Want to go see a baseball game? Be prepared to drop a couple hundred dollars if you have a family of four. While the typical cost of a baseball game is small compared to other American sports events, it doesn’t make it any less of a tragedy that the rich will soon be the only ones who can afford major sports. There are many factors that contribute to high concession prices, with the most significant being private corporations knowing they have you prisoner for a couple of hours and can take advantage of you in the meantime. That being said, some people still value their baseball over the cost of food, so here are the top ten ballparks with the most expensive concessions.
All these data are taken from bookies.com and are current as of the 2023 season.
Why Are We Talking About This?
Everyone deserves to have a fun night out, especially if you are a fan of baseball and live near any of the major ballparks. However, corporate greed and inflation have put many everyday joys out of reach for ordinary Americans. We don’t want you to have any nasty surprises while enjoying your weekend, so we found the most expensive concessions so you can be prepared for the shock ahead of time.
#10 PNC Park
- Team: Pittsburgh Pirates
- Cost of two 16oz beers: $18.00
- Cost of two 20oz sodas: $12.00
- Cost of four hot dogs: $19.50
PNC Park is the fifth home of the Pittsburgh Pirates and cost $216 million to build, paid for by the taxpayers of Pittsburgh. It was built with a retro, classic baseball style and has often been called one of the best baseball stadiums in the entire country by baseball journalists and writers. The interesting and unique food offerings, timeless design, good seating, and beautiful location make this a favorite baseball field.
#9 Citizens Bank Park
- Team: Philadelphia Phillies
- Cost of two 16oz beers: $19.25
- Cost of two 20oz sodas: $10.00
- Cost of four hot dogs: $20.00
The Citizens Bank Park opened in 2004 after the Pittsburgh Pirates threatened to leave the city if it did not pay for four new stadiums for the city’s sports teams. It cost $458 million to build, paid for by the citizens of Philadelphia. This park became famous because it is extremely hitter-friendly, giving up 218 home runs in 2004, so the owners moved the left-field wall back five feet, but it still gives up the most home runs in the National League with 149 home runs in 2009 alone.
#8 Oriole Park at Camden Yards
- Team: Baltimore Orioles
- Cost of two 16oz beers: $22.00
- Cost of two 20oz sodas: $13.75
- Cost of four hot dogs: $16.50
This ballpark was opened in 1992 and features a retro baseball aesthetic. When it opened, this ballpark was praised as one of the best and most beautiful stadiums in all of baseball and started the trend of building retro ballparks around the country. The ballpark was paid for by the citizens of Baltimore, with a price tag of more than $1.3 billion, and an additional $600 million in 2023 for renovations. How kind of them to take care of the poor owners of the Orioles.The stadium was built because the city officials were afraid to lose the Orioles to a different city after they lost the Baltimore Colts to Indianapolis after they refused to pay for their new stadium.
#7 Guaranteed Rate Field
- Team: Chicago White Sox
- Cost of two 16oz beers: $21.00
- Cost of two 20oz sodas: $12.00
- Cost of four hot dogs: $20.00
This ballpark opened in 1991 with a cost of $137 million (around $306 million in 2023). It is owned by the state of Illinois. Due to criticism of its design and layout by fans and experts, the ballpark has undergone ten significant renovations since its opening. These renovations have cost the taxpayers of Illinois more than $291 million.
#6 Oakland Coliseum
- Team: Oakland Athletics
- Cost of two 16oz beers: $17.50
- Cost of two 20oz sodas: $15.25
- Cost of four hot dogs: $24.00
This ballpark opened in 1966 and has faced recent criticism from fans and players about the state of the facility and how poorly it has been maintained. It is often called one of the worst ballparks in baseball. This won’t be a problem much longer, however, as the Athletics are making preparations to move to Las Vegas and will play in West Sacramento until their facility in Las Vegas is ready.
#5 Nationals Park
- Team: Washington Nationals
- Cost of two 16oz beers: $19.20
- Cost of two 20oz sodas: $11.00
- Cost of four hot dogs: $28.00
The Nationals Park opened in 2008 at a cost of$783.9 million. The Washington Nationals were originally the Expos that played in Montreal, and the Washington D.C. government built Nationals Park in order to convince the team to move to Washington, which they did. It was paid for by the taxpayers. Fans who are sitting on the upper deck of the ballpark can see the National Cathedral and the Washington Monument.
#4 Wrigley Field
- Team: Chicago Cubs
- Cost of two 16oz beers: $21.00
- Cost of two 20oz sodas: $12.00
- Cost of four hot dogs: $26.00
Wrigley Field originally opened in 1914 and the Chicago Cubs began playing games there in 1916. It is the oldest baseball park in the National League and the second-oldest in all of the MLB, it is now a National Historic Landmark. It does not have any parking lots nearby which adds to the aesthetic and community-friendly status of the park, making it more popular and accessible as well as an icon of the neighborhood instead of a concrete desert.Wrigley Field is the only ballpark to not have padded outfield walls because of the famous ivy that grows on the walls in the outfield. This ivy has helped make the park one of the best locations to watch baseball. It was also the first MLB park to have live organ music and continues to have live music instead of recorded sounds.
#3 Fenway Park
- Team: Boston Red Sox
- Cost of two 16oz beers: $21.00
- Cost of two 20oz sodas: $15.25
- Cost of four hot dogs: $26.00
Fenway Park has been the home of the Red Sox since 1912 and the oldest ballpark in the MLB. It is also included on the National Register of Historic Places and is a landmark on Boston’s Irish heritage trail. It has been called a shrine to baseball and one of the most famous sports stadiums in the world. Previous Red Sox CEO John Harrington actually announced his plan to demolish Fenway Park and build a new stadium right next to it that would only last 15 years and would require hundreds of millions of dollars from local taxpayers to build. It was later revealed that this plan was all a scheme to inflate the value of the team before he sold it.
#2 Citi Field
- Team: New York Mets
- Cost of two 16oz beers: $18.75
- Cost of two 20oz sodas: $22.50
- Cost of four hot dogs: $28.00
Citi Field opened in 2009 and cost $850 million to build, with $615 million from government subsidies, and the Mets own the whole stadium. This, however, was the better alternative proposed by Mayor Bloomberg to replace the corrupt corporate welfare plan for a new stadium proposed by Mayor Giuliani which would have had taxpayers fund the entire park, with hundreds of millions of additional benefits, free electricity, and let the Mets keep all revenues and pay no taxes. The current stadium has been hailed as one of the best stadiums in all of sports.
#1 Oracle Park
- Team: San Francisco Giants
- Cost of two 16oz beers: $20.25
- Cost of two 20oz sodas: $16.50
- Cost of four hot dogs: $30.00
Leave it to San Francisco, the shining beacon of income inequality and wealth, to have the most expensive concessions. It opened in 2000 at a cost of$357 million and was built without public funds, but the Giants were granted $10 million in tax abatements and $80 million for any upgrades. Oracle Park is one of the most pitcher-friendly parks in the MLB and often has the fewest home runs of any park.A famous sight at Oracle Park is when groups of fans sit in the water outside the stadium, in an area known as McCovey Cove in boats or kayaks with nets and hopes to catch home run balls that make it to the ocean.
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