In 1997 interleague play was introduced in Major League Baseball, enabling teams from different leagues to face off in regular season series. In addition to seeing the top teams in each league play before the World Series, the schedule tweak also enabled city rivalry games to become a yearly tradition. For a 162-game season it’s hard for a single series to stand out, but these rivalry games generally get added attention from fans. In fact, they generally draw better than actual division games do.

Three of the biggest rivalries are between the Los Angeles Dodgers and Angels, the New York Yankees and Mets, and the Bay Area Oakland Athletics and San Francisco Giants. The interesting aspect of these rivalries is each area clearly has a more popular team for prices on the secondary market.

In Los Angeles the Dodgers appear to be the favorite. Since 2012, tickets for home games on the Angels schedule in the rivalry have normally averaged $55.38 on the secondary market, but in those three years the series with the Dodgers has been close to double that price. In 2012 the average ticket price for the series with the Dodgers was $101.93, in 2013 it was $79.27 and this year it’s $101.87 for an 84% premium. In contrast, home games on the Dodger schedule have averaged $49, but the series with the Angels has barely seen an increase. In 2012 tickets averaged $58.46, in 2013 the average was $50.80 and this year $56.25 for just a 15% premium.

The same thing is true in New York and the Bay Area. The Yankees are the chosen team in New York, while the Giants hold that distinction out west. When the Mets go to Yankee Stadium, ticket prices are actually noticeably less while Mets tickets go from an $80.30 average price to well over $100, including a 27% premium this season. By contrast, the Yankees tickets have a 28% discount for home games against the Mets. The same holds true with Oakland Athletics tickets, which go from a very low $62.06 average to over $100 each of the last three years, and an 82% this year. Home games on the SF Giants schedule in the rivalry, however, stay roughly the same, showing just a 5% premium.

There’s a similar trend in Chicago even though both teams haven’t been too successful the last several years. The White Sox and Cubs haven’t made the postseason in a while, and this season they are once again at the bottom of their respective divisions. Still, the premium for White Sox tickets with the Cubs at US Cellular has a 66% premium for an average price of $120.45. But like in the other major cities, there isn’t a big premium for both teams. For home games on the Cubs schedule against the White Sox, there’s just a 9% premium, for an $83.86 average price.

These trends have to do with longstanding tradition and success as opposed to any recent trends. While the Yankees have clearly outplayed the Mets on the field over the last decade, neither the Dodgers nor Giants have a clear advantage over their counterparts. In fact, the A’s have won two straight division titles and currently have the best record in baseball, but the Giants remain the bigger draw despite being under .500 as recently as last season.

But not all of these interleague rivalries have seen a noticeable premium. The Baltimore Orioles and Washington Nationals play each season, and prices have generally matched the season average for both. Home games on the Nationals schedule have averaged $49 over the last few seasons, and the highest the price has gotten for a series with the Orioles was in 2013 when tickets averaged $60.92. Neither team made the postseason that year. And this season the average price has dropped to $46 for a 6% discount, despite both teams currently being near the top of their respective divisions. Orioles tickets are averaging $67.46, but the series with the Nationals has an average of just $53.23 for a 21% discount.

Interleague play added new rivalries to the regular season schedule. The games draw extra attention, but have only proven to be a big draw for one of the cities two teams. And the same excitement isn’t seen in new rivalries, just for teams that have a longstanding history.

Thank you for reading! Have some feedback for us?
Contact the 24/7 Wall St. editorial team.