This is how much it costs to take a family of four to an NFL game in 2021

As I’m sure you can guess…it’s A LOT of money

Jun 23, 2021

NFL fans,

Even though only eight teams averaged 100% capacity during the 2019 NFL season (the fewest since 2009) teams have continued to make the games less accessible to the majority of fans due to their ticket pricing and food/beverage costs.

To give you an idea of what I’m talking about the current average ticket price in the NFL is $104.73. This represents a 24% increase since 2014. When you combine that cost with the average price of food, beverages, parking, and souvenirs you get a bleak picture of the accessibility of the NFL for the average American family.

Take food and beverages for example. If a family of four were to consume a total of two beers, two soft drinks, and four hot dogs at the average NFL game it would cost them $49.96. Now double it if we are being realistic because the game is three hours long and you reach a $100 food and beverage cost for the day.

Then of course you have parking which is a must for a family of four because I highly doubt they are walking to the stadium even at these prices. If we use the brand new Raiders stadium as an example we find that the average cost for a parking pass in Las Vegas is $75. Now look, I do understand that Vegas is more expensive than a lot of NFL cities but I think if we are being honest we are really splitting hairs when it comes to parking prices. Most stadiums are in the same pricing level when it comes to parking.

Finally, I want to point out the cost of team merchandise because I do see it as a cost involved in the NFL gamely experience for a family of four. I mean let’s be honest, if you’ve already spent hundreds of dollars on the day it stands to reason that you would at least want a T-shirt to remember the occasion. With that being said the average cost of a souvenir at an NFL stadium is between $15-$32, let’s split the difference and call it $24.50. At that level four T-shirts is another $100.

When you take all of this into account you get the following breakdown…

Tickets: $418.92

Food/Beverage: $99.92

Parking: $75

Souvenirs: $98

Total: $691.84

Obviously this is a fucking preposterous number when you consider it describes the AVERAGE cost for a family of four to attend an NFL game. That $691.84 represents over 12% of the monthly income for the average American family. That statistic is unbelievable to me for a host of reasons but one in particular stands out to me.

I was lucky enough to be able to attend an NFL game with my father when I was a kid and when I consider how great of an experience that was for me I can’t help but think about how many kids will not be able to have that same experience because of a financial hurdle. Meanwhile 67% of NFL teams cannot even sell out their stadiums in the first place. This is a sad reality. If COVID showed us anything it is that the NFL knows how to adjust their revenue strategy to be able to make money without needing ticket sales. Think about it…without fans in the stands in 2020 the NFL was still able to raise the salary cap for teams in 2021. Obviously, raising ticket prices for teams who can’t fill their stadiums anyway is a terribly greedy idea but here we are.

I personally think the blame here falls on the owners and my hope is that eventually fans can organize a large enough voice around this issue to cause change. Who knows maybe fans will create a collective bargaining structure to combat the greed of owners just like the players have done over time. Then again, maybe the average NFL ticket price will rise to $500 at some point…only time will tell.

One thing is for sure though, as long as I am writing this newsletter I will continue to speak out about this because I want to see a world where everyone can bring their kids to an NFL game if they want to. Is that really too much to ask for??