A new green cathedral

For Yankee fans, it's a bitter-sweet opening because it marks the start of the new era in a modern facility, but also the end of the residence in their hallowed, original home, The House that Ruth Built, which played host to 39 American League pennants and 26 World Championship teams. For many fans, it is still hard to fathom that the club is leaving the field on which the immortal Lou Gehrig, stricken by a fatal disease, on July 4, 1939 stood in front of 75,000 people and called himself 'the luckiest man on the face of the earth.'

The Yankees said the move was unavoidable, given the economics of major league baseball today: it's hard for a club to continually remain a pennant-contender without revenue from amenity-filled VIP seats (the old ball park had few), club seats, and of course luxury boxes (the old park had less than 40, the new park has more than 130). The new Yankee Stadium cost a staggering $1.5 billion to build.

The new park also is roomier, contains just about every high-tech and cuisine creature comfort possible, and also boasts vastly improved parking (eventually 3 new parking garages) and a new mass transit link (serving Metro North commuter trains).

Sky-high ticket prices

But as fans and tourists might sense, all those new creature comforts come at a price. The Yankees increased every ticket price for their inaugural season in the new park, and the prices reflect just how much Major League Baseball has drifted from being a game the typical American and fan could see.

To be sure, the higher prices also reflect the general increased prosperity (and productivity) of the United States, among other factors, in the last 40 years, but just to get a sense of the price increases, here's what it cost to attend a ball game at Yankee Stadium in 1970 and in 2009.

Tickets, Yankee Stadium, 1970
Field Box Seats: $22 [1970 dollars: $4]
Reserved: $15 [1970 dollars: $2.75]
Grandstand: $8.20 [1970 dollars: $1.50]
Bleachers: $5.50 [1970 dollars: $1

Tickets, Yankee Stadium, 2009
Field Box Seats: $95-375 legends: $525 -2,625
Main Boxes: $60-150
Reserved: $50-85
Grandstand: $23-30
Bleachers: $14

As you can see, in 1970 you could take a family of four to see a game at the Stadium for $60 in today's dollars for four Main Level Reserved seats. That's $60 total in today's dollars, adjusted for inflation -- the face value of the tickets was $2.75 each in 1970.

In April 2009, those four seats will cost you $200-340 for approximately the same seats!

Yours truly is very familiar with Yankee ticket prices, the Stadium, and baseball because I've had the Saturday home game plan, Main Level Reserved seats, for more than 15 years, and have attended Yankee games for many years, dating back to my grade school years with summers spent in New York.

In my view, today's ticket prices are too high -- they're too high in most baseball parks -- and the game is pricing the typical fan out of existence -- something baseball should never do, as it's important that at least one U.S. professional, team sport remain accessible to the typical person. (Football, basketball, and hockey ticket prices pushed to the stratosphere decades ago.) Baseball, with its long season (162 games), should be able to price its tickets reasonably.

The Yankees and other MLB clubs beg to differ, of course, arguing that costs have forced prices higher and that the market is the best arbiter. I disagree, but so far, the Yankees and the market appear to be correct, as tickets for the first season in the new Yankee Stadium are more than 85% sold.

So if you're planning to visit the new Stadium, wait to see if prices posted by ticket brokers decline after the season starts. Most brokers who bought tickets last fall did not anticipate the depth or length of the current U.S. recession, and demand for tickets may fall, given leisure spending cutbacks by consumers. If that occurs, these brokers will have to lower prices to sell their tickets. That will be doubly true if the Yankees, who haven't won the American League pennant since 2003, get off to a slow start.

Financial Editor Joseph Lazzaro is based in New York.