Yankees give fans a break next year

In the world of professional sports, rising ticket prices is the norm.

But in a recession, keeping ticket prices the same for a year is news.

The New York Yankees announced that prices for 84% of their tickets, or 41,928 seats, will remain the same in 2010 from 2009.

Fans will see 13% of the stadium's tickets, or 13%, drop in price next year, while 1,704 tickets, or 3%, will increase.

Not bad for a baseball team with more than 90% of its inventory sold and with some of the highest ticket prices in Major League Baseball.

The Yankees realized at the beginning of this season that some of the premium seats at the new stadium were overpriced and cut the prices to some of the seats for season ticket holders by as much as 50%. Prices dropped from $2,500 to $1,250 for some seats and from $1,000 to $650 for others.

CNBC reports that those suite tickets that dropped in price in April will cost $1,500 in 2010. Also, season ticket holders who were told to expect to pay 3% to 6% more each year for their seats probably won't have to pay those extra costs in 2011.

The first level of non-premium seats -- one level up behind home plate -- will drop from $325 to $250 or $235 per game per seat, depending on location, in 2010.

Without getting in to all of the intricacies of Yankee ticket prices, and the various seats available for a simple ballgame, it's safe to say that for most fans, it won't cost more to go to a game next year at Yankee Stadium.

Steady prices are better than rising prices, and that's about as good as it gets for baseball fans.