Main Street Finance

What is the Most Expensive Sport for Kids?

By Kat

All sorts of costs are associated with playing and watching sports but what’s the real difference, cost-wise, of being a fan compared with the cost of being a player. Some sports are more expensive to play, while a night out at the ball game could cost nearly as much as a whole season playing. It’s all about the trade offs.

Ice Hockey

Although not the most expensive sport to watch, ice hockey is – by far – the most expensive sport to play as a kid.

Watching a live game at the home rink, though – that’s a different story. It’s no surprise the nosebleed seats are usually pretty cheap, but it will make the coins in your wallet shake to see the prices of better seats, a beer, nachos, and parking. There’s a solid fan investment required when it comes to loving NHL games. Catching a game in Vegas to watch the Golden Knights at home could cost fans an average of $600.

Baseball

Ironically, this major league sport is one of the cheapest to be a fan of. It requires fairly little investment on the entertainment side for fans, meaning the games are easy to attend with more frequency. Seeing the Cubs play in Chicago would likely only cost fans around $170. Looking at that number and comparable variables from another major league sport, Baseball is extraordinarily cheap.

Playing baseball, on the other hand, is a different endeavor. Baseball and softball players should expect to spend something around $4,044 per season.

Football

America’s favorite pastime – oh wait, isn’t that baseball? The NFL has dubbed itself America’s favorite game, which isn’t entirely untrue. Weekends in the fall revolve around the NFL, recipes are created in honor of gameday, and yeah. Lots of money is spent to watch the home team play in their area.

Try telling New England Patriots fans to try to go see the Pats on the road. They’d be happier to pay for one game at Gillette, but the price difference from New England to the rest of the nation? Well, picture this. Jacksonville Jaguars fans can go to six home games for the price of one New England home game.

Surprisingly though, football isn’t an expensive sport to play. The average price parents could expect to pay for one season playing the sport is less than $2,800.

Basketball

Unlike many of the other major league sports, basketball doesn’t require lots of pads and gear. Once you’ve got a ball in your hands and some sturdy ground under your feet, you’re ready to play. In the long run, as a player, it pays to invest in playing basketball. The players make ridiculous sums of money down the line if they play professionally.

Though professional basketball players might make a lot of money, fans don’t need to in order to attend live games. The average price of a ticket, parking, a beer and food at the most expensive NBA experience is only $176.

Do you think it’s better to be a fan or play the game? Either way, there are money moves to make.

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