HOUSTON — These are the Super Bowl food and drink prices that Aramark, the Super Bowl concessionaire, declined to reveal to USA TODAY Sports prior to Sunday’s game:
“It’s expensive,” Japan Times journalist Satoru Otsubo said after buying a hot dog prior to Sunday’s game at NRG Stadium. Double Insulated Coffee Cups
But it’s not surprising, either. “It’s the American style,” Otsubo said with a laugh.
Welcome to the NFL’s biggest event, where the league and related businesses try to vacuum up every extra dime they can. Call it Super Bowl inflation.
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During the regular season, the average price of a hot dog and 16-ounce beer is $5.19 and $7.38, respectively, according to Team Marketing Report, a publisher of sports marketing information. At a Houston Texans game in the same stadium, a hot dog cost $5.75 during the regular season, according to Team Marketing Report.
By comparison, a 24-ounce can of Bud Light at Main Street Market in downtown Houston costs $4.99. And it’s only $1.49 for a 20-ounce bottle of water at the same place. At the Super Bowl here, a bottle of water costs $6.
Sunday’s prices still are on par with previous Super Bowls, which benefit from monopolizing the concessions in the stadium. On Saturday, it even cost $50 to park in a lot three blocks away from the Super Bowl festivities downtown.
“I don’t care about that,” a New England Patriots fan said about the prices after buying a hot dog at NRG Stadium.
“I’m good,” he said before walking away.
That’s usually how it works. Many of the fans attending the game already paid a king’s ransom for tickets. What’s an extra $11 for a soda?
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