Remember when catching a baseball game was an easy, affordable way to spend time with family or friends? But in cities like Los Angeles, that simple joy now comes with sticker shock. Dodgers fans, in particular, have watched prices climb season after season, turning what was once a family-friendly outing into a serious budget decision. The frustration has been bubbling for a while.

The estimated price for a family of four to attend a game at Dodger Stadium—including tickets, parking, food, and drinks—is approximately $399.68, the highest in Major League Baseball. Days later, Rob Manfred poured gasoline on the fire. When asked about the rising cost of Dodgers tickets, the MLB Commissioner didn’t acknowledge the concern, he redirected it. His suggestion? If fans think Dodgers games are too expensive, they should try going to an Angels game instead.

“One of the leaders in terms of thinking about affordability has been the other Los Angeles team,” Manfred said, referencing the Angels’ long-standing family-friendly pricing, which includes $3 tickets for kids and teens, $44 family packs, and a $20 Junior Angels club that comes with four game tickets.

What he might’ve thought was a helpful tip came across as dismissive and tone-deaf, sparking immediate backlash from fans who felt brushed aside. It reflected a broader disconnect between MLB leadership and the fans they serve. Social media erupted with criticism, accusing Manfred of dodging the core issue instead of addressing the underlying economic strain facing working-class supporters.

The irony? While Manfred stood by his belief that MLB does not have an affordability issue, the league’s own website was simultaneously running a pop-up poll asking fans whether they agreed with the statement: “Attending a Major League Baseball game is affordable.” The juxtaposition only added fuel to the fire.

At its heart, this controversy isn’t about the Angels versus the Dodgers. It’s about the perception that baseball is becoming more exclusive, more corporate, while the average fan is being priced out.

Rob Manfred’s words stir fan outrage

Manfred’s attempt to highlight a “solution” only emphasized the problem. In a sport that often trades on nostalgia and loyalty, telling fans to find a cheaper option across town hits harder than perhaps what he anticipated.

This incident harks back to another tone-deaf moment from Rob Manfred, when he casually told frustrated A’s fans they could just go watch the Giants instead. It wasn’t just a throwaway line; it revealed a deeper issue. Time and again, Manfred seems to treat fan loyalty like a switch that can be flipped. But for people who’ve stuck with their teams through losing seasons, rising prices, and stadium drama, being told to simply support someone else feels like a slap in the face. It’s not just about baseball, it’s about being heard, respected, and valued.

Instead of addressing the real concerns of fans who are being priced out of the game, Rob Manfred essentially shrugged and suggested they find another team to root for. It’s the kind of comment that feels more like a dismissal than a solution, showing just how little regard he seems to have for the loyalty and passion that fans invest in their teams. For the supporters, it worked as a stark reminder that Manfred’s priorities don’t always align with the heart of baseball — the fans.

It’s hard to blame fans for rolling their eyes when Manfred refers to the Angels as the “other Los Angeles team,” especially considering the Angels don’t even play in Los Angeles (they play in Anaheim). For many, it was yet another moment that exposed just how out of touch he is with the realities of the league and its fan bases. For those still reeling from how he handled the Oakland A’s situation, this felt like another blow. Many thought he had already hit peak disconnect, but this moment proved there was still room to fall.

This kind of sarcasm captures exactly why so many fans are fed up with Rob Manfred. The idea that fans should just hop teams based on affordability turns the emotional bond of fandom into a casual, transactional decision. It completely misses what makes sports special. People don’t choose teams like they choose cable packages; it’s about loyalty, tradition, family ties, and identity. So when fans ask how someone with such a shallow understanding of that connection became the Commissioner of baseball, it doesn’t feel like a joke. It feels like a legitimate question.

Rob Manfred’s suggestion that Dodgers fans should simply ride for 2.5 hours to Anaheim just to catch an Angels game if prices are too high completely ignores the essence of what it means to be a fan. Fandom isn’t about saving a few bucks, it’s about connection, loyalty, and tradition. Telling someone to drive hours to support a team they don’t support, have no emotional tie to, shows a staggering lack of understanding. It’s not just inconvenient, it’s insulting.

Now that’s a jab with some sting and a point. If Rob Manfred can praise the Dodgers’ financial wizardry for deferring $680 million of Shohei Ohtani’s contract, surely he can wrap his head around fans needing to stretch their own budgets. Maybe next time someone balks at a $300 night at the ballpark, they can just promise to pay it off over the next 10 years, interest-free. It’s a clever way of highlighting the growing disconnect, where creative accounting is celebrated for teams, but affordability concerns from fans are brushed aside.

In the end, Rob Manfred’s comments have only deepened the divide between MLB’s leadership and its fans. They don’t need lectures on alternatives, they need leaders who get what the game truly means. If Manfred wants to grow the sport, he’d do well to start by respecting its core.