NFL Game-day Inflation 2016 - 2026: Fans see the game-day experience surge 78% over the last decade

ANALYSES17 Jun 2026

8 min. read

San Francisco 49ers Stadium, Levi's Stadium (UNSPLASH)

Life for Americans is getting increasingly expensive as years go by, whether that’s the price of fuel or even basic groceries. NFL fans have not managed to avoid the extra costs seeing a remarkable increase of 78% from 2016 to 2026, with one team having a 367% increase in the cost of the ‘Game-day experience’ (one average ticket, one 16-oz beer and one hot dog).

The data team at Casino Guru News analyzed 10-year data across the NFL, assessing prices for game-day tickets, beers and even hot dogs, and for some teams the results are truly astounding.

Key Highlights:

NFL fans are paying 78% more for the game-day experience than 10 years ago (32% more than general inflation)
The average NFL entry ticket price has risen 82.7%, from $92.98 to $169.88(2.4x the rate of inflation)
Beer prices have increased by 48%, outpacing inflation but growing at a slower rate than tickets.
Detroit Lions tickets have seen the biggest increase, rising from $85.71 in 2016 to around $444 in 2026 - up more than 400% and now the most expensive in the NFL.
Not all teams are pricing out fans, with 15 of the league's 32 teams price rises below or matching inflation.
New Orleans Saints are the cheapest team in the league for a game-day experience and saw a 32% decrease taking inflation into account
In 2016 the spread between the cheapest (Jaguars, $61.36) and priciest (Bears, $131.90) average ticket was about 2.1x. In 2026 it is 6.3x (Titans $71 vs Lions $444).

Average NFL Game-day Experience Increases 78% Since 2016 ($105.55 to $187.85)

The NFL game-day experience has seen a big increase in price compared to 10 years ago and some teams are pushing that number up a lot more than others. The Detroit Lions are the standout team who have had the highest increase throughout all the NFL of 367%. The main component pushing them that high is the increase in ticket prices, Lions fans have gone from paying an average of $98.63 per game to $460.36, a 419% increase!

The Las Vegas Raiders have the second highest increase in cost for the game-day experience over the last decade at 282%, going from $84.83 to $323.81. A reason for this could be attributed to moving to the $1.9bn Allegiant Stadium in 2019 and having a more premium game-day experience but it’s still a heavy cost for the diehard Raiders fans. Again, the main driver for the big increase was the change in the average ticket price from $71.03 to $299.56.

Not all teams saw an increase in the last decade and 15 of the league's 32 teams' prices were below or matching inflation. The New Orleans Saints found themselves at the bottom of the NFL for cost having a 9%decrease in the cost of the game-day experience for their fans (32% below inflation).

Average NFL Ticket Price Increases 83% Since 2016 ($92.98 to $169.88)

NFL fans in general are having to pay more for their tickets this year compared to a decade ago - again the main culprits for this rise are the Detroit Lions (+419%) and Las Vegas Raiders (+322%). A few other teams who saw a notable increase in ticket costs are the Philadelphia Eagles (+264%) Green Bay Packers (+217%), Buffalo Bills (+197%),Kansas City Chiefs (+188%) and the Cincinnati Bengals (+185%).

New Orleans Saints landed bottom again for the increase in average ticket prices over the past decade (-14%), but they don’t have the cheapest of all teams, that goes to the Indianapolis Colts who have an average ticket price of $76.88, a 12% decrease of the last 10 years (35% below inflation). Other standout teams who saw a decrease in ticket prices or a very small increase were the New York Giants (-6%), Tennessee Titans (+5%), New York Jets (+6%) and the Los Angeles Chargers (+10%).

Average NFL 16oz Beer Price Increases 48% Since 2016 ($7.38 to $10.96)

The NFL fans who enjoy a beer while watching their favorite team play will be sad to see that the average price has increased almost 50% across the league. This is the first time the Detroit Lions don’t land as the biggest increase in cost but instead the Washington Commanders find themselves top of the table with a huge 136% increase from $7.20 to $16.99.

At the opposite end of the scale, you have the Atlanta Falcons who recently announced they are keeping their fan-first pricing. Over the last decade beer has dropped from $9.33 to $5 which is a 46% decrease (64% below inflation).

Average NFL Hot Dog Price Increases 35% Since 2016 ($5.19 to $7.01)

Finally, we move onto hot dog prices and fans will be happy to see that although they have increased 35% over the last decade, that is only 1% above inflation over the same period. Some teams however have increased their prices a huge amount over the last 10 years, for example Minnesota Vikings fans have seen a 136% increase from $3.00 to $7.09.

Again, the Atlanta Falcons have the biggest decrease in a concession-based product due to their famous $2 hot dog. This has decreased from $5.50 to $2 (-64%) over the last decade and shows the Mercedes-Benz Stadium truly is fan-first. Other teams who saw a decrease include the Cleveland Browns (-43%), Kansas City Chiefs (-13%) and the Green Bay Packers (-10%).

Full League Data

Franchise	Ticket/Beer/Hot Dog Price 2016	Ticket/Beer/Hot Dog Price 2026	% Change Since 2016	% Change Since 2016 Adjusted For Inflation
NFL LEAGUE AVERAGE	$105.55	$187.85	78%	32%
Detroit Lions	$98.63	$460.36	367%	247%
Las Vegas Raiders	$84.83	$323.81	282%	184%
Philadelphia Eagles	$115.02	$378.52	229%	145%
Green Bay Packers	$108.47	$317.38	193%	118%
Buffalo Bills	$102.78	$282.69	175%	104%
Cincinnati Bengals	$85.34	$230.16	170%	101%
Kansas City Chiefs	$86.79	$226.67	161%	94%
Chicago Bears	$144.30	$310.55	115%	60%
Pittsburgh Steelers	$106.81	$213.19	100%	48%
Minnesota Vikings	$101.67	$198.98	96%	46%
Seattle Seahawks	$97.87	$177.50	81%	35%
Denver Broncos	$125.75	$219.40	75%	30%
Dallas Cowboys	$124.20	$208.75	68%	25%
Tampa Bay Buccaneers	$86.16	$142.00	65%	23%
Washington Commanders	$132.72	$212.98	61%	19%
Houston Texans	$107.15	$154.55	44%	7%
Miami Dolphins	$110.45	$150.18	36%	1%
Jacksonville Jaguars	$74.36	$99.57	34%	-1%
New England Patriots	$140.48	$188.00	34%	-1%
Carolina Panthers	$90.71	$117.60	30%	-4%
San Francisco 49ers	$131.50	$170.43	30%	-4%
Los Angeles Rams	$84.16	$109.00	30%	-4%
Los Angeles Chargers	$97.75	$118.00	21%	-10%
Baltimore Ravens	$123.61	$145.31	18%	-13%
Tennessee Titans	$78.15	$88.09	13%	-16%
Cleveland Browns	$81.80	$91.75	12%	-17%
New York Jets	$123.21	$137.50	12%	-17%
Arizona Cardinals	$101.53	$113.02	11%	-17%
Atlanta Falcons	$93.66	$100.83	8%	-20%
New York Giants	$136.07	$136.38	0%	-26%
Indianapolis Colts	$99.69	$91.32	-8%	-32%
New Orleans Saints	$105.75	$96.73	-9%	-32%

Methodology

2016 Baseline	Team Marketing Report (TMR) NFL Fan Cost Index 2016 - the industry-standard annual survey. Ticket = weighted average face-value price across general (non-premium) seating. Beer = smallest available draft, with serving size recorded in ounces (normalized here to 16 oz for comparability). Hot dog = regular size. Prices were confirmed by TMR with team, venue, and concessionaire representatives.
2025-26 Season	2025–26 figures are based on a third-party compiled stadium pricing dataset, supported by publicly available listings and official team and venue sources where applicable Ticket prices reflect the lowest available ticket for each home fixture, averaged across the 2025–26 season schedule. Concession pricing is based on a standardized 16oz domestic draft beer and a hot dog. Where current pricing was unavailable, 2025 values were adjusted using CPI inflation to estimate 2025–26 equivalents
Inflation Benchmark	US Bureau of Labor Statistics, CPI-U (all items, US city average, NSA, series CUUR0000SA0), retrieved from the official BLS API in June 2026. September 2016 (start of the 2016 season) = 241.428 September 2025 (start of the 2025-26 season) = 324.800: cumulative inflation +34.5%. (To the latest available month, May 2026 = 335.123, cumulative inflation is +38.8%.) Real change = (price ratio / 1.34533) - 1.
Comparability caveats	(1) Ticket bases differ: TMR 2016 reflects average face value, while the 2025-26 figure reflects the cheapest widely available market price averaged over the season. Because the cheapest available seat is generally below the average price, the decade-on-decade ticket increases reported here are, if anything, conservative. As a consistency anchor, TMR's own (final published) league-average ticket was $120.94 in 2023. (2)Beer serving sizes in 2016 varied by stadium (12-20 oz); all beer comparisons are made per 16 oz. (3) Three franchises changed market or name since 2016 (Chargers, Raiders, Commanders); comparisons follow the franchise. (4) Per-team figures mix two methodologies and are best read as indicative; the league-average and CPI-adjusted findings are robust to this.