Photo: Bill Murray - SNS Group / Contributor (Getty Images)
I’m not here to stop you from proposing to your beloved on the jumbotron this summer. If your dream is to ask your partner to spend the rest of your lives together in front of 40,000 people who share your fandom (or 3,000 people if you’re an Oakland A’s fan), I would never try to stop you.
I’m just here to offer some friendly alternatives for other ways you could spend that money, provided you are able to hear them. I promise this has nothing to do with my general aversion to grandiose public gestures, and comes purely from a place of financial literacy. After all, you’re about to get engaged! It’s no time to be spending your hard earned money willy-nilly. You’ve got a large and expensive party to plan.
Before I tell you how to better spend your public proposal cash, let’s find out how much it costs to rent out the jumbotron at various ballparks (per Swimmingly).
Low-tier stadiums (Under $100)
Pittsburgh Pirates (PNC Park): $39Atlanta Braves (Truist Park): $50Cincinnati Reds (Great American Ballpark): $50Colorado Rockies (Coors Field): $50Chicago White Sox (Guaranteed Rate Field): $55San Diego Padres (Petco Park): $55Detroit Tigers (Comerica Park): $75Oakland Athletics (RingCentral Coliseum): $85Middle-tier stadiums ($100-$250)
New York Yankees (Yankee Stadium): $100Seattle Mariners (Safeco Field): $115Chicago Cubs (Wrigley Field): $175San Francisco Giants (AT&T Park): $175Texas Rangers (Globe Life Park in Arlington): $200Minnesota Twins (Target Field): $209Arizona Diamondbacks (Chase Field): $250High-tier stadiums ($250+)
Boston Red Sox (Fenway Park): $350Cleveland Indians (Progressive Field): $400Philadelphia Phillies (Citizens Bank Park): $450Houston Astros (Minute Maid Park): $500Miami Marlins (Marlins Park): $500St. Louis Cardinals (Busch Stadium): $500Tampa Bay Rays (Tropicana Field): $500Washington Nationals (Nationals Park): $1,500Los Angeles Dodgers (Dodger Stadium): $2,500Do not allow proposals
Toronto Blue Jays (Rogers Centre)Los Angeles Angels (Angels Stadium of Anaheim)Kansas City Royals (Kauffman Stadium) Baltimore Orioles (Camden Yards)New York Mets (CitiField)My immediate reaction is to tip my hat to the five MLB teams who’ve drawn a line in the sand and refuse to aid and abet the ultimate public display of affection. Secondly, I’m surprise at how much the price of proposing on the jumbotron can vary from stadium to stadium. Really, Pittsburgh Pirates? $39 to propose on your Jumbotron? I know you struggle to get people to the ballpark, but there has to be a better way.
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Now that we’ve had time to digest this information, let’s talk about alternatives. If you’re getting married, you’re presumably going to have a wedding. And with a wedding comes a variety of costs, big and small. Here are some costs you can get out of the way should you decide to reallocate your proposal budget to your wedding budget.
Low-tier wedding costs (Under $100)
Middle-tier wedding costs ($100-$250)
High-tier wedding costs ($250+)
Doesn’t seeing that all laid out in front of you make you think twice about the financial viability of proposing on the jumbotron? Remember, I just want to help you make a fiscally sound decision here. I’m doing this for you.
And if you’re flush with cash and still determined to propose to your partner on the big screen? Please be 100% sure they’re going to say yes. Because you can’t put a price tag on recovering from public humiliation. Beyond your therapy bills anyway.
