Pro sports teams should lower their food prices
When teams look for ways to do better by their fans, they just might help themselves in the process.
The people who own, operate and play for professional sports teams owe their livelihoods to their fans.
But fans too often are treated as cash cows to be milked and herded through lines at the parking lots, gates, concession stands and swag shops. They shouldn’t be taken for granted.
The Atlanta Falcons took the pulse of their fan base and saw a need to do better.
The team last season cut prices on staple concessions and got one heck of a return on the decision.
Happy fans bought more food and more swag. They started entering the stadium earlier so they could take advantage of the lower food prices.
As they moved into a new stadium, the Falcons did another smart thing, increasing the number of concession outlets so that fans who spend princely sums on parking and tickets don’t miss one-fourth of the game standing in line for a hot dog.
There’s a lesson to be learned here.
Professional sports teams should look for ways to do better by their fans, and they just might help themselves in the process. Minor-league franchises know this.
What they lack in majorleague talent they try to make up for in fan experience.
A study published last year by ValuePenguin analyzed the 2016 cost of three tickets, parking, food and beer at all 32 NFL venues, factored in the average wage for each city and estimated how long a person would have to work to pay for a home game outing for a group of three.
At 10.7 hours, a Falcons game required the 21st-biggest commitment. At 14.2 hours, a Steelers game required the fourth-biggest, something that should give the team cause for concern.
At 12 hours, the Baltimore Ravens ranked 15th on the survey. In May, the team announced plans to cut prices on 21 items, including french fries (down 50 percent) and soft pretzels (down 53) percent.
They’re already off to a winning season.
Teams in other sports should take stock, too.
ValuePenguin last year released a similar cost-of-attendance study for Major League Baseball venues that ranked the Pirates 23rd-most-expensive among the 30 teams.
That’s one more bad statistic for the Pirates, who have struggled on the field and are near the bottom in league attendance this season.
Perhaps the Bucs should adopt a sliding scale in which prices for hot dogs and pretzels fluctuate with the team’s record.
Doing better by fans means more than rolling out new food offerings each season.
That’s giving fans more choices, but it isn’t the same as giving them more value.
While lower food prices are part of the equation, they aren’t the only element. In many cities, nursing moms have asked teams to set aside a room for them. Some have, others haven’t. No one is suggesting that teams lower beer prices. The last thing they need is drunker fans.
But cutting prices on the basics would be good sportsmanship.
Owners and operators of teams should remember that fans, who work hard for wages much more modest than their own, deserve the biggest possible bang for their buck.
It’s fine for teams to make a profit, not a killing.
The Atlanta Falcons took the pulse of their fan base and saw a need to do better. The team last season cut prices on staple concessions and got one heck of a return on the decision.