Average MLB ticket price

Global CO2 emissions and the average MLB ticket price have climbed together between 2016 and 2024 (r = 0.958), which is perhaps the bleakest pairing on the site but also, in its own way, the most honest one. We heat the planet; we charge more for the nosebleed. Both are the same underlying economy making its presence felt, with the Yankees charging more than the Nationals either way.

Global CO2 emissions from fossil fuels grew from about 35.5 gigatons in 2016 to over 37.8 gigatons by 2024, a slower-than-projected but still relentless upward drift pushed by coal rebounds in Asia and aviation recovery; the average MLB ticket price rose from about $31 to over $38, with dynamic pricing and premium seat reconfigurations doing most of the work. Both are stories of stubborn inflation in different registers — atmospheric inflation and concession inflation — driven by the same underlying expansion of global economic activity.

The stadium fills. The atmosphere warms. One charges a cover fee; one asks only that we stay.