The 2025 Major League Baseball (MLB) season recently celebrated Opening Days. And, so far, a lot has stayed the same. In the American League, Aaron Judge is still launching home runs for the New York Yankees. In the National League, the Los Angeles Dodgers are defending their World Series trophy with their usual mix of speed and power.
But plenty has changed, too. Juan Soto still wears a New York jersey, but it is now for the Mets. The Oakland Athletics are no more. Currently, they are simply the Athletics and they will be playing for the next three seasons in Sacramento until Las Vegas is ready to fully welcome them. The big news story, though, has been the rising popularity of torpedo bats — the invention of an MIT-educated physics professor who was tired of seeing so many strikeouts, so he invented a new bat with an elongated barrel. Players and fans have been loving the result.
Some of the biggest changes, though, have been at the ballparks themselves. We surveyed a number of MLB ticketing professionals to see what is new and different for 2025.
Changes To Ticketing and Admissions
Mike Mazza, Director of Ticket Operations for the Chicago White Sox, notes that the team now has all ticket holders going through the White Sox’s MLB Ballpark App to enter the ballpark. Anthony Esposito, Senior Vice President of Ticket Operations for the Atlanta Braves, remarks that his team has “finally caught up to the times” at Truist Park’s premium entry gates and added pedestal scanners by Alvarado. And Bob Brunner, Director of Tickets & Event Services for the Seattle Mariners, applauds Ticketmaster’s new Account Manager as the perfect platform for both the Mariners’ traditional Season Ticket Members and its Flex Members to buy, transfer, exchange or resell their tickets all online.
Margo Malone, Senior Manager of Season Ticket Memberships & Special Projects for the San Francisco Giants, notes that MLB’s Go-Ahead Entry has been expanded to three gates at Oracle Park for the new season. She recalls, “During the initial launch in 2024, the cutting-edge technology was used at our Lefty O’Doul and 2nd and King entrances. The Giants were the second team in MLB to implement Go-Ahead Entry last year. Surprisingly, our fans got up to speed quickly and really liked the ease of hands-free entry.”
Paul J. Froehle
The Minnesota Twins have followed suit. Paul J. Froehle, Vice President of Ticket Operations, says the Twins implemented the new MLB Go Ahead Entry as an option for fans at most gates. He says, “Go Ahead Entry utilizes facial authentication to verify and ‘scan’ fans tickets as they walk seamlessly into the ballpark without taking out their mobile device. This is an optional program where fans can enroll in Go Ahead Entry to expedite and enhance their ballpark entry experience.”
Froehle is also proud of the new MyTwins Rewards program that allows member-fans to accrue points for ticket, concessions and merchandise purchases. Their points can be redeemed for items, experiences or other unique offerings via their MyTwins Rewards portal.
Changes to the Ballparks Themselves
Of course, part of the thrill of going to Opening Day or in that first week of games is seeing what’s new inside the ballparks themselves. Some longtime fans will even notice a fresh coat of paint in a slightly different shade than the season before. But several teams have gone much further. For instance, Mazza notes that the White Sox have built a studio that shows the team’s pre- and post-game shows live in the ballpark in an area that fans can stand in and watch.
John Jola, Senior Manager of Ticket Systems & Reporting for the Miami Marlins, notes that his organization has made two notable offseason upgrades to the ballpark. He states, “The first upgrade was the expansion of our premium space as we added more seats to our PNC Club. It’s our most premium space with seats just a few feet from home plate and it’s a great way to watch and experience a ballgame.”
He continues, “We also upgraded our left field sports lounge — The Bullpen Bar & Grill. It’s a fun and energetic space that offers something for everyone. On Saturdays, we host Sábado Sips, which presents a different theme each week. There’s a rotating lineup of unique beverage experiences such as Beerfest, Rum Fest and more. No matter who you are — a passionate baseball fan, a business professional hosting clients, a family making memories, or simply looking for a great weekend experience —The Bullpen Bar & Grill has the perfect ticket package for fans!”
The upgrade Malone is most excited about is the new Backstop Bars along Oracle Park’s Field Club corridors. “There are three locations, with one being adjacent to the Ticket Office back door,” she says. “Our staff gets to enjoy the carpeted flooring running the length of the tunnel, a nice update from the concrete floors. Our Premium ticket members deserve an elevated experience, and this space delivers.”
The Braves have been among the most ambitious in making changes and improvements to their home venue. The franchise completed three different master-plan project upgrades during the off-season that are worth noting. The first was in right-center field and involved the removal of all of the standard plastic ballpark seats in four sections. They have been replaced with mesh seats that 4Topps produces. Esposito notes, “The lower rows of these sections also have a small table and television in between every two seats. Underneath of this seating area, we opened the space up and created an exclusive lounge [dubbed “The Pen”] that these seats have access to.”
The Braves’ second big off-season renovation was extending the team’s popular Coors Light Chop House deck seats. These seats are located in the right-field corner and offer in-seat service, your own tabletop space, and a breathable mesh high barstool seat with a back.”
Jessica Lee
Jessica Lee, Director of Ticket Operations for the Atlanta Braves and Truist Park, is perhaps most excited about the expanded seating for the fan-favorite Chop House. She remarks, “The seating will expand into sections 107 and 108 and offer a $15 food, beverage, and merchandise credit per ticket for guests to enjoy, along with in-seat food and beverage service. New drinks rails in this space will also offer charging stations for personal devices.” It should be noted that memberships for this space are sold out for the 2025 season.
Atlanta’s final off-season renovation was the relocation of the ballpark’s kids area from inside of the park to a space outside of the stadium down the third base line. The new space also allowed the organization to install a wiffle ball field, collapsable batting cages, lawn seating and a large video board for parents to not miss out on the action while they enjoy a beverage and their children playing.
Meanwhile, the Twins’ Froehle is all about the technology upgrades. The organization has upgraded Target Field’s point-of-sale technology at all concessions and premium seating locations to the state-of-the-art MyVenue system. MyVenue allows fans throughout the ballpark to quickly and easily make their food and beverage purchases.
Additionally, Froehle says “the Twins’ new partnership with American Tower will deliver an expansive, ballpark-wide upgrade to 5G via a state-of-the-art distributed antenna system (DAS). Once complete, cellular network coverage will be expanded by 82% within Target Field.”
New Giveaways and Promotions
And of course, what would any new season of pro baseball be without some super-fun promotions on the horizon to entice the fans back to the ballpark.
This season marks the 25th Anniversary of the opening of Oracle Park, and the Giants are planning to celebrate the milestone throughout the regular season. One fun ticketing promotion is the new Jung Hoo Crew fan section of the ballpark dedicated to popular outfielder Jung Hoo Lee. Malone says, “Fans who purchase tickets in the designated section of the Bleachers 142 receive a limited edition t-shirt. We expect a lot of cheering on Jung Hoo as he patrols the outfield and catches fly balls!”
This season will also mark the 125th anniversary of the Chicago White Sox. Mazza says the organization is planning several promotions of the team’s most historic past seasons “such as our 1912 hooded sweatshirt.” The July 11 game will feature a statue unveiling of Mark Buehrle who pitched in the team’s 2005 World Series Championship Team and once threw a perfect Game. Two days later, the White Sox will give away bobbleheads of the team’s four starting pitchers of the World Series, all of whom completed nine-inning wins during that championship post-season run.
The following month, the Mariners will celebrate the induction of Ichiro Suzuki into the Major League Baseball Hall of Fame with a three-day Ichiro Hall of Fame POP! giveaway leading into a larger weekend celebration. Brunner says Seattle will once again team up with local rock music legend Eddie Vedder and offer the Vedder Cup to help raise awareness for Epidermolysis Bullosa (EB) Research (https://www.ebresearch.org/).
Froehle adds that the Twins will be bringing back and expanding its Bark at the Park promotion to include more canines this season. He adds, “We also have a pretty cool pink jersey for our Barbie Theme Night that has been popular with the younger demographic.”
And a New Ballpark Opens ... Er, Sort Of
Finally, there is indeed the curious case of the former Oakland Athletics pulling up stakes. The team is playing its home games at Sutter Health Park in Sacramento for the 2025-27 seasons before its planned relocation to the Las Vegas market. While in California’s state capital, the team will be referred to simply as the “Athletics” or the “A’s” with no specific city affiliation. The team celebrated its home Opening Day on March 31 to a sold-out crowd versus the Chicago Cubs.
Josh Ziegenbusch remains Senior Director of Ticket and Premium Operations for the organization. He remarks, “We have a number of promotional items and offers this season. We feature postgame fireworks shows, player bobbleheads and an Athletics basketball-style jersey for fans to share their spirit. We are also selling 250 lawn seats at a fixed price of $25 per ticket (inclusive of fees) for each game. We've spent the last year working with teams locally to prepare the ballpark and establish ticketing manifests, prices and policies. Yes, we have had quite a unique offseason!
It's been quite a unique offseason for many Major League ball clubs. From the stunning, new outdoor LED rings that span more than 3,100 feet in length and wrap around the Philadelphia Phillies' Citizens Bank Park to the Cleveland Guardians' new Terrace Hall retro beer hall experience with indoor and outdoor spaces to drink ales and watch games, fans are already being dazzled.
There's nothing else left to say except ... "Play ball!"
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