PHOENIX — Imagine this: it's 2001 and the Diamondbacks are in the World Series. You go to buy a ticket at Bank One Ballpark (now Chase Field). How much do you think it costs?
Well, we found an old Game 6 ticket from 2001 with a price tag of $110. That's a lot less than the lowest-priced ticket from Game 3 of this year's series, which was $650.
A lot more has changed since the last time the World Series featured the Diamondbacks (including the stadium's name).
Gas prices
Not only were ticket prices lower, it cost less to get to the game (if you were driving). The national average price of a gallon of gasoline in 2001 was $1.46, according to data from the Office of Energy Efficiency & Renewable Energy. Today? The national average is around $3.60.
Average home cost
Maybe staying in to watch the 2001 World Series was more your style. The national average price for a home was around $210,000, according to data from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). In 2023, that price had skyrocketed to $562,400.
Cookout costs
What's a World Series watch party without a cookout? In 2001, hot dogs went for about $2.27 a pound. Now, you'll be paying about $4.08 a pound. And those burgers are going to cost you more, too. A pound of ground beef was about $2.19 in 2001, compared to a whopping $5.52 today.
Movie ticket
Rather catch a movie at the theater than watch baseball? You'll be paying more for that in 2023, too. You could buy a ticket to see the newly-released "Zoolander" (or maybe "A Beautiful Mind"?) for $5.66 in 2001. Catching a film at the theater now will set you back about $10.50 a ticket.
While a lot has changed, we hope one thing remains the same: the Diamondbacks winning it all.