Texas Rangers raise single-game ticket prices

ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) -- The Texas Rangers are raising single-game ticket prices again after failing to win a playoff game, losing slugger Josh Hamilton in free agency and trading fan favorite Michael Young.

Most of the increases were $1 to $4 per ticket. The team also designated 36 of its 81 home games as more expensive premier games, up from 26 a year ago.

After going to the World Series two years in a row, the Rangers lost the AL wild-card game at home against Baltimore last October. Individual ticket prices were announced Tuesday, the same day the team provided an update of renovations being made to Rangers Ballpark.

The team for the first time will use dynamic pricing for adult tickets in the upper reserved section that are $19 for non-premier games and $22 for premier games. Those account for nearly 20 percent of the seats in the stadium.

Based on market demand and factors such pitching matchups, day of the week and weather, the team could adjust prices higher or lower. The Rangers said more than half of the 30 major league teams use different versions of demand-based pricing.

Rick George, the team's chief operating officer, said the dynamic pricing could be expanded to other sections later in the season.

Lower infield seats for this season will be $78 for non-premier games and $88 for premier games such as the April 5 home opener against the AL West rival Los Angeles Angels, Hamilton's new team. Those tickets were $76 or $85 last season, and $72 and $81 in 2011.

Seats in the popular all-you-can-eat section will be $51 for regular games and $58 for premier games. Those have increased each year, from $34 and $39 in 2010.

The cheapest tickets, in the grandstand, increased from $7 to $11 for regular games, though seats for kids 13 and under remained $3 in those sections.

Individual game tickets, except for opening day, go on sale March 2.

For the April 5 opener against the Angels, fans have to register online for a drawing to determine who gets the chance to buy the remaining limited number of individual reserved seats and standing room tickets. The team is also offering 10-game plans that include a ticket to the opener.

The $12 million renovation project at the stadium is adding a row of seats behind home plate, increasing the size of the dugouts and making extensive renovations to the club and concessions areas behind home plate. It is the third year in a row there are been significant offseason work to the stadium that opened in 1994.