Buffalo Bills No. 16 John Brown celebrates with fans after catching a touchdown pass during the third quarter of a game against the New England Patriots on January 8, 2023 at Highmark Stadium in Orchard Park, New York. (Photo by Brian M. Bennett/Getty Images)
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Dan Hornberger has been a fan of the National Football League’s Philadelphia Eagles for as long as he can remember. As an adult, his office has team memorabilia lining the walls.
Last year, the avid supporter attended five home games, about an hour and a half drive from his home. However, due to rising costs this year, Hornberger will only be able to play in two games.
“I’m a huge fan,” Hornberger, 40, said. “The end result is that I completely refuse to pay that price.”
Prices for sports soared this fall, according to federal data. Match tickets have therefore become the latest victim of “fanflation.” Fanflation is the term economists use to describe rising prices for live events as consumers seek the experiences they lost during the pandemic.
“Huge rebound”
Admission prices for sporting events rose 25.1% in October 2023 compared to the same month last year, according to Consumer Price Index data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. This category saw the highest annual rate of inflation among the hundreds of indicators that make up the inflation gauge.
The overall CPI rose relatively slowly at an annualized rate of 3.2%. The index tracks prices for a wide range of goods, including milk, jewelry, and airfare.
“We’ve seen this across the leisure and hospitality sector,” said Victor Matheson, a professor and sports economist at the College of the Holy Cross. “People are getting back to doing things they enjoy and are willing to pay a lot of money for.”
One of the reasons consumers are seeing higher ticket prices for their favorite sports teams is due to the increased use of dynamic pricing models, Matheson said. These structures allow ticketing platforms to fetch more or less per ticket depending on the demand of the event at the time.
This autumn, there are many sporting events that will attract attention. Beyond the typical Major League season, last week’s Formula 1 race in Las Vegas and the announcement of soccer legend Lionel Messi’s transfer to the Inter Miami team this summer boosted spending among enthusiasts.
But Matheson said the main reason for the impressive 25.1% increase was lower prices a year ago. Teams have lowered ticket prices in 2022 to win back fans who have become accustomed to watching games at home.
Sports ticket prices rose 14.2% in October compared to November 2019, but the increase was smaller than the 19.6% rise in the overall index, according to a CNBC analysis of CPI data. Much of the upward pressure on admission prices has occurred this year, highlighting the role of fanflation as consumer attention shifts from Taylor Swift and Beyoncé concerts to NFL and Major League Baseball games.
“We’re seeing a significant rebound in prices,” Matheson said.
According to ticketing platform StubHub, sales for the NFL and National Hockey League in 2023 nearly doubled compared to the previous year. NBA sales were up nearly 60% at the start of the season compared to last time, and college football sales were up about 50%.
Admittedly, not all sports have seen similar price increases this year. Ticket prices for the top 10 sporting events were 15% higher in 2022 than in 2023, according to StubHub.
Mr Matheson said reducing overall inflation would help contain sectoral growth. A return to more normalized entertainment spending habits in the wake of the post-pandemic experiential boom could also help contain demand and prices, he added.
“It’s really upsetting.”
Rodney Paul, director of Syracuse University’s sports analytics program, said interest in watching games should remain somewhat stable even if the economy worsens. That’s because a sizable portion of the consumer base is wealthy enough to afford professional sports tickets (essentially a luxury item), and given their financial situation, they should be able to weather the recession well.
But Paul said a major change in economic conditions could force economically unstable fans to cut back on unrelated expenses, which could hurt demand. Matheson said cash-strapped consumers may justify spending more than they would like this year by remembering that they didn’t splurge much or at all on game tickets during the pandemic. Stated.
Some sports fans say part of the economic stress lies in the ticket resale market. Financial calculations for fans like Hornberger and Sarah Wenton will also have to factor in the rising prices of in-stadium parking and food.
Weddington said he was able to save enough money to attend a Kansas City Chiefs game last season, but with rising prices this year, he feels that’s not possible. A longtime resident of the Kansas City area, he said he feels for people who had never been able to attend a game until the recent cost increases.
“It’s really upsetting that such a monumental part of the community is out of reach for so many people,” the 23-year-old said. “Not being able to go to the game is like going to the candy store and not getting candy.”
Still, Syracuse University’s Paul said sports have taken on new meaning in a post-pandemic world. As more people work from home, there is a growing need for in-person social spaces, and those who can afford them will be more willing to pay for them, he said.
“There is a strong hunger for that kind of togetherness that the sports world provides,” he said. It’s “a really exciting experience, but it’s probably even more exciting now because people have lost it in the past.”
—CNBC’s Gabriel Cortez contributed to this report.