the reason it’s such a bargain is that the Pirates haven’t raised ticket prices in nearly ten years. That changes now, though:
Dirty secret: the upper deck in PNC Park is one of the few upper decks in newer ballparks that are actually really great seats. In some cases better than the lower decks. This didn’t used to be the case back in the old days because those beams everyone hated held the upper deck up closer to the field. In most newer parks, however, the upper deck is way, way back to accommodate all of the people down in the field boxes.
Anyway, supply and demand. The Pirates sold more seats this year than they had been selling. People want to go to PNC Park. Raising prices a bit just flows from it.