Phillies Fans Spend Their Way to the World Series

If there were a World Series for spending, fans of the Philadelphia Phillies would have already won. Fans of the National League Eastern Division champs are being asked to shell out $1,510 for home tickets to the World Series, more than any other team in the post season, according to FanSnap, a secondary ticket search engine.

What makes that extraordinary is that the Phillies still need to defeat the San Francisco Giants to even make it to the World Series. But if they get there, the Philies will become the first National League team to make the Fall Classic three years in a row in more than 60 years. World Series tickets are being unloaded by season-ticket holders, who buy them in advance in the hope that their team will make the big game.

Of the four teams in the American League Championship Series, which began Friday, and the National League Championship Series, which begins Saturday,, Philadelphia games also are seeing the strongest demand for tickets. The asking price for those tickets averages $504, according to FanSnap.

Phillies fans would save money by watching their team battle against the San Francisco Giants in San Francisco, where tickets are fetching $375 -- although of course, the plane tickets would more than offset those savings. Meanwhile, Texas Rangers home games against the Yankees average $310 and, surprisingly, Yankee fans are paying the least -- only $274 -- to watch their team battle the Rangers at Yankee Stadium.

Phillie Highs and Lows

Philadelphia is known for having among the most passionate and cantankerous sports fans in the country, who have no qualms about booing superstars, such as Phillies Hall of Fame slugger Mike Schmidt and former Eagles quarterback Donovan McNabb, for what they consider a poor performance.

The Phillies in particular have suffered legendary losing streaks, including 16 consecutive losing seasons from 1933 to 1948. In 2007, the team became the first ever in professional sports to hit 10,000 losses. A year later, the team won the World Series.

The Phillies made it to the Series again in 2009, but fell to the New York Yankees. Now, many baseball analysts say the Phillies have a good shot at being baseball's champions once again.

Fan excitement has soared after Phillies pitcher Roy Halladay (pictured) pitched a no-hitter against the Cincinnati Reds in the National League Divisional Championship Series, becoming only the second player in Major League Baseball history to do pitch a no-hitter in the post season. Halladay also pitched a perfect game in May.

"It's absolutely incredible what we are seeing," says Rich Lampmann, director of promotions and public relations at Modell's Sporting Goods. Sales of Phillies gear are up as customers are spending more on merchandise, he adds.

At Citizens Bank Park, post-season sales of Phillies merchandise, such as T-shirts and game programs, are up 40% over the same period last year and collectible sales have grown 30% to 35%, says Scott Brandreth, the team's director of merchandising. He says the team is pleasantly surprised by the sales.