I love attending live sporting events. The atmosphere of a crowd that’s into it gives me goosebumps every time, especially at a good Pacers playoff game. However, I’m not one of those people who goes to an event for the whole experience that the stadium has to offer. I’m there to watch the game (or race) and experience the atmosphere.
Typically, I don’t get anything to eat or drink at the stadium (every once in a while I do). I usually just show up, enjoy the event, and head back home. I was fortunate enough to attend three sporting events within a tight time frame recently (Bengals at Colts preseason game, NHRA US Nationals, and the Brickyard 400) and I started thinking about this.
Buying food and drinks at sporting events is (relatively) expensive.
No, it’s probably not going to break the bank, but when compared to how much these items would cost you elsewhere the prices are often marked up astronomically. Although I didn’t remember to write down the prices of many things at the sporting events I recently attended (I thought about this idea at the US Nationals which was the second of the three events), I did remember to jot down prices on a few of the food and drink options.
Strictly thinking in terms of cost, buying something to eat and drink at a sporting event may not seem too egregious to some. But when you consider the mark-ups on a percentage basis, it becomes very apparent how expensive it really is to eat and drink at the sporting event. Drinking (even water) is especially “expensive”.
I’m not telling you that you shouldn’t get something to eat and drink at the game. Decisions like these aren’t likely to have a huge impact on whether you’re financially successful or not. It’s much more important to make the right choices on bigger ticket (see what I did there?) decisions on a consistent basis as they will have much more significant impacts on your financial future. However, the small decisions can become habits and add up over time and I’m sure you can find better ways to use your money.
Considering the Costs
You could consider how much the tickets, driving, parking, etc. cost to go to a sporting event compared to watching it at home on Sling, but that’s not what I was thinking about when I was considering writing this.
Some of the items that I remembered to write down the cost of are below:
I didn’t write down many of the costs for food because I forgot and because they’re usually harder to see than the costs of drinks. I did include my guesstimate for the cost of a beer at Lucas Oil Stadium below because I don’t remember the exact amount, but I think a beer costs $7.50 and my internet research from unreputable sources confirms this. As you can see in the table below, passing through the doors of Lucas Oil costs you an 88% mark-up on beer compared to standing outside of the stadium in Touchdown Town!
Compared to buying your own beer at the grocery store, it’s a 544% mark-up! A Big Machine Vodka Cocktail at Indianapolis Motor Speedway costs $9. I don’t know how much that vodka costs at a store or what goes into the cocktail, but I’d assume this is a ridiculous mark up as well.
Water is even more egregious. I’ve never really understood buying bottles of water from the store considering how ridiculously expensive it is compared to the cost of tap water. Buy a reusable water bottle (and maybe a filter if you’re afraid of tap water) and take it with you. This doesn’t apply just only to sporting events, but to every situation where you’d consider taking a bottle of water.
Unfortunately, you can’t bring in outside food and drinks into most sporting events. That’s the good thing about Lucas Oil Raceway and Indianapolis Motor Speedway – you can pretty much take in anything you want. Still, you can find the same food and drink items for cheaper at a restaurant before going to those sporting events that don’t allow you to take in outside food and drink.
“But I want to have a beer while I’m at the game.”
Yeah, but I don’t want to pay the extra 544%, even if it is only out of principal.
