A Torrance family I know will attend the Chivas USA game Saturday night at Home Depot Center, not because they are huge fans of the lads in red and white, but because they received cheap tickets via AYSO.

Price is important to casual MLS fans, especially given the continuing weak economy.

Given that, I thought it worthwhile to contrast and compare ticket prices between the two Carson-based teams, which both host their respective home openers this weekend on consecutive days.

Chivas USA, as one might expect given the demographics of their primary fan base and the absence of a huge name like David Beckham, offer cheaper tickets than the Galaxy.

The cheapest single game Chivas USA ticket that’s available is $15 compared to $25 for the Galaxy. Buy an 18-game Chivas USA GA season ticket package and the price per ticket drops to $10.

How good a deal is that? The cheapest Galaxy adult ticket was $22 – back in 2003.

Chivas USA has held the line on ticket prices this year – perhaps wisely after their bottom of the Western Conference showing last year – while the MLS championship-contending Galaxy have instituted modest increases over 2010 and, in some limited cases, decreased prices, too. A Galaxy general admission ticket – the section is also larger and now includes some seats on the upper deck – increased by $1.

Price comparisons cannot be made across the board for Chivas USA and Galaxy games since the clubs define some sections a little differently.

For instance, Chivas USA sells “corner” seats for $22; the Galaxy have folded their corner section where tickets were $50 last year into their endline section and priced those tickets at $35 (the Galaxy also eliminated their upper corner section, which sold for $20 last year). But Galaxy officials observe that in a couple of sections in the north end of the stadium, seats that were classified as being in the corner section last year have been reclassified as general admission seating, thus slashing the price of those seats in half to $25.

The Chivas USA price for the end zone, incidentally, is $18.

Other ticket prices for the two clubs include field tickets (those are deck chairs on the turf) that are $100 for Chivas USA, $200 for the Galaxy; sideline tickets for Chivas USA are $38 preferred, $30 for midfield and $24 all others, while the Galaxy price them at $85 preferred, $75 for reserved sideline, $50 for other sideline seats and $40 for an upper sideline seat.

Galaxy officials, by the way, note that the sideline seats priced at $50 cost $75 last year.

Confusing? Well, yes, so it always pays to consult a stadium seating guide to find out exactly where you’re sitting.

And, of course, if you are a wallet-conscious Galaxy fan you just might want to buy tickets to the May 21 game hosted by Chivas USA.

But even paying the above prices is usually unnecessary.

Ticket deals abound whether you’re purchasing from a scalper outside the stadium (buyer beware) or online at a variety of sites, while both clubs generally offer a variety of ticket deals for every game.

For instance, Chivas USA for Saturday’s 7:30 p.m. opener against Kansas City, is selling four tickets plus four hot dogs or four hats or one parking pass starting at $59. The Galaxy have a similar deal for the 5 p.m. Sunday game against the New England Revolution with four tickets, four hot dogs and four sodas for $96.

So it pays to have friends.

Full ticket details for Galaxy games can be found here and for Chivas USA here.

One other thing: As someone who has sat just about everywhere in the stadium at one time or another, I can tell you there really isn’t a bad seat in what is a relatively intimate stadium by soccer standards.

See you at the games.