Will Dodgers ticket prices keep increasing?

Now that the ranting and raving and ensuing rejoicing over the replacement of Frank McCourt as owner of the Dodgers has run its course, several key questions have been answered.

One of them was addressed nicely Wednesday night at an L.A. Times/Dodgers Forum at Dodger Stadium’s Stadium Club, where a gathering of about 200 people came to hear what new president Stan Kasten had to say.

And a key question came from the audience, from a man named Steve Freedman of Los Angeles, who asked if all these trades and salary increases meant what they always seem to mean--increased ticket prices.

Kasten, who had danced nicely from topics of new players’ chemistry, to why McCourt was still included in a minor real estate partnership with the current owner Guggenheim Group, to what sort of new amenities were ahead as Dodger Stadium is upgraded, looked the audience in the eye on the ticket price increase question and said, fairly clearly, “Not now.”

His message was on point all night. There is much to do, and improving the team on the field is the first priority. But ticket price increases, as inevitable as they are in every pro sport, clearly were down the list a bit. It will happen, because it always does, but not right now, and likely not even next season.

So, if he holds true to his word, Dodgers fans can thank Steve Freedman for putting the issue out there in public and, apparently, saving everybody a few bucks.

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