Two months of daycare, nearly three months of groceries, or a year’s worth of car insurance. All of these family expenses are cheaper than going to a Buffalo Bills game at the new Highmark Stadium. A new study has found that Highmark Stadium leads the NFL as the most expensive venue for families to attend a game.
That’s according to a recent study from The Action Network that analyzed the cost for a family of four to attend a game at all 32 NFL stadiums.
A Bills home game jumped from fifth place last year to first place this year in terms of most costly. The study used average prices for four tickets, two hot dogs, two pops, two beers and parking to settle on $2,193.95.
“There is a huge demand, especially given that Highmark Stadium is newly built. There's a lot of fan expectations," said Gautham Marthandan, a senior research and data specialist with The Action Network.
While many fans have expressed sticker shock at the hikes in cost this year, Marthandan said it’s actually not Buffalo’s first time with such an extreme jump.
"When we did the 10-year analysis, that was 2017, for instance compared to 2016, [Buffalo] had about 26% increase in the price," he said. "For this year, it's about 21% increase in price."
That spike in 2017 aligned with Sean McDermott’s first season coaching the Bills, and the team turning things around on the field — breaking their longstanding playoff drought.
What does that mean? The study uses both face value and secondhand dynamic ticket prices to get an average.
Marthandan said team success, or lack thereof, plus fan excitement, such as seeing a new stadium, typically influences cost in both directions.
"Buffalo Bills, their fans are one of the most loyal fans. We have done other studies as well, so it also depends on the fans how loyal and how badly they want to go and see their team playing," said Marthandan. "It generally tends to increase the fan demand because of a new experience. There's going to be a curiosity how it's going to be, so there is going to be a high demand. So when a lot of people start booking it, the ticket prices, the algorithm how it works based on the demand, [prices] automatically bump up a bit."
Another new reality in gameday costs for the Bills is the personal seat license. It’s a one-time fee for prospective new season ticket holders, many of whom end up selling some tickets on the open market. At Highmark, they range from $750 to $50,000 per seat.
Before this season, Buffalo never charged this fee. Around 20 of 32 NFL teams now have PSLs.
"[Season ticket holders] are not going to sell it for same price. They're going to sell it for a little profit," said Marthandan. "So when they do, and fans keep buying them, automatically the surrounding tickets that will also amp up a bit."
Parking costs at Highmark Stadium stand at a league-high $132 per game in The Action Network’s analysis. But that doesn’t look at private lots, only stadium-owned ones. Because of ongoing demolition work at the old stadium, the only official option is a season parking pass — which is now sold out through the Bills.
Marthandan recommends families utilize apps and web features to sign up for price drop alerts. He notes there should be no surprise if ticket prices on the second-hand market go up — or down — week-to-week depending on how the team fares on the field.
