A day at Dodger Stadium with my kids cost hundreds just to get through the gate

Your morning catch up: Outrageous Dodgers prices, Boyle Heights fire burns on and more big stories.

Los Angeles Times reporter Hailey Branson-Potts

By Hailey Branson-Potts Staff Writer Follow June 23, 2026 6:30 AM PT

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I still have the tickets — well, the print-outs from StubHub — from my husband’s and my first Dodgers game.

It was Aug. 26, 2011. Dodgers versus Colorado Rockies. Seats in the top deck. Friday night fireworks.

I remember tickets were about $10 apiece because we were fresh out of college, new to the city, and broke. The Boys in Blue dominated that night, Matt Kemp smashed his 30th home run of the season, and we were hooked on our new team and cheap entertainment.

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Fast-forward to 2026. We’ve got a 7-year-old son, Charlie, and a 4-year-old daughter, Casey. Last week, we went to Casey’s first Dodgers game: a Wednesday-at-noon matchup because it was the cheapest option.

Four tickets in the top deck: $202.40.

Parking: $45.

We’d plunked down $247.40 before buying a single Dodger Dog.

Breaking the bank for a day at the ballpark

Times baseball columnist Bill Shaikin has written about how Dodger Stadium — ahem, Uniqlo Field at Dodger Stadium as of this season, thanks to a more than $125-million corporate naming rights deal — is a flash point in the debate over whether teams should chase every possible dollar or “sacrifice a few bucks so they can better nurture a new generation of fans.”

A study last year by the sports betting site Bookies.com, which looked at the cheapest ticket price on official sale sites (as opposed to resale prices), showed that it cost a family of four an average of $399.68 for a Dodger game — a league-high price that included tickets, parking, four hot dogs, two beers and two sodas. The Major League Baseball average was $208.

And that was before the Dodgers won their second consecutive World Series last year.

The average ticket price for the Dodgers’ 2026 home opener was $392 — apiece.

There’s no crying in baseball! Unless you’re a wallet…

Shaikin told me that when he talks to team officials about ticket prices, they respond: How can we be unaffordable if we sell out every night?

Last season, per baseball-reference.com, more than 4 million tickets to Dodgers Stadium were sold, the most ever, with an average of 49,537 fans per game. This season is already shaping up to be even better attended, averaging 50,872 per game as of Monday.

Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Shohei Ohtani

“It’s the ultimate supply and demand,” Shaikin said of the Dodgers, who have a giant payroll behind those World Series wins. “You put the best product on the field of any baseball team in the world, coupled with the best player in baseball, who doubles as an international tourist attraction.

Even during the off-season, Shaikin said, Japanese fans flock to the stadium for tours conducted in Japanese and leave with shopping bags filled with hundreds of dollars worth of Shohei Ohtani merch.

Dodger Stadium, once an affordable second home

During some of our early years in L.A., my husband and I lived in Echo Park, blocks from Dodger Stadium. We walked to inexpensive games night after night. We filled our little apartment with bobbleheads and the voice of Vin Scully on the living room radio.

In 2018, while in the throes of postpartum depression, I wrote about trying to reclaim joy by taking my 11-week-old son to his first game: “In bringing our son to Dodger Stadium, we are, in so many ways, bringing him home.”

Life got busy with two kids. Tickets got expensive. Until last week, I hadn’t been to the stadium in years.

Pricey hot dogs and happy kids

I didn’t know what to expect from my adorable curmudgeon of a daughter during a hot, sunny day game. But when we pulled up, Casey, wearing a hand-me-down Mookie Betts jersey, squealed with delight at the enormous stadium.

Inside a packed gift shop — where women’s T-shirts ran $66 and gray toddler jerseys sold for $98 — a man muttered: “You’ve gotta take out a mortgage for your shirt.” Upstairs, Ohtani-endorsed sunscreen sold for $30 a tube.

We bought three Dodger Dogs, an order of chicken strips and fries, two sodas and a bottle of water for $78.41.

In the stands, my son, a Little Leaguer, whooped when Ohtani threw his first strikeout against the Tampa Bay Rays and patiently explained the game to his little sister, who looked up with sun-kissed cheeks and declared that baseball was “so much fun!”

OK, fine, Dodgers, take my money.

Today’s top stories

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Shooting in California library

Two people have died and a man is in custody following a shooting at a library in Chico on Monday evening, authorities said.
In addition to the two adults killed, a child was taken to Enloe Hospital with non-life-threatening injuries, police said.

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High temperatures are forecast to bake California and the West. Here’s where it will be hottest.
The heat spell is expected to peak on Wednesday and brings something Southern Californians aren’t typically used to — higher than average humidity.
Stay cool, stay safe!

Clive Davis died

The music mogul, who nurtured musicians from Janis Joplin to Whitney Houston, died Monday at 94.
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World Cup

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What else is going on

A battle over single-use plastics erupted after 17 states moved to block the California law.
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Google invests $75 million in A24.
California is avoiding the same data center boom as other states.
The California law that forbids ‘forced outing’ of trans students was blocked by the 9th Circuit court.
A 13-year-old boy got out of a ride ahead of 50-foot drop in a mishap at Disneyland.
A man found himself in a stinky situation after dropping his sunglasses into a campground vault toilet in Shaver Lake on Saturday, going in after them and getting stuck.

Commentary and opinions

A salary cap won’t be enough to stop the Dodgers from winning, argues sports columnist Bill Shaikin.
Business columnist Michael Hiltzik warns that the coming AI-related IPOs could puncture the AI bubble.

This morning’s must read

For your downtime

Going out

Explore a new neighborhood: Here are the best things to do in Malibu.
Happy hour: These 23 new L.A. drinking dens invite you to choose your own bar adventure.
Readings: L.A.’s literary summer is officially lit: 15 events and readings to check out

Staying in

Television: Netflix is expanding its library of kid-centric programs.
🥗 Here’s a recipe for Silky Scrambled Eggs.
✏️ Get our free daily crossword puzzle, sudoku, word search and jigsaw games.

Question of the day: Question of the day: What’s your favorite hike?

Email us at [email protected], and your response might appear in the newsletter this week.

And finally ... the photo of the day

Santiago Peak in the distance, framed by two trees

Today’s great photo is from reader Sarah Chamberlain of Santiago Peak in the distance, photographed from Soka University of America in Aliso Viejo.

Have a great day, from the Essential California team

Hailey Branson-Potts, staff reporter
Hugo Martín, assistant editor, Fast Break desk
Kevinisha Walker, multiplatform editor
Andrew J. Campa, weekend writer
Karim Doumar, head of newsletters

How can we make this newsletter more useful? Send comments to [email protected].

Badenoch blasts 'moaning' female Labour MPs over Burnham jobs 'quota'

Kemi Badenoch has told Labour women to earn a job in Andy Burnham's Cabinet instead of demanding they are handed jobs because of their gender.

The Tory leader lashed out today amid reports that female MPs are demanding the de-facto new prime minister introduce a 50:50 gender split 'quota' in his government.

Amid reports that former foreign secretary David Miliband is being lined up to return to the role, possibly with his brother Ed as Chancellor, one female minister also complained that Burnham could not have 'more Milibands than women' in the top posts.

But in a scathing article in the Times today Mrs Badenoch told them to 'stop moaning' and get chosen on merit instead of retreating into 'more of the failed identity politics that is holding back our country'.

'There are many, many reasons why you shouldn't have any Milibands in the cabinet,' she said.

'But complaining that the boys haven't given them the right jobs or that the boys are taking all the jobs, just shows that Labour's women still don't get it.'

The idea of quotas was also attacked by Baroness Jacqui Smith, Labour's Skills Minister.

Asked by Times Radio if Mr Burnham should reserve jobs for women, she said: 'No, I think what Andy Burnham should be doing is building the very best team around him to change this country.'

A letter written by the Women's Parliamentary Labour Party has called on Mr Burnham to ensure a 50:50 split between men and women in government jobs

Amid reports that former foreign secretary David Miliband (above, right, in 2010) is being lined up to return to the role, possibly with his brother Ed as Chancellor, one female minister complained that Burnham could not have 'more Milibands than women' in the top posts

But Mrs Badenoch told them to pipe down and get chosen on merit instead of retreating into 'more of the failed identity politics that is holding back our country'

A letter written by the Women's Parliamentary Labour Party and seen by the BBC has called on Mr Burnham to ensure a 50:50 split between men and women in government jobs after he succeeds Sir Keir Starmer.

'We are asking you to demonstrate this change from day one and address the toxicity and misogyny within our own party and government,' it said.

Labour has never had a female leader, while the Conservatives have had three, and Mrs Badenoch urged the government to follow its meritocratic example.

'If you run a meritocracy, then you do not have to worry about jobs for the boys,' she wrote.

'Every woman who is a Conservative MP, every woman who has ever won the leadership, has had to fight to get where she is.

'By contrast, Labour women are demanding guarantees from Burnham. But the truth is he doesn't have to give any guarantees.

'If none of Labour's women are prepared to get their hands dirty and challenge him for the leadership, their demands are toothless.'

'In fact, it's quite revealing that the women's parliamentary Labour Party has written to Burnham asking him to commit himself to at least 50 per cent female ministers.

'This has nothing to do with meritocracy. It is yet more of the failed identity politics that is holding back our country.'