2007 - When MLB tickets and concessions were much cheaper, and 'Roctober' was special in Denver

April 5, 2025 by CollegeFootballPoll.com Staff

Attendance for Major League Baseball is maintaining its average over the last years at just 30,000 fans per game, but is short of the nadir it reached from 2004-2016 when it topped the 30,000 per game mark every season.

2007 continues to be the all-time leader in total attendance when 79,474,718 spectators traveled to the various ballbarks to watch the Great American Pastime and cheer on their favorite team. But fewer spectators doesn't necessarily mean less interest in the game. In fact, a lot of the shrinkage can simply be directly related to the capacity shrinkage as the focus has changed from "bigger" to "better" with more fan experiences available, including more options for food and beverages.

The cost to attend is also a huge contributing factor, along with the 162-game schedule with 81 at home. The average ticket price has climbed from $22 in 2007 to $38 in 2025.

One complaint to hear from a huge number of attendees is the ridiculous price of concessions - an issue that has damned every sport - especially the professional versions of football, basketball, baseball, hockey, soccer, golf and tennis.  It is not uncommon to now find $15 beers, $8 sodas, and $6 hot dogs. These prices vary from ballpark-to-ballpark with a 2024 survey finding that a beer could range from a low of just over $3 at Coors Field to a $15 high at Nationals Park.

Of course, you need cheap beer prices to watch the Colorado Rockies play now. They've finished last for three consecutive seasons in the NL West and have started off their 2025 campaign with just one win over seven games.

And that takes us back to 2007 when fans flocked the ballpark to watch the Colorado Rockies in their race with the San Diego Padres and Arizona Diamondbacks to win the division. Ultimately, the Snakes took first by a half-game over the tied Padres and Rockies who had a 1-game playoff for the wild card spot which saw Colorado prevail by a score of 9-8 in 13 innings after getting hosting advantage via a coin flip. San Diego had taken a 8-6 lead to the bottom of the 13th, but the Rockies answered with a head-first home slide for the winning run by Matt Holiday, whose triple had evened the score at 8-apiece. Arguments continue to this day as to whether or not Holliday ever touched the plate.

But 2007 was the fall of "Rocktober" in Denver, and greater things seemed inevitable after Colorado went 14-1 from mid-September to the end of the regular season to close with a then-franchise record of 90 wins. They followed their playoff play-in win over San Diego with a 3-0 sweep of the Phillies for their first MLB playoff series win, and continued to plow through the postseason with a 4-0 sweep of the Diamondbacks. Unfortunately for their faithful, the 21-1 stretch ended there and the Rockies themselves were swept out of the World Series by the Boston Red Sox who had to rally from a 3-1 games deficit to Cleveland to even get to the Series.

2007

Rockies make it to the series.
Red Sox win the series.
A family of four could see the game for roughly $90 and each enjoy a beverage and a hot dog for around $24, after parking for an average of $6.