The gates to Dodger Stadium haven’t even opened yet, and the market has already spoken.
Ticket prices are surging for the Los Angeles Dodgers Tuesday night game against the Cleveland Guardians.
Sure, two-way sensation Shohei Ohtani is making his 2026 pitching debut and batting leadoff, but that’s not the biggest reason fans are lining up to get into Chavez Ravine. It’s because somewhere between the mound and a movie screen a cultural event is about to take place.
The first 40,000 fans in attendance will receive a “Yoshi” bobblehead as part of a crossover promotion between the adorable Nintendo star and 2025 World Series MVP Yoshinobu Yamamoto.
The promotion is ahead of the release of the upcoming “Super Mario Galaxy Movie” that hits theaters on Wednesday April 1st, and the bobblehead features the beloved green dinosaur wearing a Yamamoto Dodgers uniform. The Japanese pitcher is also nicknamed “Yoshi.”
Yes, it’s clever, but it’s also driving ticket prices into the stratosphere.
A month ago, this was just another ticket. An average price of $75 and that was for a good seat. The get-in price was far cheaper. Now? The cheapest seat on secondary ticket reseller TIckPick ballooned to $172 on Tuesday morning with an average hovering near $289. That’s not inflation—that’s obsession.
Just a few miles away, at Crypto.com Arena, the Los Angeles Lakers are hosting the Cleveland Cavaliers. Luka Doncic is back after a one-game suspension in the Lakers win against the Wizards. LeBron James—perhaps for the final time against his former team, perhaps flirting with the idea of returning to it next season—is sure to be the star of the show.
And yet, you can get into that game for $117.
Read that again.
A Lakers game featuring generational stars is cheaper than a Tuesday night baseball game in March. Cheaper than the bobblehead, even. Because on resale markets, the Yoshi-Yamamoto collectible is already listing north of $230, with eBay presales ranging from $187 to $300.
Even stranger, Dodger Stadium holds a capacity of 56,000 people. Crypto.com Arena holds just over 19,000. The supply and demands alone should be enough to make the Lakers more expensive, but it’s the mass-produced bobblehead that is the real prize, and it’s skyrocketing prices.
I guess we know who the Dodgers Player of the Game will be on Tuesday.
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