Sports fans are rioting against the rise of inflation throughout the world, which has been affecting grocery prices, bills, and now tickets to people’s favorite teams’ games. There has been an increasing demand after COVID-19 for sporting event tickets because people were unable to attend while cooped up in their homes. Prices for sporting event tickets rose 25.1% from 2022 to 2023, rising again 21.7% more till 2024, and has only been increasing since then.
Margot Winegar, a LASA soccer player and an avid sports fan, shared her own experience with how inflation is affecting sports fans. She talked about how limiting it can be for not only attendance but experience.
“I feel like inflation is limiting the types of opportunities sports fans can experience,” Winegar said. “Not only just buying tickets for the game, but also when it comes to food or team merch inside the stadium. Sometimes I eat dinner before Austin FC games because it’s not worth buying chicken tenders for $16.”
Emily Sparvero, an economics and sports management professor at the University of Texas at Austin, however, attributed this rise in ticket prices to the demand, not inflation. She explained how salary prices are the highest cost in the sports industry, and do not fluctuate with inflation.
“Sport experiences and tickets to games are not really affected by inflation,” Sparvero said. “In pro sports, the most expensive input is player salaries. Those salaries don’t increase because of inflation and generally aren’t affected by macroeconomic factors. Tickets to sports events are expensive because there is a relatively low supply and high demand.”
Fans are facing the consequences of what is happening, and many are fearing what this means for the future of sporting events. Josue Garcia, a LASA soccer coach who studied political science, expressed what he thinks this may mean for many.
“Slowly, I feel that people will be priced out of being able to go to games or only be able to go see a live game once a season,” Garcia said. “I think that less sports fans will be in attendance at their teams’ games. If ticket prices increase, then not everyone will be able to keep up with the skyrocketing prices.”
While women’s sporting events attendance has been on the rise, having a 55% increase from 2021 to 2024, men’s sporting events have been seeing a decrease in attendance. The overall attendance for sporting events has been decreasing since 2015, but there has been a spike in inflation for tickets. Winegar talked about how many may not be able to afford these highly priced tickets and what this will do to attendance.
“In my opinion, inflation will decrease the amount of people in attendance at sports games,” Winegar said. “Ticket prices will get too expensive, and sports families won’t want to buy more than one seat worth a certain, overpriced amount. If ticket prices increase, then not everyone will be able to keep up with the skyrocketing prices.”
An average person in the United States makes $62,027 according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics in 2024. With bills, rent, and the cost of living, many Americans may not be able to afford to go to sporting events. Josue Garcia pointed this out, and he emphasized how this might limit annual and less frequent events.
“If you talk about sporting events that only happen once every few years, then people may never be able to experience it in their lifetime unless they make a conscious effort to save and make attending the sporting event a priority,” Garcia said. “For regular-season games, I think attendance was lowered, which is why also most teams are trying to implement a fluctuating ticket price depending on demand.”
Josue Garcia believes that many fans will be forced onto digital streaming instead. He stated that this will not impact the economic success of the major franchises showcasing the games.
“I think that more and more fans will not be able to watch their favorite teams in person and more and more be forced to pay for a service to be able to watch their team on TV,” Garcia said. “More and more paid subscriptions will be used to generate revenue for the sports franchises, so that they can always stay profitable by selling off the television rights.”
Margot Winegar shared her thoughts on the effects that less attendance and inflation could have on the sports companies and teams. She thinks that this could result in a lower budget for players, companies, and their equipment.
“In my opinion, inflation will decrease the amount of people in attendance at sports games,” Winegar said. “Ticket prices will get too expensive, and sports families won’t want to buy more than one seat worth a certain, overpriced, amount. This will probably mean that there will be less money for the sports companies and players, as well as less investments in their playing conditions like fields, locker rooms, etc.”
Inflation is expected to keep rising, according to Trading Economics, and ticket prices will most likely also follow this trend. Many sports fans will continue to be affected by this. Companies have started fluctuating ticket prices based on demand, but that will not help for higher demand games, like the annual games or games for bigger teams.
