BEER BIG BUSINESS AT BALLPARKS

The New York Post ^ | 7-4-2003 | Phil Mushnick

[husky ed]

see = buy

[1rudeboy]

I'll see your Nickel Beer Night. Cleveland. 1974.
And raise you Disco Demolition Night. Chicago. 1979.

The PEN-ULTIMATE "Hold Muh Beer" event of all time.

[Senator Pardek]

Overpriced food and overpriced tickets -- how long until MLB collapses?

A long time - if you go by Steinbrenner's bank account growing with the Yanks' latest attendance #s.

[xrp]

and the NBA?

[Senator Pardek]

and the NBA?

Never followed it - I'm short.

[Dont Mention the War]

And raise you Disco Demolition Night. Chicago. 1979.

Disco Demolition Night didn't have Billy Martin!

[Burkeman1]

$6.50 for 16 ounces? What ballpark is that? Last time I was at Fenway it was 7 bucks for 12 ounces!

[weegee]

I don't know about that, I think that the food vendors have a contract with the team owner (they give a flat fee for the year). ARA has the contract at some parks.

I went on an 8 ballpark tour in 2001 (just before 9/11). The most expensive beer I saw was in NYC (Houston is right up there now). Pittsburgh had the best selection.

Montreal had the lowest price (ballpark attendance was around 3500) (selection was limited to Molson and something else but it came in sizes up to 44 ounces).

Toronto had a Hard Rock Cafe that is flush with the ballpark (no entrance to the park fromt the restaurant but it provides an inside view of the park). I think that it cost $20(CND) to sit inside during the game but then most if not all of that was credited back in food/drinks.

In Houston, there are some bars right across the street from the new park (at home plate) and there are in/out priviledges so it is simple to go outside, catch some beers, and then go back into the park. I never did this but I would go to one of the bars where a friend would comp me some pints of Bass before going to the game.

[1rudeboy]

I'll see your Billy Martin.
And raise you Billy Veeck.

[bootless]

And don't forget Earl Weaver!

PacBell Park has Anchor Steam ...mmmm!

[B Knotts]

$29 for 1984 ounces?!?

Wow.

I can tell you that you ain't getting all-malt brew at that price.

It costs me $20-50 to brew 640 ounces of real beer.

But, then again, it's worth drinking, unlike that corn/rice brew that they're selling at the ball park (although you can get Alaskan Amber (altbier) at Safeco).

[SauronOfMordor]

You can buy a Big Glup for $0.50 but it's $5.00 if you see it with the Matrix.

Not if your wife has a purse big enough to hold several cans and a couple of bags of candy

[lawdude]

"The way the Yankees have been playing against Boston this weekend, they're going to be selling a lot more beer at Yankee Stadium."

George is preparing for "Hard Liquor and Handgun Night" at the old ball yard!

[weegee]

So what's the difference between this and movie theater's?

You can buy a Big Glup for $0.50 but it's $5.00 if you see it with the Matrix.

The theaters don't make their money from the movies (upwards of 90% go back to the distributor). They make their business on the concessions.

It's still only a nickel's worth of syrup regardless of what they price it at. Notice how they upsell popcorn and soda by offering free refills on the largest sizes only. It would seem that they are "giving away" more snacks this way cutting into profits but since the raw materials are dirt cheap, they win in this transaction.

Baseball teams make their money on the tickets, licensing deals, and concession contracts. The stadiums are publicly owned and while there may be a clause for maintainance, some team owners don't fullfill this part of the bargain.

Here in Houston, the owner of the team got the stadium rental for a nominal $1 fee and got additional revenue from renting the venue out for concerts.

I don't know of city owned movie theaters.

[M. Peach]

"You can buy a Big Glup for $0.50 but it's $5.00 if you see it with the Matrix. "

Not to condone the outrageous prices at the movie theater, but an owner of a movie theater told me that the theaters get 0 profit from the movies, and their only profit margin is from the concession stands.

[M. Peach]

You beat me to it....What's your source?

[weegee]

I also prefer to go to the Alamo Drafthouse Cinema. Normal ticket prices and yet they have a kitchen and bar (beer/wine). A beer is only $2.25 for a can of Schlitz up to $3.50 for a pint of Newcastle Brown Ale.

A bottle of wine is around $11 and there are even nights with reduced prices.

Makes those high priced cokes seem really high.

[SamKeck]

George is preparing for "Hard Liquor and Handgun Night" at the old ball yard!

Great idea. Maybe the Padres could do the same thing. Outside of staging a trainwreck in real time at second base, that's probably the only way they'll ever draw a crowd this year.

[Joe Hadenuf]

So, if the teams sell 16-ounce servings for about $6.50, which they do, the profit over the initial purchase price of each half-keg begins when the fifth beer is sold and that profit, per half-keg, is nearly $800.

The reason I no longer go to games....I hate getting robbed...

[neb52]

Yep '94 put a dent in my loyalty to baseball. I stop collecting cards and keeping up with all the stats of the players in baseball after that BS. I went to a free(paid for by the Chamber of Commerce) Ranger game earlier this season. There couldn't be more than five thousand fans, but because the Rangers always count the season ticketholders( I think about 12,000) irregardless if they are there or not. So the official attendance was like 17,000-20,000. Form what I understand this is what it is every night. Needless to say the Fort Worth Cats of the Texas League are becoming more popular. It only cost a buck or two to park and the best seat in the house is $9. The beer and food is reasonable, too.