Tigers' tickets will cost you more in 2013

By Sean Gagnier

It's to be expected right? When your city has a competitive baseball team with three superstars, you would expect ticket prices would be on the high end. Well, Detroit fans will soon feel the true cost of a contender.

As if last year's ticket prices weren't confusing enough, there will now be three price tiers when purchasing Tigers tickets; premium, regular and value.

Value pricing is for most games in April, May and September, with Opening Day excluded. The value pricing is meant to attract fans during school-months when the stadium is usually below capacity. Premium pricing will apply for most summer weekend games and matchups with high-profile teams, such as the Yankees or Red Sox. The regular pricing will cover the remainder of games.

Mr. Mike Ilitch will still sell you a pizza for $5, but you can no longer go see his baseball team for a fiver. The popular "Skyline" seats, code for nosebleed, will increase from $5 to $20 for premium games, $15 for regular games and $12 for value games.

Bleacher seats will also see a hefty price hike in 2013, jumping from $17 for premium games and $15 for regular games last year to $23 for premium and $18 for regular and value games.

The skyline and bleacher seats will see the highest percentage increase for 2013, but most tickets are increasing by about $5 this season.

Full ticket prices listed below (premium/regular/value), with 2012 prices (premium/regular) in parentheses.

Lower Level Tickets

On-deck circle:  $90/$85/$77   ($85/$75)
Tiger den: $85/$80/$72    ($80/$70)
Infield box: $65/$60/$52   ($60/$50)
Terrace: $58/$53/$45    ($53/$43)
Outfield box: $52/$47/$39    ($47/$37)
Lower baseline box: $43/$38/$30    ($38/$28)
Right-field grandstand: $36/$31/$23   ($31/$21)
Pavilion: $26/$21/$19    ($21/$17)
Bleachers: $23/$18/$18    ($17/$15)
Kaline's Corner: $23/$18/$18    ($18/$16)

Upper Level Tickets

Club seats: $41/$36/$33    ($36/$31)
Upper box infield: $35/$30/$26    ($30/$26)
Upper box right field: $35/$30/$26    ($30/$24)
Upper box left field: $35/$30/$25     ($30/$24)
Upper baseline box: $30/$25/$21    ($25/$19)
Mezzanine: $25/$20/$18     ($20/$16)
Upper reserved: $24/$19/$16     ($19/$14)
Skyline: $20/$15/$12     ($5/$5)
Standing-room only: N/A     ($17/$15)