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Not In Their League: Why it's harder to be a sports fan by David Dayen [View all]
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.
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/]
Recommended!
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