CLEVELAND -- In the entertainment industry, you'd pay more to see Bruce Springsteen than Rick Springfield, and a Wednesday matinee of "Pay Joey" would be easier on your wallet than a Saturday night seat at "Jersey Boys."

Somehow, this tried-and-true economic rationale has generally eluded the sporting world, but the Indians are taking a new approach and applying it to their 2009 ticket-pricing plan.

Using a simple motto -- "Not all 81 home games are created equal" -- the Indians unveiled on Friday what they call a "value-based pricing structure" in which the high-profile home dates at Progressive Field have the steepest ticket prices and tickets to the low-profile games in April and May are slashed to deep discount prices.

Essentially, the Indians are recognizing that a Tuesday night game against the Royals isn't as sexy as a weekend date with the Yankees.

"During the past eight months, we have engaged our fans in discussion, as well as conducted market research, on the perceived value of Indians baseball at Progressive Field," senior vice president of sales and marketing Vic Gregovits said in a release. "We heard from our fans that many factors dictate value."

What the Indians found is pretty much a matter of common sense: Fans value summer weekends, fireworks nights, promotions, and premier opponents -- namely, the Yankees and Red Sox.

The '09 pricing plan, which is laid out at Indians.com/valuepricing, reflects this. Four pricing categories have been created -- Spring Super Savers (13 games), Spring Value (eight), Summer Value (29) and Prime (31).

Under this plan, the price of advance Diamond Box seats will fall in a range of $35-85, Field Box will go between $25-70, Infield Lower Box will be $19-50, Lower Box will be $18-44, View Box will be $14-36, Lower Reserved will be $24-30, Upper Box will be $20-24, Mezzanine will be $18-22, Bleachers will be $16-20, Upper Reserved will be $12-16 and Outfield Reserved will be $8-9.

For example, games labeled as Spring Super Savers (13 select April and May weekday dates) feature Diamond Box tickets for just $35 -- the lowest price for these seats in more than a decade.

On the other end of the spectrum, those same Diamond Box seats will be $85 for Opening Day and the other 30 games that fall in the Prime category.

One goal of the new strategy is to entice those who embrace the notion of buying season tickets, but are leery of overpaying for April and May games when the Cleveland weather is, shall we say, sometimes less than desirable.

Season-ticket buyers will receive a savings of around 20 percent off the single-game ticket prices.

And to counteract the economy and keep season tickets as an affordable option, the Indians will offer around 1,600 View Box season tickets as "buy one, get one free." For $2,106, a fan can get two seats in that area for all 81 games -- a savings of 57 percent off the single-game pricing.

A complete breakdown of each game's category and pricing is available at Indians.com/valuepricing.