Levi’s Stadium should drop its concession prices for 49ers games

A report from the New York Times shows how lower concession prices led to more revenue, meaning the San Francisco 49ers should drop their own costs at Levi’s Stadium.

There’s a reason why tailgating is such a fun venture at NFL games.

Aside from the fun of it all, the food and drink inside stadiums is exorbitantly expensive. You want me to spend $10 on a hot dog and $15 on a domestic beer? And a small size?

It doesn’t help the San Francisco 49ers’ Levi’s Stadium sits at the heart of Silicon Valley, where high wages and high costs of living translate into… well, you know, not-so-cheap eats. But if CEO Jed York and the Niners organization are still about the profits (nothing wrong with that… they should be), they might want to take a page out of the Atlanta Falcons off-the-field playbook.

San Francisco 49ers

A report from Ken Belson of the New York Times broke down how the Falcons’ owner, Arthur Blank, elected to have a value menu when the team’s new facility, Mercedes-Benz Stadium, debuted last year.

Here’s the scoop:

"When [Blank] opened Mercedes-Benz Stadium last year, he included concession stands selling craft beer, designer sandwiches and high-end barbecue.But he also included a value menu, with bottomless soft drinks, $2 hot dogs, $5 cheeseburgers and other affordable items. The idea was to give fans a break while acknowledging that the price to attend games, including personal seat licenses for season-ticket holders, was more expensive than in the Falcons’ previous home, the Georgia Dome.The approach has paid dividends. Despite a 50 percent decrease in prices for food and nonalcoholic drinks compared to prices in the Georgia Dome, the amount spent per fan increased by 16 percent, Blank’s sports company, AMB Sports and Entertainment, said on Thursday."

Are you reading this, Mr. York?

This was the breakdown of food prices when Levi’s Stadium opened in 2014, per NBC Bay Area:

• Beer: $10.25 for 20-ounce domestic and $11 for 18-ounce “premium”
• “Frankfurter”: $6.25
• Sausage or bratwurst: $8.25
• Soda: $5.25 for 21 ounces, 49ers souvenir soda cup: $7.50
• Pizza: $8 per slice
• Garlic fries: $8.50
• Nachos: $6
• Bag of candy: $6
• Water: $5.75 for a 20-ounce bottle
• Wine: $12 for a 7-ounce pour
• Tortas, barbecue sandwich or burger: $12

And those costs only increased during Super Bowl 50, held at Levi’s Stadium on Feb. 7, 2016:

As CEO of the 49ers franchise, York should care about the money piling in from sales at Levi’s Stadium. Why wouldn’t he? It’s OK.

But Blank’s price-cutting efforts in Atlanta proved to be more than just a nice gesture. It led to more spending, which pushed revenue even higher for the franchise.

It would be a win-win situation for both York and the 49ers Faithful.

And with the now-winning Niners starting to generate buzz, a more-packed Levi’s Stadium would mean those ghastly prices can come down as more fans are buying what’s affordable.

Next: 5 moves the 49ers can make to help Jimmy Garoppolo in 2018

Let’s hope York and the top brass take into consideration Niner Noise’s top-ranked financial analysis!