The True American Pastime

How could you make the game of baseball even more uniquely American?

Put on an all-you-can-eat buffet at the ballpark, as the Wall Street Journal reports the Dodgers have already done (sub req):

The Los Angeles Dodgers are rolling out a new marketing experiment: They're betting that several thousand of their fans will stomach steep price increases for some of the worst seats in the stadium, in return for being able to eat all the hot dogs, peanuts, popcorn, nachos and soda they can handle. Tickets range from $20 to $40 apiece, depending on the allure of the match-up and whether they are bought by groups or individuals.

High-end seating areas in sports venues have long offered all-you-can-eat food as part of the package. But the Dodgers are at the vanguard of a new trend -- letting hoi polloi in on the buffet. Dodgers executives say a handful of other teams across pro sports have already contacted them about copying the concept, including the Philadelphia-based owners of the National Basketball Association's 76ers and the National Hockey League's Flyers. While teams such as the NHL's Florida Panthers and baseball's St. Louis Cardinals have tried this with cheaper seats -- at the Cardinals' Busch Stadium, inclusive packages even include beer -- these tickets still cost $60 or more.

The Dodgers have a strong attendance record -- they were second in the majors in each of the previous three seasons and also rank second so far this year (the Yankees are first), according to Major League Baseball. But the right-field pavilion, which can hold 3,000 people, often sat empty in past seasons, opening only if the left-field seats sold out or for large groups. The seats were priced accordingly, going for between $6 and $8 in 2006. But this year, the pavilion, now called the "ampm All-You-Can-Eat Pavilion" (after its sponsor, the ampm convenience stores of BP PLC's BP America unit) has sold out eight of the Dodgers' first 18 home games.

Note to the Twins: you announce a similar program today and Saint Paul will have bought season tickets by tomorrow at the latest.

Of course, there's always some nosey do-gooder around to try to rain on the parade:

While Dodger fans seem to be gobbling up the new ticket package, those worried about Americans' expanding waistlines aren't too happy about it. The Dodgers estimate that the average fan in the right-field pavilion consumes about 2½ hot dogs, one bag of peanuts or popcorn, and one plate of nachos a game. (The team doesn't keep averages on drinks because they are self-serve.)

"Before, you had to pay a premium to get the bad food," says Jim Marks, senior vice president and director of the health group Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, a foundation that gives money to improve health and health care. "Now, you get the bad food at a discount, and to get the discount you've really got to gorge yourself."

If you serve it (and especially if you give it away for "free"), they will come (and eat like pigs). What a country.