Recently while casually navigating the volatile minefield that is X, I came across a post from Marc Viquez, also known as the Ballpark Hunter. Marc posed a philosophical question that happens to be in my wheelhouse: Can you enjoy an MLB game for under $50?

My response: Challenge accepted!

“Yeah, let’s do this! Wait, whoa, what?”

I could, of course, have made this easy and gone to a cheaper ballpark. But that’s no fun. I decided to go for a game at Fenway Park, home of the Boston Red Sox, and currently the second most expensive ballpark in baseball, after Dodger Stadium.

For this challenge, I included the essentials to “enjoy” a ballgame – those were the parameters in the posed question, after all. A ticket, transportation to the game (which could include parking or public transit), and food and drink at the ballpark.

Let’s go.

Start here.

A Red Sox Game For Under $50, Part 1 – The Game Ticket

First, obviously you need a ticket. There are multiple ways to save money on Red Sox tickets, and I detail them here.

For this challenge, I employed three of my better tips:

1) Subscribe to the Red Sox ticket alert newsletter: it’s my favorite tip. This saved me $10 on the ticket, since the Red Sox sent me a $10 discount offer on my birthday in April.

2) Choose a low demand game: A weeknight game in May is a good time to take advantage of lower ticket prices, with the weather still chilly in Boston and school still in session. I picked the Wednesday May 27 game against Atlanta.

3) Wait till the last minute: I probably should amend this to “keep checking closer to game day”, which is what I did. And a Grandstand ticket became available two days before the game in my price range.

Sure, it’s a cheap seat. But there’s a problem here.

Now, I should mention here that a Grandstand ticket at Fenway Park is, as you may know, an obstructed view risk. And I had to check that before making the purchase; actually enjoying a game, as required by the challenge, is harder when there’s a big pole in front of you.

I detail some basic tips here about how to avoid the dreaded obstructed view; but I will say this…if you are at home and have the luxury of checking, use this Fenway Park guide from Tim Shea. I have the 2010 edition, but that works just fine. Shea does a superb job of showing which seats in every section have an obstructed view of the pitcher’s mound or home plate.

Get it on eBay here; any edition will work. Trust me, for things like this, this book is well worth the investment.

The umpire can’t hear me yelling anyway.

As it turns out, my seat had a pole blocking the view of first base. But if need be, I could lean over to see a play at first. Certainly not enough to disrupt my enjoyment of the game, the pole wasn’t very close to me so it didn’t block much.

Ticket price: $26 (with my birthday discount). A steal at Fenway, I should add.

Now for getting to the ballpark.

Obviously this garage wasn’t going to work.

A Red Sox Game For Under $50, Part 2 – Transportation/Parking

Fenway is one of those ballparks that most folks use public transit to get to, like Yankee Stadium, Wrigley Field, Rogers Centre and some others. There are several reasons for this, but one of the biggest is the unholy price of parking at Fenway.

Now, I’ve written a complete guide for parking at Fenway. If you’re looking to go cheap or even free, you certainly can. But if you want to be close to the ballpark, public transit is a whole lot easier and cheaper. And much more convenient, with the MBTA Green Line Kenmore station a short walk from Fenway.

Believe it or not, you’re better off parking in Newton.

I drove to the Riverside MBTA station, the western terminus of the “D” Green Line. There is a sizable parking lot there that charged me $6 for the evening. The lot had plenty of spaces available at my arrival. It’s a bit goofy using their app to pay the bill, but $6 is a lot less than $65.

From the station, it’s a single ride to Kenmore with no transfers, for $2.40 one way. Kenmore Station, were it a parking lot, would cost at least $50 for its proximity to Fenway.

With the parking at the station and the round trip train ride, transportation to the ballpark totaled $10.80.

It never said in the rules that I couldn’t bicycle to Kenmore Station.

This is, of course, just one way to get to Fenway. I cover a variety of transit methods to get to the ballpark in this highly helpful post. It even covers using the Bluebikes Boston bikeshare program. That’s certainly a way to save a few bucks if you’re an energetic type.

New total with ticket and transportation: $36.80.

Now I need to get something to eat. Can’t be sitting at a ballgame hungry.

Check out the second item from the left. It’s iconic.

A Red Sox Game For Under $50, Part 3: Food and Drink At The Game

As we all know, ballpark food prices make eating at the game something of a luxury. But maybe not everyone knows that the Red Sox have lifted their ban on outside food at the ballpark.

According to the Red Sox bag policy, you can bring in a 12*12*6 bag with no additional compartments. There’s no restrictions on food, but no alcohol and only one 16 oz. bottle of water.

I fretted far more than I needed to over this. If you look at bottled water these days, it usually comes in 500 ml bottles – which is 16.9 ounces. I spent way too much time worrying about how strict the Red Sox would be, but I decided to do the 16.9 oz bottle and go for it, hoping my negotiating skills wouldn’t be needed.

As it turns out, the Sox aren’t tough at all about that. I walked right in; they barely looked at the bag contents.

By this point, you should have peanuts already. but you can get them here.

I’m a big peanuts guy at a ballgame. There’s something special to me about watching a game while cracking open peanuts…I love the aspect of working for your ballgame food.

This is the closest I came to cheating in this venture: I went to my local Dollar Tree here in Turnersville, and picked up a sizable bag of peanuts, a bag of spicy salsa chips (I’m a big fan), and the aforementioned bottle of water.

Each item was $1.25, bringing my total of ballpark food items so far to $3.75.

No rule that says you have to buy official Red Sox snacks inside the ballpark.

There are multiple stores near Fenway where you can load up your goody bag before going in. There’s a Target and a Star Market, not to mention multiple takeout joints like Tasty Burger, Chipotle, Sweetgreen and others.

You get it. You might spend a few bucks more, but you can eat well at a Red Sox game much cheaper with this loophole.

When you’re on a budget, there’s no shame in keeping it real.

If you’re at a Red Sox game, sure there’s Lobstah Poutine, Green Monster Loaded Fries, Tasty Burgers and Luke’s Lobster rolls. We can save that for another time when we have a larger budget; I’ve detailed the extensive food selection at Fenway in this post.

But as any Red Sox fan can tell you, there’s nothing wrong with the classic food staple at their classic ballpark. And with what I had spent so far, I could still afford that Fenway Frank. It’s listed as $6.50, although it totals $7 with the tax.

So then – here we are with the ballpark menu for my excursion: a Fenway Frank, a bag of spicy salsa chips, a bag of peanuts, and a bottle of water, for a total of $10.75.

Just find these folks, they’re very nice.

And one more thing; you can still sign up for the Red Sox Designated Driver program, and get a free small soda in exchange for promising not to drink alcohol. Staying under $50 is tough enough without buying a beer at the game, so I did just that.

You sign up on the MLB Ballpark app now, and the nice folks at the Red Sox Fan Information booths will be happy to show you how to do it.

So that adds a small Sprite with my snacks, Fenway Frank and water. And I can pour the water into my free cup of ice.

So, can you do it for less than $50?

A Red Sox Game For Under $50, Part 4: Mission Status

So here are the lovely totals:

• Non Obstructed View Ticket at Fenway: $26
• Parking at Riverside Train Station: $6
• Round trip ride on the MBTA train: $4.80
• Snacks and water: $3.75
• Designated Driver soda: Free
• Fenway Frank: $7

That brings my total to (drumroll): $47.55! Mission accomplished!

Not only that, I have $2.45 to spare! What can I do? It’s enough to take one more ride on the MBTA, buy another bag of peanuts at Dollar Tree, or just donate some change in my next trip to the 7-Eleven. Or maybe I’ll just keep it for my next game and make the challenge $52.45.

At any rate, mission success. I enjoyed a game at Fenway Park, one of the most expensive ballparks in baseball, for less than a Grant.

Agreed.

A Red Sox Game For Under $50, Part 5: Epilogue

I’ll just add this for the record: I really did have a wonderful time, and not just because I enjoyed meeting the challenge from an established ballpark aficionado like Marc.

It was a big Red Sox win, with the Sox exploding in the fourth for six runs in an 8-0 victory. Red Sox fans are a loud lot, especially in the Grandstand, and that was fun. I had plenty of peanuts to munch on, and I never tire of Fenway Franks. Even scored a seat on the train ride back.

Trust this guy. He knows his stuff.

And as any baseball fan knows, there’s nothing like a game at Fenway. It was, truly, a blast.

So there you go folks, stick with Ballpark E-Guides! Getting value for your ballpark dollar is what this website is all about, my friends. Be sure you’re checking out my helpful tips, whether you’re visiting a ballpark for the first time or the fiftieth.

And please support my sponsors to keep the tips and great content coming.

Thanks for reading, and I’ll see you at the Yard!

Cheap Red Sox tickets? Really? Yes. Believe it or not, you can find them. Especially with all the tips I’ll be sharing with you in this complete and helpful guide. I’ve used several of these tips to save money on Red Sox tickets, and you can too…and have money left over for a Fenway Frank!

If you want some help choosing a great seat at Fenway Park, check out my very detailed seating guide for Fenway here. If you’re going all in, check out my complete guide to Fenway Park here. But wherever you sit, read on to find out how to get the best deal on Red Sox tickets.

(Note: this article contains affiliate links. If you use an affiliate link to make a purchase, Ballpark E-Guides earns a commission, at no extra cost to you. Thanks for your support!)

Gametime has your cheap Red Sox tickets…with a lowest price guarantee, panoramic seat view photos, and great last minute deals…even after the game starts!

(See why Ballpark E-Guides loves Gametime here!)

Ah, to be among the privileged…people with Red Sox tickets.

Believe me, it really helps to know ALL of your options, but here’s the table of contents for you, in case you want to skip some bits (but don’t):

My Best Tip For Cheap Red Sox Tickets
Buying From The Red Sox Website
StubHub, Gametime, ACE and Other Third Parties
Choose The Right Game AND Opponent
The Red Sox Box Office and Game Day Tickets
Red Sox Nation and Kid Nation (Get a FREE Red Sox ticket!)
Cheap Red Sox Tickets in The Scalp-Free Zone
The Red Sox Community
Red Sox Ticket Scalpers
Finding Cheap Red Sox Tickets on Craigslist
To Sum All This Up…

“Get ya wicked smaht Red Sox news heah!”

If You Want Cheap Red Sox Tickets, Do This Now

Anytime you’re planning to go to a game, it’s always a smart idea to subscribe to a team’s ticket alert newsletter, and the Red Sox ticket alert is no exception.

It’s not so much that the Red Sox offer a lot of ticket deals, although there are some. But in many cases buying Red Sox tickets at face value is the cheapest way to get them, and the newsletter will help you with that…you’ll know about pre-sales, Sox Pax, Christmas at Fenway events, group tickets, fan clubs, military and student discounts and much more. Students get standing room dirt cheap at most games, for example.

The e-mail newsletter is especially useful if you want to see a game against the Yankees. You can jump on pre-sales and get tickets at face, which is usually as cheap as you’ll find, especially for weekend contests. The newsletter will also alert you to Green Monster ticket sales well ahead of time, and it’s probably the easiest way to get your hands on those too.

It doesn’t happen often, but on occasion, the Red Sox waive ticket buying fees, and that’s a considerable amount of savings. That also saves you the time and boredom of waiting in line for Game Day tickets (more on that in a bit). The newsletter will let you know about this too.

So be sure to subscribe!

A color-coded Fenway Park seating map, with appropriately red-colored “sunburn sections”.

Buying Tickets On The Red Sox Website

The Sox have a nifty 3-D seating map on their website, featuring a scale picture of Fenway with clickable sections, panoramic views and prices from each section…but just so you know, they don’t reveal obstructed views.

Remember there are fees for buying on the website, and they’re ridiculous. For high demand games you might be better off using the box office if you can, even on game day…for low demand games you’ll probably find a better deal with a third party.

The Sox website is best for when you don’t live close and want a high demand game. Typically the cheap Red Sox tickets sell out fast, so the Sox make lower demand games available first, such as April and May weekdays. Again, get on any pre-sales you can for Yankees games or July or August weekend games. Remember, subscribe to the Red Sox newsletter first.

You can now enter Fenway by scanning the tickets on your phone, if you have MLB’s Ballpark app (and you should). If you don’t like your seats…and at Fenway, that’s a distinct possibility…you can upgrade them through the app if something is available.

They outsource their ticket sign holding, and pass the savings on to you!

Cheap Red Sox Tickets From 3rd Parties – Gametime, Ace, Etc…

I’m a big fan of Gametime; they guarantee the lowest prices, and they’re fantastic for last minute tickets, which I frequently recommend. That’s why I’ve made them an affiliate…click here to try them out, and let me know what you think!

In the past, I went through a third party site and got a pair of Right Field Box seats for $26…and the list price for this was $87! Full disclosure, this was a weekday May game against Oakland. I’m not claiming you’ll always find cheap Red Sox tickets with Gametime or another third party. But always check, especially for low demand games, because you may find a steal like I did.

Here’s a key tip: being MLB’s official ticket reseller, StubHub usually has the biggest selection of third party tickets, and you may find a deal there. But in some cases, you may find the very same or similar seats offered through another third party. This was the case in the game I just described…and the third party I used offered me a slightly better price.

“Our ticket selection is huge!”

As far as Ace Ticket…they’re well known in Boston, and are actually pretty good as ticket resellers go. One great advantage of Ace is their prime location, in the path from the Kenmore station to Fenway. You can pick up tickets that you’ve ordered there at no extra charge. ACE makes a point that they don’t add a StubHub fee, which isn’t chump change. If you’re there on game day, you might be able to haggle closer to gametime.

Your best bet with third parties, usually, is to get tickets at the last minute (up to two hours before game time, last I checked). But I wouldn’t always count on this. If the game is really important for you to attend, keep checking for a deal you can live with starting about a week out.

Finally, if you have the luxury of comparing third party sites, be sure to go to the checkout screen on each one and see the full price you’ll be paying…the difference in fees can be significant.

You may need the Ballpark app on your smartphone to scan your tickets, so be sure you have that.

In 2014, the Royals were pretty popular. Even in Boston.

Use The Red Sox Schedule: Choose The Right Game AND Opponent

If you only care about visiting Fenway Park, and you’re visiting Boston on a budget, picking the right contest makes a world of difference in your ticket price. Obviously, you shouldn’t pick a game against the Yankees on a July weekend.

Like most teams, the Red Sox offer dynamic pricing. Opening Day, all Yankees games, and Saturday games in June and July are the most expensive. Second to that are weekend games in June, July and August; then weekends in April, May and September, etc. In the bottom tier are “Sox Saver” games: weeknights in April, May and September. If you can handle the weather, you can often find a great deal. For afternoon games the weather might not be bad at all.

But again, check third parties on these too. If the Sox are having a disappointing season, you could find some steals in September.

O’s fans don’t see this very often, so maybe it is worth the trip.

Your choice of opponent makes a difference too. If, say, the Orioles are good (OK, I’ll wait till you’re done LYAO at that one), it can drive up demand for Orioles games at Fenway. The Mets and Phillies can also draw sizable crowds, regardless of their fortunes.

Save for the Angels and East Coast hero Mike Trout, West Coast opponents usually draw the smallest crowds and offer the cheapest tickets.

But hey, you might be reading this because you want to find cheap Red Sox tickets for Yankees games, right? Even if “cheap” in this case is relative. And Ballpark E-Guides never backs down from a challenge!

To see the Yankees at Fenway (or the Cubs, when they visit), you’ll save a lot by planning ahead.

Does this really even need to be said in Boston?

If I lived in Boston, I would visit the box office the day tickets go on sale, and get tickets at face price with no fees. If you live elsewhere, visit the Red Sox website that day, and get your tickets at face value with the fee…which will still be cheaper than the third party markup in almost every case. You can also try the game day ticket option (more on that shortly), but you may be waiting in line for a very long time.

Or plan ahead even further back in time, and get Sox Pax tickets in December…maybe show up for Christmas at Fenway. Sox Pax include a Yankees game and one or more low demand games. Good if you can do the other games…or give the tickets as Christmas presents…but I wouldn’t do this one if you plan to resell the low value games, since you probably won’t get what you paid for them.

As always, pay attention to your newsletter…

Never Drive To Fenway Park Without A Plan…

Book Your Parking Spot NOW With My Friends at SpotHero!

With a helpful mini-jungle gym for the kids to play on while they’re waiting.

The Red Sox Box Office and Game Day Tickets

As I’ve said, for cheap Red Sox tickets for Yankees and other high demand games, if you or someone else can go to the box office for you on the on-sale date, do it…there are no fees at the box office.

At the box office you can actually talk to a person about what seats are available, including seats in front of each other, which isn’t something you can yet find on the Sox website. It also doesn’t hurt to ask for ticket specials, especially for military members.

Then there’s that popular game day tickets option that savvy Sox fans use.

The Red Sox make a handful of tickets available a few hours before each game. These are usually tickets that the visiting team or someone else can’t use—a player may have brought his wife and can’t sit her next to his Boston girlfriend, for example.

So a few hours before each game, a line of folks forms at Gate E on Lansdowne Street to buy any extras the Sox have lying around.

It’s tough waiting in line just steps away from the smell of sausage vendors.

I’ve talked to a few Sox fans about this; they say it’s generally best for one person, since you can only buy one per person and must immediately enter the ballpark after buying them. Lots of folks claim to have gotten very good seats for face value this way.

The Sox allow the line to start forming five hours before game time, but people do line up sooner than that for big games. Fans camping out before playoff games is common.

I can’t guarantee that you’ll get into the park this way, but no one has yet told me they were turned away. As long as you don’t arrive an hour before a Yankees game you should be fine. Keep in mind that you’re looking at a total of maybe 11 hours at the ballpark should you choose this option. I don’t mind that myself; just saying.

The best part? You may land a great seat at face price. With no online fees. Face value with no fees = relatively cheap Red Sox tickets.

Sure, it’s great to get ticket deals. But a secret entrance is even better!

Join The Nation – A FREE Red Sox Ticket!

Red Sox Nation is the team fan club, and gives fans chances to score the hard-to-get seats like Monster seats at face price or lower. There are several levels of membership, some of which cost a nice chunk of change, but even the lesser ones still might offer you cheap Red Sox tickets for decent contests.

Nation membership also includes discounts on gear and nearby restaurants, so it should pay for itself fairly easily. The Red Sox even offer a kids’ membership that includes a free ticket (!), and they may have a free ticket-included membership for adults by the time you read this.

If you plan on going to a few Red Sox games in a season and want something resembling cheap Red Sox tickets, have a look at Nation membership. Could be well worth it for you. Again, check your newsletter and grab a membership when it’s available; these sell out too.

The trick is actually finding this sign.

Cheap Red Sox Tickets – In The “Scalp-Free Zone”

A little known option to Fenway newbies is the scalp-free zone set up by the Red Sox, which is currently at Gate C on Lansdowne Street, although the location does get moved on occasion. Here fans with extra tickets are permitted to sell them at face price or less; a Red Sox official will monitor the transaction and escort you into the park so that you don’t try re-selling the seats.

There aren’t many tickets sold here—the Sox estimate it to be about 30-50 a game—but it’s definitely worth a shot before you try a scalper. It’s also a nice legal place where you can get rid of your own extras if you have them.

The Red Sox deliberately keep this option low-key, because they don’t want it to attract too many buyers. That’s why you need this blog my friend.

With the help of the Green Team!

Help Your Fellow Bostonian

Just putting this one out there.

In happier times, the Red Sox don’t offer a lot of discounts or deals on tickets. But they do have contests and events you can participate in, like Christmas at Fenway or the Picnic in The Park, that could get you entered in drawings for tickets. They’re usually in the Community or Fans sections of the Red Sox website, so it’s worth the trouble to have a look.

If you’re a conscious student and will work for baseball, there are universities that work with the Sox to keep the ballpark clean and the trash sorted out in recycling. You get entry into the park (standing room), a T-shirt and a food voucher, and you can see a game just for doing some cleanup between innings. Save the planet and see a Red Sox game for free. Win-win!

Check out the Fenway Park Green Team program here.

This gentleman is holding up the universal symbol for “I didn’t read this post”.

Red Sox Ticket Scalpers

There are always plenty of scalpers at Fenway, even though scalping is illegal in Massachusetts. Like with brokers, you could be paying well above face value for tickets depending on demand—you might as well use Gametime.

If you try this, bring a seating chart to get an idea of where your seats are, and check the ticket for the correct date and opponent, and that there isn’t an “OV” stamped on the ticket. OV means Obstructed View…you definitely don’t want that.

Ticket prices plummet after the game starts, but that’s no fun unless you’re late to begin with. Brokers generally line up near the Kenmore MBTA station, and in the path from there to the ballpark. You can haggle, but these guys are tough, so you may be dealing with a few of them if you walk away. If you’re lucky, you may find someone with extras, especially for a rainout makeup game. Hold up the number of fingers to show how many you need.

“I’ll text you when I’m at the face painting station. Look for a guy with a misspelled word on his shirt.”

Finding Cheap Red Sox Tickets on Craigslist

I’m sure there are fans that can tell you stories about the deal they scored on Craigslist for any baseball tickets, and I’m sure probably 98% of those cases are legit. But you don’t want to be in that 2%.

I talk more about buying baseball tickets on Craigslist here, but basically the same rules apply that you would use buying from a scalper: meet with the seller in person in a public place, check the tickets for smudged ink, scissor marks or other anomalies, and bring someone with you for the transaction. Get as much information about the person as you can, and especially find out if they are season ticket holders if possible.

Trust your gut…just as with a scalper, if something doesn’t seem right, walk away.

And congratulations on scoring Red Sox tickets!

To Sum This All Up…

…for cheap Red Sox tickets, plan ahead as much as possible. Subscribe to the Red Sox ticket alerts, and pay attention to their e-mails, choose the lowest value contest you can, and compare prices with Gametime and other third parties. You can score great deals on Red Sox tickets, but it takes a little work.

Hopefully what you’ve read helps…take advantage of all your ticket buying avenues! Bookmark this and review it next time you’ve got a Red Sox game at Fenway in mind.

Hope you enjoyed these tips. Thanks for reading, and for supporting my sponsors!

(Note: this article contains affiliate links. If you use an affiliate link to make a purchase, this website earns a commission, at no extra cost to you. Thanks for your support!)