49ers’ Levi’s Stadium: How the Niners new home became a bust

Pricing Many 49ers Fans Out of the Market

I remember back when a 49ers fan could find a decent ticket at Candlestick Park for about $50. Even when the Niners were bad, the old park was usually pretty full. That kind of money was easy to spend, even if the product on the field was less than desirable.

San Francisco 49ers

The comparison reminds me to catching San Francisco Giants and Oakland A’s games, especially after 2000 when the Giants opened up their then-new home at AT&T Park.

Games at AT&T Park were, and still are, expensive. For the most part, though, the Giants were fun to watch. And the fan experience made a pricey trip worthwhile. It just cost you.

But I still enjoyed going to A’s games across the bay at another dilapidated, aging facility, Oakland Coliseum. The A’s haven’t exactly been good for a while now, but tickets were more than reasonable. They were flat out cheap. Anyone here remember dollar-Wednesday tickets?

I get Jed York and Co. wanted to capitalize on all the money pouring into Silicon Valley. There’s way more cash to be made from corporate sponsors, luxury box sales and personal seat licenses than your average fan purchasing tickets in Section 280, or whatever.

Turns out, even with a bad product on the field, a fan experience at a Niners game still winds up being the fifth-most costly entering 2017, according to GoBankingRates.com (h/t Emmie Martin of CNBC.com):

"Game at Levi’s Stadium: $331 Ticket price: $117 Price for a beer: $10 Price for a soft drink: $4 Price for a hot dog: $4.50 Parking: $60 Single-game tickets to Levi’s Stadium are the fifth most expensive in the NFL. Parking is expensive, too — it went up to $60 from $40 last year. And at $10 per 16-ounce cup, beer prices are the highest out of all NFL stadiums."

All this does is price out more of your middle-class fans. And if the product on the field is bad, why spend a ton of money when it’s cheaper — and more comfortable and easy — to stay at home or go to a sports bar?