How My Daughter and I Are Seeing All 30 MLB Stadiums for Less Than a Used Car (A Reds Fan’s Cheapskate Guide)

When my daughter Emma was seven, she looked at my Great American Ball Park stadium map and asked, “Dad, have you done the MLB Stadium Tour?” I hadn’t. I’d been to maybe six stadiums in 42 years of bleeding Reds red. But something about her question stuck. That night, I promised her that before she graduated high school, we’d see a game at every MLB stadium together. She’s 11 now, we’ve hit 23 stadiums, and we’ve spent less than $12,000 total. That’s less than I spent on my divorce lawyer.

Look, I’m a Cincinnati guy through and through. I work in insurance, drive a 2014 Honda Accord, and consider Skyline Chili a food group. I’m not rich. But I’ve figured out how to turn summer vacations, long weekends, and strategic credit card usage into a father-daughter baseball odyssey that’s actually affordable. Emma keeps a journal of every stadium, I keep a spreadsheet of every dollar, and together we’re proving you don’t need to be wealthy to give your kid experiences that matter.

The truth is, after the divorce three years ago, I needed something that was ours. Not mom’s, not split between houses, just ours. Baseball became that thing. And if a middle-aged insurance adjuster from Cincinnati can figure out how to afford Fenway, Yankee Stadium, and Dodger Stadium on a budget, anyone can.

The Math That Started Everything

Initial stupid plan: 30 stadiums × $1,000 per trip = $30,000 (absolutely not)

Actual smart plan: Regional clusters, off-peak games, and extreme cheapskate tactics = $400-500 per stadium including everything

Current spending after 23 stadiums: $10,847 Remaining 7 stadiums budgeted: $2,800 Total for all 30: ~$13,600

That’s $453 for the entire MLB Stadium Tour for two people, including travel, tickets, hotels, and food. Here’s how:

The Regional Cluster Strategy

Stop #1 of MLB Stadium Tour

Never visit one stadium. Always do 2-4 in a long weekend. Our best clusters:

The I-70 Series (4 days, June 2022):

Cincinnati to St. Louis (Cardinals): 5-hour drive
St. Louis to Kansas City (Royals): 4-hour drive
Kansas City back home: 8-hour drive
Total cost: $687 for two stadiums Emma had never seen

The Northeast Corridor (5 days, July 2023):

Flew Cincinnati to Baltimore: $198 roundtrip both of us (Frontier, I know)
Baltimore (Orioles) to D.C. (Nationals): MARC train $16
D.C. to Philadelphia (Phillies): Amtrak $54
Philadelphia to New York (Mets then Yankees): NJ Transit $28
Total: $1,843 for FIVE stadiums

The California Dream (4 days, spring break 2024):

Cincinnati to LAX: $312 roundtrip (Tuesday flights)
Dodgers, Angels, and Padres in one trip
Rental car: $180 (Turo, not Hertz)
Total: $1,492 for three stadiums plus Emma saw the ocean

When to Go On Your MLB Stadium Tour (This Matters More Than You Think)

April weekday games: Nobody goes, tickets are cheap, weather’s usually decent Tuesday-Wednesday-Thursday: Hotel prices drop 50%, tickets available day-of Getaway day games: Teams literally give tickets away for noon Thursday games September when teams suck: Marlins tickets in September? $6. I’m not joking.

Never go:

Opening Day (unless it’s your team)
Weekends June-August (family prices)
Red Sox-Yankees at either stadium (mortgage payment prices)

The Ticket Strategy

StubHub at the last minute: Prices drop 2 hours before first pitch. I’ve gotten behind home plate at Marlins Park for $15.

Weekday day games: Businessmen can’t use their season tickets. Field level seats for nosebleed prices.

Team apps: Ballpark app often has exclusive deals. Rockies do $4 Rockpile tickets on their app.

Minor league mentality: We don’t need good seats. We need to be in the stadium. Upper deck is fine – Emma says you can see the plays better anyway.

Our average ticket price: $11 per person. Seriously.

Lowest: Tampa Bay, $4 each (nobody goes to Rays games)
Highest: Fenway, $47 each (worth it for the history)

Hotels and Sleeping Arrangements

Priceline Express Deals: 3-star hotels for 2-star prices if you don’t care which one. We don’t care. A bed is a bed.

Airport hotels with shuttles: Usually $40 cheaper than downtown. Take the shuttle to the airport, then public transit downtown.

Staying outside the city: Our Milwaukee hotel was in Racine, 30 minutes away. Saved $100 and Emma got to see where they make Kringle.

The camping wildcard: KOAs near cities. Sounds insane? We camped outside Denver, took the light rail to Coors Field. $35 vs $150 for a hotel. Emma loved it more than any hotel.

Average per night: $72 Lowest: Camping in Denver, $35 Highest: Boston (nowhere is cheap), $149

The Food Hack System

Stadium food is a scam unless you’re strategic.

Dollar Dog Nights: Every team has them. Plan trips around them.

Milwaukee: Fridays
Cincinnati: First Tuesday of the month (we go anyway, it’s tradition)
Cleveland: Mondays in April/May

Bring your own food stadiums: Most people don’t know you can bring food into:

Progressive Field (Cleveland)
Comerica Park (Detroit)
Globe Life Field (Texas)
And more – check each team’s policy

We pack PB&Js, chips, and water bottles. Saves $50 per game.

Team-specific deals:

Pittsburgh: All you can eat seats for $35
Texas: $1 hot dog Wednesdays
Arizona: Value menu all games ($4 beers!)

Emma’s stadium food journal has ratings. Dodger Dogs got a 6/10 (“overrated”). Cincinnati cheese coneys got 10/10 (“Dad’s biased but they’re actually good”).

Transportation Hacks

Southwest companion pass: Got the credit card, met the spending requirement. Emma flies free with me everywhere through 2025.

Driving strategic routes: We drove to see the Twins, Brewers, and White Sox in one trip. Gas split three ways is cheaper than flying.

Public transit tourism: Every city except Arlington has transit to the stadium. We’ve never Ubered to a game.

Rental car alternatives: Turo is consistently 40% cheaper than traditional rentals. Some guy in Phoenix let us use his Corolla for $25/day.

The Credit Card Game

Southwest Rapid Rewards card: Companion pass + points for flights Hyatt card: Free nights at hotels we’d never afford General cashback card: 2% back on everything. http://southwest.com/rapid-rewards/

I’ve churned through 6 cards in 3 years. Current points balance worth about $3,000 in travel. Emma thinks I’m a wizard. I’m just organized.

Stadium-Specific Money Saves

Marlins Park: Nobody goes. Sit anywhere for under $20. Parking across the street at the college is $5.

Tropicana Field: Depressing but cheap. We sat 10 rows behind home plate for $22 total.

Oakland Coliseum: Before they move. $2 tickets on Wednesdays. BART drops you off at the stadium.

Coors Field: The Rockpile. $4 tickets, great view, Emma’s favorite cheap seats.

PNC Park: Standing room tickets are $10 but you can usually sneak into seats by the 3rd inning.

The Expensive Ones and How We Managed

Fenway Park: Went on a Tuesday in April. Still expensive but saw it for under $100 total.

Wrigley Field: Bleachers only. $25 tickets, better atmosphere than the expensive seats anyway.

Yankee Stadium: Pinstripe Pass standing room for $15. Emma couldn’t see over people so we found empty seats in the 400s.

Dodger Stadium: Went on Mormon Night (real thing). $15 tickets included a hot dog. We’re not Mormon but we are cheap.

Our Remaining Seven

Still need:

Seattle (planned for 2025 Alaska cruise stop)
San Francisco (next California trip)
Houston (spring training 2025)
Atlanta (driving this summer)
Miami (different trip than Marlins)
Tampa Bay (again, moved stadium)
Toronto (need passports sorted)
- BTW, check out this guide for eating cheap in Toronto: A Brit’s Guide to Eating Cheap in Toronto (Without Living on Tim Hortons)

Budget for remaining seven: $2,800 total. We’ll make it work.

The Father-Daughter Reality

Emma doesn’t care that we’re in the cheap seats. She cares that:

We rate stadium hot dogs together
She gets a pin from every stadium for her backpack
We always keep score on paper (she’s learning math without realizing)
I let her pick walk-up music for imaginary at-bats

She’s learned geography (“Dad, Pittsburgh is in Pennsylvania, not Ohio”), budgeting (she helps find hotel deals), and patience (rain delays build character).

What This Really Costs vs. What People Think

My coworker took his family to Disney World for a week: $7,000 We’ve seen 23 MLB stadiums across America: $10,847

His kid met a college student in a mouse costume. My kid has:

Caught a foul ball at Busch Stadium
High-fived the Phillie Phanatic
Seen Mike Trout hit a home run
Learned that Cincinnati has the best ballpark food (I’m not biased, it’s fact)

The Spreadsheet Breakdown

Average per stadium trip (two people):

Gas/Flights: $180
Hotels (1-2 nights): $110
Tickets: $22
Food: $60
Parking/Transit: $20
Souvenirs (Emma’s pins): $15
Total: ~$407

Multiply by 30 stadiums = $12,210

We’ll come in around $13,600 because Fenway and Wrigley hurt the wallet, but still. That’s a very used car. Or 30 incredible memories with my daughter.

The Secret Benefits

Emma can name every MLB team and their city. Her geography teacher is impressed.

She understands budgeting better than most adults. “Dad, if we camp instead of a hotel, can we get better seats?” Yes, kid. Yes.

She’s seen America. Not just stadiums but the drives between them. The World’s Largest Truck Stop in Iowa. Wall Drug in South Dakota. The arch in St. Louis at sunset.

The Truth

Some nights we’re eating gas station sandwiches in a Motel 6 outside Kansas City. Some mornings we’re driving six hours to make a day game. Emma’s missed a few days of school for “educational travel” (seeing America is educational, fight me).

But when she talks about the time we saw a walk-off grand slam in Detroit, or when the Cardinals mascot stole my hat, or when we got rained out in Chicago but spent four hours in the Cubs museum instead – those stories are worth more than money.

The Cincinnati Reality

We still go to 15-20 Reds games a year. Great American Ball Park is home. Emma knows the ushers by name. We sit in Section 509 (cheap seats, great view) and keep score every game. She bleeds red like her old man.

But seeing other stadiums makes you appreciate your own. GABP might not have the history of Fenway or the views of PNC, but it’s ours. Emma ranks it #3 overall (behind PNC and Petco, ahead of Wrigley which she says “smells weird”).

The End Goal

Seven stadiums of the MLB Tour left. Emma will be 13 when we finish. She’s already planning our “victory lap” – seeing a Reds playoff game at GABP. (I don’t have the heart to tell her about our bullpen’s track record.)

Total cost when done: Under $14,000 Total miles driven/flown: ~25,000 Total games seen together: 30 (plus our regular Reds games) Total memories: Priceless (I know it’s cheesy but it’s true)

What I’d Do Different

Start touring the MLB Stadiums earlier. Emma was too young for some early trips to remember clearly.

Document more. She journals, I spreadsheet, but I wish we had more photos together.

Skip the souvenirs except pins. We don’t need 30 mini bats.

The Advice

Pick a goal with your kid. Doesn’t have to be stadiums. Could be national parks, or museums, or the world’s largest whatever. Just pick something.

Make it about the journey. The best conversations happen in Hour 4 of a drive through Indiana.

Don’t wait for perfect. We’re not rich. We’re not even middle class by coastal standards. But we’re doing it anyway.

Cincinnati to everywhere and back. 30 stadiums. One dad, one daughter, and a 2014 Honda Accord with 200,000 miles and a “My Kid Beat Up Your Honor Student” sticker Emma put on as a joke.

That’s our story. What’s yours going to be?

P.S. – Emma wants everyone to know that Reds fans are the best fans and Joey Votto should be in the Hall of Fame. That’s my girl.