Yup, it can cost THAT much to go to a game
We don’t have to tell you that it can cost a lot to go to a game. But after tickets, parking, food, drinks, and fan gear, have you ever added it all up?
As you continue to share those outrageous concession prices with the hashtag #StadiumRipoff on social media (keep them coming!), we explored the full price of attending a game. We’re floored, and we bet you will be too.
The average cost to attend an NFL game in 2016 for a family of four is $503*. But that’s just the average across the league. If you’re going to a Chicago Bears game, that’ll cost your family a whopping $685. And the Washington Redskins or New England Patriots will cost your family over $650 as well. (Look up the average cost of attending your favorite team’s games in the NFL, NHL, NBA, and MLB.)
While NFL games are the most expensive of the pro-sports leagues, the relatively cheaper MLB games still put you back hundreds of dollars. Here’s how each league stacks up:
The bottom line: Attending a pro-sports game is expensive. We’re bringing these skyrocketing prices to light to call team owners out for their greed.
Being a fan of your favorite team shouldn’t have to be this expensive. With average costs in the hundreds of dollars, millions of fans are being priced out. That’s not fair. To add insult to injury, nearly all (29) of the NFL stadiums used public financing — our taxpayer money — to build or renovated their stadiums. And then fans can’t afford paying the exorbitant prices for tickets, parking, concessions, and more, for the games in the stadiums they helped pay for? That's not right.
To make things even more unfair, these high prices are focused in certain parts of the country. If you live in cities like Boston, Chicago, New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, or Washington, D.C., you’re paying among the top prices to attend your team’s games in several, if not all, four major leagues.
Where does this money go? Well, NFL teams like the Cowboys, Patriots, Redskins, and Giants bring in revenues of over $400 million a year through various sources — making owners super rich.
If these numbers make you angry, join us in speaking out. Watch our Facebook and Twitter and keep snapping photos of outrageous concession prices with the hashtag #StadiumRipoff. We’ll be featuring submissions on our blog as we continue exposing owner greed.
*These prices are the Fan Cost Index, calculated by the Team Marketing Report. They include 4 adult average-priced tickets, 2 draft beers, 4 soft drinks, 4 hot dogs, parking for one car, and 2 of the cheapest adult-sized caps.
