Not In Their League: Why it's harder to be a sports fan by David Dayen

[justaprogressive]

In 1960, an NFL Championship Game ticket ran you $8; adjusted for inflation, that’s about $87.60. Last year, the cheapest seat for the Super Bowl—also won by the Eagles (yes, I inherited the fandom from my dad)—was $3,000. What about the best seats, the luxury skyboxes that weren’t around in 1960? Suite prices at last year’s Super Bowl topped out at $1,950,000.

The NFL championship hasn’t been played in Philadelphia since 1960; Super Bowls are held in either warm-weather sites or domed stadiums. (MetLife Stadium in New Jersey hosted once; the teams missed a snowstorm by one day.) The scrap metal magnate and his family would have to travel to Miami or New Orleans or Los Angeles; they couldn’t offer a spare ticket to a neighborhood kid to watch the home team.

These days, my dad roots for the Eagles from his sectional couch, with top-end sound and hi-def camera angles. That’s an improvement over 1960, when television blackout rules were in effect and local Eagles fans without a ticket had to drive 75 miles out of town to watch the game. But today’s fans endure an endless parade of commercials that turn the game into a chore. And while the privilege of blowing half a day on a football game remains technically free, the sports people love have been segregated onto numerous streaming channels that can cumulatively cost thousands of dollars a year.

In some ways, it’s never been a better time to be a sports fan. You can wake up on Saturday where I live in Los Angeles and binge on college football from 9:00 in the morning until late into the night. Though I’m over 2,200 miles from Ann Arbor, all the games of my alma mater Michigan Wolverines are televised nationally. And I can go online for vast volumes of high-quality statistical analysis, insider information, and even trash talk with fellow fans on social media. I can build large quantities of my life around sports and never lack for action. This grows fan interest, deepens emotional attachment, and helps make sports an unsurpassed phenomenon.

https://prospect.org/2026/02/03/feb-2026-magazine-sports-not-in-their-league-fandom/]

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[róisín_dubh]

1. My nephew's HS graduation...

Coincides with the World Cup. I’m flying out two weeks early to avoid getting ripped off my the airlines- though most normal Europeans can’t afford match tickets anyway and some fans are urging their national teams to boycott.
I wanted to catch Scotland play Haiti and nearly had a coronary when I saw the ticket prices.
I’ve been trying to get to a Premier League match since I moved to the UK- little chance, when I add up how much tickets, transportation and accommodation costs.
It sucks

[Johonny]

2. My NFL team has been in the Super Bowl

Since I was in grade school. I don't watch the SuperBowl most years. Don't care, my season has been over morr than a month ago. LOL

[SWBTATTReg]

3. These prices are ridiculous and guess who bears the blunt costs of the stadiums themselves, as well as attempting

to locate a team to move to your area? You do, as consumers in that area. As a former RAMS supporter (minor), in STLMO, the RAMS misled supporters and ended up moving west, to a bigger market. The city of STLMO sued them, and won over $750+ million dollars. We've yet to ID how we're going to spend the money.

Don't let these leagues bulldoze you and/or your municipalities into doing something that's not benefitting all of you!

And by the way, I still don't miss the football. A bunch of billionaires playing rough and tumble on the front yard doesn't excite me in the least. Time to say NO to these expensive toys.