Dodgers fans at Dodger Stadium were lining up Wednesday night for free beer and blue Dodgers-Budweiser koozies just as the price of Dodgers Tickets for Game 3 of the NLCS slid to $97. The giveaway ran beside a red Budweiser tent in the concourse, where the line stretched well off into the walkway while the Dodgers tried to get more people inside for a game they badly needed.
That need was real. Los Angeles was about to host Game 3 trailing the Brewers 0-2 after Monday night’s 7-4 loss, and the original $144 listing before the NLCS began had already been cut by 47%, according to Front Office Sports. The lower price did not erase the market’s message, but it did show how fast demand had changed for a home playoff game at Dodger Stadium.
Edward Lewis described fans gathered near the red tent in the concourse, a scene that said as much about the night as the scoreboard did. The club was leaning on a free beer promotion for a simple reason: it needed an extra push. When seats are still moving at $97 after a postseason game has been marked down from $144, a giveaway is less a celebration than a search for bodies in the building.
The timing only sharpened the contrast. Blake Snell was scheduled to start for the Dodgers on Wednesday night, coming off 3 ⅔ innings on 90 pitches in Game 2 of the NLDS against the Atlanta Braves, while Shohei Ohtani was slated to hit in the No. 6 spot after the team was reportedly considering benching him following Monday night’s game. The Dodgers had swept the Brewers in the NLCS last year, but this version of the matchup carried none of that comfort. If the home crowd was meant to be stirred by free beer and koozies, the sharper question was whether anything short of a win would be enough to change the mood around Los Angeles.
