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The San Diego Padres will start the National League Division Series against the Los Angeles Dodgers this Saturday, with the first two games to be played at Dodger Stadium. The Padres will then host the next two games of the series at Petco Park, but they reportedly don't want many Dodgers fans in attendance for those games, as they have limited ticket sales to fans within the San Diego area and nearby counties.
Dodgers Nation posted the news on X/Twitter, which has been greeted with a great deal of criticism from MLB fans.
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On Thursday, a note was dispatched by the Padres to any person who attempted to purchase tickets for the NLDS on their website.
The note read:
"Petco Park is located in San Diego. Sales to this event will be restricted to residents of San Diego County, southern Orange County, western Arizona, Las Vegas and the surrounding area, and all of Baja California. Residency will be based on credit card billing address.
"Orders by residents outside San Diego County, southern Orange County, western Arizona, Las Vegas and the surrounding area, and all of Baja California will be canceled without notice and refunds given."
Dodgers fans quickly voiced their displeasure on social media:
Meanwhile, some of the Padres faithful defended the move:
"We had it sold out weeks ago in presale," one fan replied.
"Dodger fans couldn’t get those tickets even if there were no restrictions," another fan said.
"You can buy tickets on a 3rd party site dude," one fan advised.
The Padres certainly would not want Dodgers fans to fill up their stadium after breaking the attendance record at Petco Park for Game 1 of the NL Wild Card series. They then set a new mark with 47,705 attending Game 2 of the series against the Atlanta Braves.
Padres' restrictions on ticket sales at Petco Park not unprecedented
The Padres limiting ticket sales for the NLDS on their website is not a novel idea, as they used the same restrictions on ticket sales for their home games during their previous postseason appearance in 2022.
According to the San Diego Union-Tribune, less than 1,000 seats for each Padres home game were available for purchase following the presale for season ticket holders, and those got sold out within minutes. The cheapest one available right now is a standing-room ticket on Gallgher Square for $204 on Stubhub, while a seated ticket in Section 325 costs $312.
