Mariners to offer $5 “Value Game” ticket deal for pre-sale for 10 games in March-May

In an email to Mariners Mail subscribers on Tuesday morning, the Seattle Mariners have announced a $5 deal on their “Mariners Value Games”. The initial deal applies to 10 games, listed in the image below.

Most of these games are mid-week night games, which are always challenging to fill out while the school year is in session. The 29th is the Sunday matinée at 1:10, followed by the presumed Monday-Tuesday evening games hosting Minnesota. April’s games are Monday the 13th, as well as Tuesday-thru-Thursday from the 28th-30th. May’s games are the full Tue-Thu series with the A’s. The deals leave just Opening Day, a Thursday series opener with the Red Sox, and a pair of likely weekday matinées with Minnesota and Washington as non-deal games in the first couple months of the season.

The details of the deal offer a few extra perks. The tickets themselves are $5 (plus a few dollars in fees, lest anything be TOO straightforward), and come with the option to snag a Mariners team store item for $5 as well. What that item could be is slightly unclear, but presumably is limited to smaller, low-cost items. It also offers an additional $5 option to receive one of five options from the “Special Mariners Menu”, which can be one of the following: One 16 oz domestic draft beer, one SODO hot dog, one 22 oz fountain soda, one bag of Hampton peanuts, or one order of ballpark nachos.

UPDATE (2:45pm PT): Gregg Greene, Vice President of Marketing, confirmed that fans can buy multiple items from the $5 menu — and, in fact, that $5 menu will be available to all fans for the $5 Value Games, rather than just fans who buy the $5 tickets.

We’ve been critical of the Mariners for ticket prices even in the best of times, but these rebukes have only increased as the rebuild has ramped up. When “Value” tickets start at $15 (plus fees!) in the best of times, it’s difficult for many fans to affordably get into games, whether people with limited disposable income or families attempting to orchestrate group trips. If the team is intent on putting out a non-competitive product in the short-term, justifiable as it may be for the club’s long-term success, fans have cause to clamor for more affordable entry to the park.

To that point, this appears like a legitimate step in the right direction from the club. Mid-week games are no doubt easier on young folks and non-families, but nabbing a ticket, dinner, and a small souvenir for $15 (or, more likely in my case, a ticket and a beer for $10) is far more justifiable than anything recently available.

We’ve talked in the past about the Ballpark Pass that many teams, including the Mariners, have offered before, and other teams have continued these deals; the Twins, a playoff team that just added an All-Star 3B in Josh Donaldson, recently announced their Twins Pass that grants access to the park for just $45/month. Although not as robust as that offering, this certainly fills a similar niche. With luck, the Mariners will extend these $5 games through the rest of the season, and become a common option for those just excited to get into the park.