PHILADELPHIA (AP) — For more than a quarter-century, Phillies fans considered dollar hot dog night among the best ballpark promotions — but the team has now decided it was the wurst.
Those dog days of April — when the Philly weather is cold and the wieners are a steal — are going, going, gone.
The Phillies officially ended the popular promotion Thursday and replaced dollar dogs on select dates with a 2-for-1 deal at two April games at Citizens Bank Park — April 2 against the Reds and April 16 against the Rockies
John Weber, senior vice president of ticket operations, refused to say they were raising prices. He just described the discount (two hot dogs for $5) as a new promotion.
“It's to provide a positive fan experience for all your fans in attendance. That's the only reason you know we've made this change,” Weber said.
Who needs snowballs?
What wasn't positive about dollar dog nights?
Some bad apples at an April 11 game last season spoiled the Phillies' appetite for a good-dog deal. Unruly Phillies fans began chucking their ballpark franks in several sections.
Play-by-play announcer Scott Franzke and color commentator Larry Anderson described the chaos at the time:
"Natives are getting restless. Yeah, it looks like some dollar hot dogs are flying around over there on the first base side. And we're seeing dodgeball with hot dogs."
The projectile frankfurters soared throughout the stands and onto the field, leading to multiple ejections.
"Our goal is to always give a great fan experience. If you were there at the game, it was not a great experience,” Weber said. So the hope is that now fans won't be getting 10 hot dogs for $10 and pitching their leftovers.
"Hopefully our fans will still come out and view two hot dogs for $5 as a value and support the team in those two April dates that we have."
The demand for the discount dogs also led to clogged lanes — if not arteries — on the concourse, and the cramped spaces led to security and safety concerns.
"It wasn't just the throwing," said Weber. "It's the concourse, the crowds of everybody being at the same X amount of stands. But obviously, you know, the throwing was a little bit of a tipping point."
A legendary deal
To be frank, the Phillies don't necessarily need the deal these days to pack in crowds. The Phillies started the promotion 27 years ago when they still played at cavernous Veterans Stadium to try and boost ticket sales on an otherwise dreary game night.
But the Phillies stuck with the food-frenzy deal through the decades, even as they rose again to become one of the best teams in the National League. The Phillies topped 3 million fans last season — and scheduled three dollar-dog nights for two April and one May weeknight game when attendance is generally down compared to weekend games.
"The idea originally was much more family-orientated, four, five, six people and having a discounted concession item," Weber said. "As it's morphed over time, it's gone more to a younger demographic, which is great as well, especially in the April, May timeframe."
The company said ahead of the 2022 World Series when the Phillies played the Houston Astros that 1 of every 3 fans eats a hot dog at Citizens Bank Park and an average 6,951 hot dogs were sold per game — enough to line Ashburn Alley five times.
The Phillies kept a running dollar-dogs-sold tally on the scoreboard for each game they were marked down.
The Phillies first caught blowback in 2022 when they tried to scale back from three dollar-dog nights to two.
The unpopular move failed to cut the mustard with fans — even in the highest branches of state government. Pennsylvania Sen. Bob Casey responded to a writer for the Crossing Broad website who complained about the decision with a post on social media that read, "I agree, more Dollar Dog Nights. @Phillies Let's do this."
Casey was a hot dog here when one more dog night was added to the schedule.
He took a high road on Thursday, posting on social media:
Phillies fans still grilled the decision on social media.
By mid-afternoon, one apparel shop already had a T-shirt made lamenting the decision with the inscription "RIP dollar dog night. Pork Flew. Heads Rolled."
The fans react
Renee Kasorzak of Northeast Philadelphia says good luck trying to control fan behavior.
“You're really never gonna stop Phillies fans from acting a fool if they want to.”
Anthony Thomas of University City says it's already a financial commitment to be a fan.
“It's expensive to be a fan of any sport in the city. And that's something that needs to be considered. They're gonna make sure we think inflation is doing this but I just think profit margins,” Thomas said.
“I don't really want to get on the soapbox, but … how much does it cost to make a hot dog?”
Kasorzak agreed, calling the move a money grab, now that the team is doing well.
“I mean, they've come close the last two years. That's been nice. I mean, they'll justify it.”
But she says it probably doesn’t matter that fans don’t want the discount dogs to go from $1 to $2.50: “People are gonna buy them anyway.”
And hey, there is still a chance in Philly to always snag a free hot dog — just catch one out of the Phanatic's famed hot dog launcher.
KYW Newsradio's Hadas Kuznits contributed to this report.