Today, alongside nearly a million fellow sports fans, I’ll make my way to the ballpark to watch the first game of the 2025 Major League Baseball season. As a former college baseball player and diehard Washington Nationals fan, I’ll take in a game at Nationals Park, which cost almost $700 million when it was built nearly 20 years ago. That tab was paid almost entirely by D.C. taxpayers, even though the Nats’ majority owners, the Lerner family, are real estate magnates worth an estimated $6.4 billion. Before sitting down to watch first pitch, I’ll pick up a hot dog, a bag of Cracker Jack and a cold beer. This year, that will set me back a staggering $29.
Baseball, like other major professional sports, is big business. MLB brought in $12.1 billion in revenue last year, thanks in no small part to the attendance of more than 70 million fans. The top five professional sports leagues in North America brought in more than $50 billion combined in 2024. While team valuations, player salaries and owners’ net worths climb higher, it has become increasingly unaffordable for an average American family to catch a game. A family of four can expect to spend an average of $240 for tickets, concessions and parking at a Major League Baseball game. An NFL game will set them back a whopping $631. Though most teams collect only a small percentage of overall revenue from concessions, prices continue to rise, reaching levels double or triple what you would find just across the street at a grocery store or a restaurant.
Nearly 80% of airports, which are also heavily funded by taxpayers, are covered by some form of “street pricing plus.”
The good news is: There’s a way to rein in this price gouging at the concession stand. While there may not yet be a policy solution for getting my Nationals back to the playoffs, we can stop publicly funded venues from ripping off families, who are often barred from bringing their own food and drink in for an affordable snack.
These days, sports stadiums are nearly always backed by taxpayer funding at the local, state and federal levels, meaning fans are footing the bills on both ends. These funding deals are sold with promises of economic development and community benefits that too often fail to materialize. Even the vendors are big businesses of their own. The Nationals exclusively contract with the concessionaire Levy Restaurants, whose parent company made nearly $3 billion in profits last year.
State, local and federal policymakers should institute what’s called “street pricing” for venues that are funded by taxpayer dollars, as my team at Groundwork Collaborative outlines in a new policy brief. This means that vendors can only charge prices of comparable items outside the stadium at restaurants or convenience stores. Nearly 80% of airports, which are also heavily funded by taxpayers, are covered by some form of “street pricing plus.”
Stadiums and arenas are often financed by Private Activity Bonds, which are federally tax-deductible. As a condition of tax exemption, venues financed by Private Activity Bonds should institute strict street pricing policies. State and local policymakers should require street pricing policies as part of negotiated economic development deals for new stadiums and other venues.
As LaGuardia Airport’s infamous $9.99 Chex Mix proves, though, these policies are often stretched to the point of incredulity and rarely enforced. With that in mind, then, lawmakers should be sure street pricing requirements include rigorous enforcement. And while we’re at it, the Federal Aviation Administration likewise should condition airport funding on stronger street pricing policies and enforcement.
In return for massive public subsidies, the least billionaire sports owners can do is offer their loyal fans affordable concessions.
Street pricing requirements would not just be pro-consumer; they would be pro-business. In acknowledgment of fan outrage at high prices, some teams have voluntarily instituted caps on concession prices or special offers. At every Tuesday home game, my Nationals offer $5 concessions, as well as discounted tickets and parking. When Mercedes-Benz Stadium opened in 2017, the Atlanta Falcons instituted a fan-friendly pricing model, slashing concession prices by 50% compared with those in their previous stadium, offering $2 hot dogs and $5 beers. The discount paid off — transactions, revenues and merchandise sales are up, and its fan experience tops the NFL. Portland International Airport has had strict street pricing since the 1980s and enjoys retail sales well above the national average.
As families are squeezed by rising costs for everything from groceries to housing to utilities and giant corporations institute even more elaborate strategies and fees to squeeze every last penny from consumers, an affordable game at the ballpark is the least they can ask for. In return for massive public subsidies, the least billionaire sports owners can do is offer their loyal fans affordable concessions.