Opinion: Concession prices at sporting events are outrageous. Team owners can change that.

Posted by Admin December 20, 2024 Sports

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There are a few sports team owners who can teach a thing or two to all those millionaires and billionaires committed to gouging the public out of every dollar they can.

Phoenix Suns owner Mat Ishbia this week became the latest owner to recognize concession prices have gotten out of hand, announcing a “value menu” with five items costing just $2 each. Rather than the second mortgage required to feed a family at most stadiums and ballparks, buying sodas, hot dogs and chips for a family of four at Suns games will now set you back less than $25.

This comes 2½ months after the Smith Entertainment Group, owners of the Utah Jazz and Utah Hockey Club, announced a similar rollback on some of their concessions. This season, there are five items priced at $3 or less, including a Farr’s Ice Cream bowl.

“Winning starts with our fans. When I walk the concourse at games there aren’t food options for families who don’t want to spend a lot of money. That needs to change,” Ishbia said in announcing the price cuts.

While Ishbia was widely praised, and rightly so, for the move, he and the Utah owners are following the lead of Arthur Blank, who cut concession prices when Mercedes-Benz Stadium opened in 2017.

For $20, you can get chicken tenders with fries, popcorn, a pretzel, a hot dog, nachos, a slice of pizza and a soda — refillable! — at Mercedes-Benz Stadium. Want a beer to go with that? It’ll cost you — $5. And those prices aren’t just for Falcons and Atlanta United games. If you’re at Mercedes-Benz Stadium for the Super Bowl, Taylor Swift or, in 2026, the men’s World Cup, you’ll find the same affordable concessions.

This might seem counterintuitive, someone who’s in the business of making money willingly giving some of it up. But it’s actually turned out to be a money maker. Mercedes-Benz Stadium now serves more in concessions before kickoff than it did during an entire Atlanta Falcons game at the Georgia Dome.

And because they haven’t had to spend the equivalent of a small country’s GDP on food, those fans are then spending more money on bigger-ticket items. Like jerseys. Hats. Sweatshirts.

“Ultimately, the value outweighs the cost,” says Tim Zulawski, president of AMB Sports and Entertainment, which includes the Falcons, Atlanta United and Mercedes-Benz Stadium in its portfolio.

The rollback on concession prices amount to rounding errors for Blank, Ishbia and Ryan Smith, all of whom are billionaires. Concessions aren’t a main revenue driver, either, with most professional teams making their money on media rights, sponsorships and ticket sales.

That’s not the point.

Like everything else these days, going to a game is expensive. The average cost of a ticket to an NBA game is $53, according to SportsCasting.com, and just under $132 for a ticket to an NFL game. Concession prices vary but expect to pay between $5 and $10 each for a soda or a hot dog.

Multiply that by four, or even two, and you can understand why some fans will scale back their spending on food and drinks. Or skip it altogether.

Recognizing that, and making even the slightest effort to give their fans a break, makes those fans feel appreciated. And fans who feel appreciated are more likely to come back.

“People feel valued,” Zulawski says.

It helped that Blank and his team were still in the process of designing Mercedes-Benz Stadium when they decided to cut concession prices. They could move soda dispensers onto the concourse, for example, so concession workers aren’t having to fill and refill drinks.

But there’s no reason every owner can’t make some … concessions — especially when so many of these stadiums, arenas and ballparks are built and maintained with public money. If Ishbia and Smith can find a way to do it, surely Jerry Jones, Stan Kroenke and all the others can, too.

“We hope every entity that can takes advantage of listening to their fans and finding ways to respond. If that’s in the case of food and beverage, and we were a part of the catalyst to start, that’s an awesome feeling to know that you’re helping fans, potentially around the world, have a better experience,” Zulawski said.

Owners will gush any chance they get about their fans and how important they are to them. Blank, and now Ishbia and Smith, are doing more than talking, putting their money where the fans’ mouths are.

Follow USA TODAY Sports columnist Nancy Armour on social media @nrarmour.