Baseball Teams Aim for Value-Minded Fans

Hungry Americans have been searching for value at restaurants and grocery stores. They might find it at the ballpark, too.

Thursday is opening day of the 2025 Major League Baseball season, and teams across both leagues are promoting deals on items ranging from snacks and hot dogs to booze. The offers reflect a desire to address hungry consumers’ desire for ways to relieve economic stress, which lately have included fast-food value meals, discount groceries, and fewer alcoholic drinks with orders.

The Baltimore Orioles’ Birdland Value Menu, for example, includes more than 12 items costing $6 or less, including pretzel bites, hot dogs, 12-ounce beers, refillable soda, popcorn, nachos and hard seltzer. With value food and low-cost tickets, said Catie Griggs, president of business operations for the team, a family of four can take in a game for under $100.

“Our fans are the heart and soul of this organization,” said Griggs in a press release. “By offering more affordable food and beverage options, we are directly reflecting our commitment to them.”

Tendies in Helmets, Value Beers and ‘Loonie Dogs’

In New York, Mets are bringing $5 menu items to their 13 Tuesday home games this season; the teams also offers a kids’ meal, which includes chicken tenders and fries served in a souvenir helmet and apple juice priced less than $10, at every home game.

Their opening-day opponents, the Toronto Blue Jays, are bringing back their Loonie Dogs Nights for Tuesday home games, where hot dogs are $1. (In 2024, they sold nearly 730,000 Loonie Dogs.) The Mets, the Houston Astros, and Pittsburgh Pirates also have $1 hot dogs on select nights.

The average MLB price of a beer and hot dog has climbed by nearly a third between 2010 and 2024, according to a Statista analysis of data from The Marketing Report.

The Seattle Mariners value menu includes multiple snacks under $5 and a value beer list featuring 12 options for $8 or less. The Mariners also have value games where fans can buy a ticket, a hot dog, and a beer for less than $20 all in.

“Our value offerings are more extensive this season than they have ever been before,” Mariners Vice President of Fan Experience Malcolm Rogel said in a press release earlier this month.