Attending an NFL game is going to cost you a fortune
Well, if your team is any good it is going to. In many cases, even if the team has zero chance of selling out the game they will still opt to charge high prices and just have half an audience. I suppose it is easy to understand why. There are a ton of staff involved in the operation of an NFL home game and even if the earnings are good, there is a formula in place to determine if it is worth their while to open. I don't know what that formula is, but this is why even terrible teams routinely have ticket prices that are $100 or more.
I recently ran into an article about how ridiculous the prices are for Kansas City Chiefs games. The article in question said that the cheapest tickets for a family of four to attend a home game would cost $725. By the time they got a hot dog, paid for parking, maybe some candy for the kids, the cost goes up to nearly $850. I find it kind of terrible that they would charge for parking even though you already paid an outrageous price for nosebleed section tickets.
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I don't know if you have ever been to Kansas City or not. I have because I have relatives in Missouri and I can say with first-hand knowledge that there really isn't much to get excited about if you live there. Other than BBQ and sports teams, people just basically drink and try not to think about the impending doom that is winter. Perhaps this is why the Kansas City teams tend to sell really well and right now are the most expensive team in the NFL to go see a home game with.
If you live in a city that isn't KC, don't get too excited just yet because the league average for 4 tickets is around $550. Once you include parking fees at most stadiums it will cost around $150 minimum for one person to attend a game alone.
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I suppose we could get upset about this or just accept something that I have been saying for quite some time. Sports clubs are not about the sport in question for the most part, they are about making money and man oh man do they do a lot of that. The Chiefs value is $3.7 BILLION and those gigantic stadiums don't get made for nothing.
One valid complaint made by people that live in the county where Arrowhead Stadium is located is that they paid taxes that went to the Chiefs for building purposes and now some residents are demanding discounted ticket prices for said people. I would be willing to bet that this request simply goes ignored unless they make a much bigger stink about it because the legislators that approved the tax money to be given to the Chiefs are interested in the overall economic benefit for the region during the home games, as well as the tax revenue that comes along with it. I doubt they really care if the average Joe can afford to go to a game.
Sad but true: Sports are about money, not about the fans or even the sport.
It's so true. I'm in my young 30's and it bothers me so much as I grew up watching sports when it was authentic. I spose for younger generations it won't matter. They'll be used to sports being about money.
NFL attendances has always intrigued me. I remember that Lambeau has like a 30 year wait for tickets or something stupid like that!?!?
This waiting list is, I think, only for season ticket holders. It is probably still very possible to get single-game tickets although it is going to cost a lot.
One thing that is driving up the prices is that companies purchase large amounts of tickets and then sell them at greatly increased prices on the open market. Individuals do it as well as an investment of sorts. A friend of mine who has had season tickets to the Chicago Cubs for many years regularly sells his playoff tickets (if they make it to the playoffs) for thousands of dollars per game. This isn't illegal as far as I know. It is your property once you buy the tickets and the organization isn't going to complain, they are getting their money as well.
I used to go to Tw Ickenham to watch rugby every year as I would get given tickets for certain games due to being a referee. The tickets I used to get my mates kept on increasing every year and from when I started had basically doubled within a 4 year period. Then they were double the prices you were talking about and that was back in 1999 so I would hate to know how much they are now. You need to have bucks if you like attending live matches.
I suppose it is kind of sad for the average Joe and how they will likely never be able to attend a game in their lives. I don't know if it would affect me much. If I watch on TV I can easily go to the bathroom, have much easier access to beer and food at much lower prices, and I don't have to mess around with traffic :)
I must say I love Sports, but I don't like the money-centric greed machines many of them have morphed into over the years.
It was always going to end up this way. Sometimes I kind of appreciate going to minor league or farm league team games because those prices are always really low and the action can be just as good if you really enjoy the sport.