Ask a sports fan to come to the stadium for a big game and you’ll hear a lot about the tailgate fun, the smell of peanuts and sausages in the air, and the full-throated roar of the crowd.
What you probably won’t hear is how much it costs to get there, stay there, go through the turnstiles, and buy a beer and a souvenir.
Add them all up and in many cases that cost will reflect the monthly cost of a car payment, a utility bill and two weeks of groceries… for one person.
What is the cost of attending an in-person professional sports game in real dollars? A new study has an answer to that.
The study of Money.co.uk, titled “The most expensive sports stadiums in North America” includes payment for game tickets, hot dogs, soft drinks, parking, taxi/Uber and Airbnb.
Vegas teams on the rise
Las Vegas has recently become a hot ticket for sports franchises looking to relocate and for their fans.
The city grabbed the Oakland Raiders a few years ago. It is also home to the Golden Knights, an NHL expansion team.
The city is also frequently mentioned as the potential home of a National Basketball Association team. And he is also actively pursuing the Oakland Athletics baseball team.
Both teams’ stadiums already in Las Vegas are among the most expensive of more than 120 locations surveyed by Money.co.uk.
Allegiant Stadium, home of the Las Vegas Raiders, came third on the list, with an overall cost of $723. Meanwhile, T-Mobile Arena, where the Golden Knights play, came fourth, with an estimated total cost of $676.
The only more expensive stadiums were Nissan Stadium in Nashville, Tennessee, where the Tennessee Titans play, and Bridgestone Arena, also in Nashville, where the NHL Predators play. Nissan Stadium’s cost estimate was $754, while Bridgestone’s was $751.
Rounding out the top 5 list was SoFi Stadium, Inglewood, Calif., home to both the Los Angeles Rams and Los Angeles Chargers, with cost estimates of $575 (for a Rams game) and $552 (for a Chargers game.
You can view a full list of the most expensive US professional sports stadiums at https://www.money.co.uk/credit-cards/expensive-sports-stadiums.
Travel costs add up
What makes Nashville and Las Vegas the most expensive sports stadiums to visit? Mainly the cost of an Airbnb stay, which would not impact a fan who lives less than two hours from the stadium.
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“Given seven different costs that fans face, Nissan Stadium is the most expensive sports stadium in North America,” the report said. “Much of that cost is because Nashville has the highest average Airbnb cost of cities to host a major league team, at $617.”
Given this high accommodation cost, it’s no surprise that Nashville’s Bridgestone Arena also tops the list. “Overall, there’s not much difference between attending a game at these two venues, although Predators fans must shell out an average of over $100 for tickets,” the study notes.
While staying in Vegas might be cheaper, Allegiant Stadium isn’t actually in the city, which comes at an additional cost. “In addition to a sky-high ticket price of over $150, fans traveling from downtown Las Vegas will pay an average of over $20 for an Uber to the game,” the study said.
The Money.co.uk report also cited Baltimore, Maryland’s Oriole Park at Camden Yards as the “cheapest sports stadium in the United States, at $252 per game day visit.”
“Oriole Park is one of the cheapest stadiums when it comes to its food offering, charging fans just $2.50 for a soft drink and $3.00 for a hot dog,” notes l ‘study.
The study found that the most expensive NBA stadium was the Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles, where the Lakers play, followed by Madison Square Gardens, home of the New York Knicks. Crypto.com’s cost estimate was $524, while MSG’s was $506.
Fans have higher standards and are willing to pay
Getting to the root of high sports stadium prices, and why consumers are more than willing to pay these prices, means studying the social behaviors of sports fans.
“It’s easy to point the finger at professional sports teams and call them greedy, but a lot of those price increases are because the market is telling owners that’s what customers want,” he said. said James Weiner, professor of sports finance at the university. University of Tampa. “The truth is, fans are just willing to pay more than they ever have, and customer demands have changed.”
Twenty to 30 years ago, sports fans were happier with poor eyesight, a cheap hot dog, and a light beer.
“Fans these days want every seat to have a good view,” Weiner said. “They want an enhanced experience with video panels and lots of interaction. They want high-speed internet access, better food and more drink options.
But these amenities all come at a cost.
“As attendance focuses more on a full experience, teams are happy to charge more and fans generally seem willing to pay more if it meets their standards,” Weiner noted.
Where Weiner suspects a challenge for professional sports franchises is with attendance by children and youth.
“Many ticket prices are unforgiving whether the attendee is an adult or a child, and families may have a harder time justifying a several-hundred-dollar increase just to bring their children, especially if many of the upgraded amenities n ‘not add value to children,’ he said. “When tickets were half price and you could get cheap candy at the concession stand, it might have been an easier decision.”
“Going forward, I suspect we could see professional sports being more of an adult-oriented event, especially at the higher levels of competition,” Weiner noted.
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