Revenue from Concession Stands

Ever wondered how much teams make from concession stands during their home games?  There are certain factors that contribute to these numbers, obviously, such as the number of fans attending the game and differing prices between stadiums. To give you an idea of how much they make, all MLB ballparks combined bring in more than $500 million in one year. That's about $17 million a year per team if each team equally made the same. Let's take a look at how these teams make these huge revenues.

Hot dogs are huge money makers for MLB teams.  In 2013, there was projected to be over 20 million hot dogs sold at stadiums throughout the season. At $4.50 per hot dog (which some teams charge more) that's over $90 million in sales! It is also estimated that each vendor sells around 150 hot dogs per game. Each vendor who has to walk throughout the stadium has carries a bin full of hot dogs that weighs about 40 pounds full. Most vendors walk around 4 to 5 milers per game on average, too! Concessions profit more than 60% from each hot dog sold during a ballgame as well. Next time you're at a Major League baseball game look around and see how many fans have hot dogs. Also, take a look at the price of them, as some stadiums charge up to $6.50 per dog. 

Who doesn't love to get a little buzz while watching their favorite team play? Beer is another way teams make money from concessions. Drinks at professional sporting events usually have a profit margin of at least 90%.  This includes soft drinks as well, but beer should be close to that once we see how much it costs to buy a beer at a game. Let's take a look here at the average cost of beer by certain professional sports. 

                      NBA: $7.41           NHL: $7.34
                      NFL: $7.05           MLB: $6.09 

Over $7 for a beer? Crazy to think that it costs that much, but still over 60,000 beers are sold on average during NFL games. I'd suggest throwing a few back before the game starts to save a few bucks while inside the stadium. Three beers at a professional game would cost you about the same as it would to buy a full case of beer in most places.  

To find out more about concession stand information, visit The Economy of Food at Sporting Events.