Baseball is back, and the crack of the bat has never paired better with the sizzling crack of opening an ice cold beer. Fans of the Colorado Rockies enjoy the cheapest beer in baseball, while fans of the Boston Red Sox find that their wallets certainly hurt more once the ninth inning reaches a close.
When it comes to enjoying a ballpark beer while supporting your favorite team, it must be said that not all prices are created equally. While Rockies fans can enjoy a 12 ounce beer for just three dollars, fans of the Red Sox aren’t quite so lucky, their price point for a beer of the same size sits almost three times higher at $8.50. Fans of the New York Mets fare even worse, with a 20 ounce beer costing a whopping $11.75.
When breaking it down by price per ounce, fans of the Philadelphia Phillies, Baltimore Orioles, and San Francisco Giants will be disappointed to learn that they pay over twice as much per ounce for a beer at their ballparks than Rockies fans. The cheapest beer per ounce will run them about $0.63, compared to the Rockies measly $0.25.
So why is it that some ballpark beers will cost two, sometimes three times as much as the same beer at other stadiums? General manager of Delaware North Sportservices Bill Lohr, states that the high prices of alcohol within the stadiums is meant to serve as a tactic to reduce binge drinking. However, when looking at the average number of drinks enjoyed per individual at a baseball game, it doesn’t seem like the high price point is discouraging anyone from enjoying a beer (or two, or four).
Essentially, it seems like when all the smoke and mirrors are removed, ballpark prices are so high simply because they can be.