If you’ve attended a professional sporting event recently, you may have noticed that it costs an arm and a leg to get something to eat inside your team’s stadium. After already sometimes shelling out hundreds of dollars just to get a seat, you’re dropping another small fortune for food and drinks, making the whole idea of attending a game in person untenable for many people.
For his basketball team, at least, Phoenix Suns owner Mat Ishbia is trying to change this unfortunate reality.
On Wednesday, Ishbia unveiled new super-cheap concession prices on a “value menu” inside the Suns’ home arena. When you go to a Suns game now, you can get a hot dog, a Dasani water, a soda, a bag of chips, and a bag of popcorn for roughly $10 (without tax, I imagine). Total.
That is unfathomable for most big-time sporting events these days.
And it’s so welcome:
Winning starts with our fans. When I walk the concourse at games there aren’t food options for families who don’t want to spend a lot of money. That needs to change, so today we’re rolling out our $2 value menu for all home @Suns games. pic.twitter.com/BsluNoKD5P
— Mat Ishbia (@Mishbia15) December 18, 2024
I think somewhere along the way, sports leagues forgot that seeing their game in person is supposed to be an enjoyable, accessible experience for fans. Yes, leagues like the NBA are a business, but they shouldn’t feel like an exploitative cash grab when you want to see some guys jump out of the gym. Basic life necessities things are so expensive these days. People are absolutely going to choose to pay for them instead of seeing live basketball or football or soccer, what have you, when it comes down to it.
If you want to entertain people and rope them into your brand and product, you must make it much more attainable. Ishbia doing this for the Suns and Phoenix fans is a good start. Here’s hoping sports teams in America everywhere similarly start following suit.
