http://www.signonsandiego.com/sports/padres/20080329-9999-1n29beer.html
The San Diego Padres have some kind of streak going. And it's got nothing to do with playing ball. The team's organization has raised most beer prices every year since moving downtown to Petco Park in 2004. Opening Day is Monday and guess what: The streak lives on.
This season, prices will increase on all beer sold at the stadium, with the most expensive being $9 for premium brands. Last season, they were 50 cents less. The cheapest beer is now $6.50 for a 16-ounce domestic draft, up 75 cents.
All major league ball clubs charge a lot for beer, and all keep a close lid on how much they're making from it. The Padres are no exception, but we did some math of our own.
Information on beer pricing is available through the California Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control. Local beer distributors post the prices they charge area retailers. The Padres' vendor doesn't receive a discount for buying in bulk. That's against the law.
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The local distributor charges about 93 cents for a 12-ounce bottle of Heineken. That bottle, considered a premium brand, sells for $9 at Petco.
Even though Petco Park is partly owned by the city of San Diego, the city receives nothing from concession sales during games. Still, the Padres don't keep all the beer dollars.
The team must pay taxes and the vendor's cut, which the Padres wouldn't disclose. Sports retail experts say teams typically get between 40 cents and 50 cents per dollar on beer sales.
Why do the Padres – who have the final say on prices – charge so much for a simple beer?
The Padres say they're vastly different from a neighborhood bar, given their overhead and the limited dates they're open for business. The team also wants to discourage excessive drinking through higher prices, an executive said.
Not everyone buys that. Spectators in today's ballparks are treated like “captive prisoners,” said Bill Sutton, associate director of the DeVos Sport Business Management Program at the University of Central Florida.
“They're locked up and can't get out,” he said, which gives teams leverage when it comes to pricing their concessions. “It's a crazy mentality.”
Beer prices at Petco are even higher than at the trendy Gaslamp nightclub Stingaree two blocks away.
A pint of beer costs $6 there and beer prices haven't been raised since the club's opening in 2005, said Ali Pouladin, lead bartender. A bottle of domestic beer costs $5.
“That's a lot for a beer,” he said of Petco's prices.
Out of control
Up the road, in Anaheim, the most amazing thing happened five years ago. The Angels actually lowered beer prices. The new owner, Arturo Moreno, thought prices had spun out of control and cut some by up to 20 percent. The Angels still haven't increased the price of a 14-ounce beer at Angel Stadium. It remains $4.50 this season.
The move by the Angels hasn't exactly caught on league-wide, which might seem surprising. Fans loved it. And the Angels say the lower prices haven't resulted in more booze-fueled boorishness.
But the Padres say higher beer prices help maintain a family-friendly environment, which is one of the reasons they're more aggressive in raising those prices instead of others, said Richard Andersen, executive vice president in charge of ballpark management.
“We don't want to do anything to encourage excessive alcohol consumption,” Andersen said. “We want people to have a beer or two if they like. We're not interested in attracting people who want six or eight beers.”
Most concession prices at Petco aren't rising this year, he said. Of the 98 items offered, 57 remain unchanged. Peanuts are still $4.50 a bag. Popcorn is still $4.
The Friar hot dog will cost $4, up 50 cents from last year.
Andersen declined to say how much beer is sold during a Padres season, though the Boston Red Sox reported selling 3.1 million beers in 2004, with an attendance of about 2.8 million. Last year, the Padres attracted about 2.7 million.
Andersen did say the volume has remained pretty much consistent year-to-year, despite the annual cost increases.
The economics of beer works like the economics of everything else, experts say. A price can be set too high, discouraging consumption. Price beer at $30 a bottle and see what happens.
But sports concessions are free of one key element that exists in the open market: competition.
If a number of enterprises were allowed to set up shop and fight for the beer dollar, costs would drop. But the chance of that happening is about as likely as the Padres getting Alex Rodriguez.
Sutton questions the business approach many sports teams take with pricing, particularly in these tough economic times. If the customer believes he is being gouged, he'll begin to harbor negative feelings toward the franchise, he said. If the team performs badly, where's the incentive to hang with the club?
“That's not good long-term thinking,” he said.
Bitter taste
Beer has always been a big part of baseball. Breweries once owned teams. Today, a number of beer companies – Miller, Coors and Busch – pay to have their names on ballparks. Years ago, fans could actually bring their own beer into some stadiums. That was the case until 1984 for the Padres, who played at Jack Murphy Stadium, now Qualcomm. Then the team complained that alcohol-related problems were increasing.
Other baseball teams banned carry-in beer, saying the change was needed to create a better ballpark environment. But there was another reason: money.
Paul Fordem, a San Diego County supervisor at the time, complained that the new ban granted the Padres “an absolute monopoly” on stadium concessionaires.
Talk about vision.
Another supervisor, Paul Eckert, wondered why, if the Padres organization really wanted to solve the alcohol problem, it wasn't banning all beer-drinking at games.
Today, fans keep forking over the money for beer, even though the prices can leave a bitter taste in their mouths. At an exhibition game last night at Petco Park against the Angels, the new beer prices were in place.
And even though fans said they've grown accustomed to higher prices, nobody was exactly applauding another increase.
“You come here expecting to pay a lot,” said Geoff Longenecker of La Jolla, who was sipping a Stone beer, which set him back $9.
He called the prices, “extraordinarily high,” yet was happy that at least the variety was broad.
Christina Curtin of Mission Valley said she should could buy a six-pack for what she paid for a single beer, a premium draft for $9. But she said she expected it, given that she was at a baseball game.
Marc and Jodi Stein of El Cajon said having a beer or two is part of the baseball experience, so they forked over $16.50 for two beers.
The guy behind the counter forewarned them that the price was going to be ugly, Marc Stein said. “He said, 'Believe it or not, it's $16.50, and you don't get a TV set with it.' ”
The San Diego Padres have some kind of streak going. And it's got nothing to do with playing ball. The team's organization has raised most beer prices every year since moving downtown to Petco Park in 2004. Opening Day is Monday and guess what: The streak lives on.
This season, prices will increase on all beer sold at the stadium, with the most expensive being $9 for premium brands. Last season, they were 50 cents less. The cheapest beer is now $6.50 for a 16-ounce domestic draft, up 75 cents.
All major league ball clubs charge a lot for beer, and all keep a close lid on how much they're making from it. The Padres are no exception, but we did some math of our own.
Information on beer pricing is available through the California Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control. Local beer distributors post the prices they charge area retailers. The Padres' vendor doesn't receive a discount for buying in bulk. That's against the law.
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Beer prices at Petco Park
</td> </tr> </tbody></table> <!--endclickprintexclude--> <!-- END:SIDEBAR --> According to ABC records, a keg of Bud Light costs $76. That keg holds about 1,984 ounces, which produces about 99 20-ounce cups. The Padres charge $8.50 for a 20-ounce cup of Bud Light, meaning a single keg produces as much as $842 in sales.The local distributor charges about 93 cents for a 12-ounce bottle of Heineken. That bottle, considered a premium brand, sells for $9 at Petco.
Even though Petco Park is partly owned by the city of San Diego, the city receives nothing from concession sales during games. Still, the Padres don't keep all the beer dollars.
The team must pay taxes and the vendor's cut, which the Padres wouldn't disclose. Sports retail experts say teams typically get between 40 cents and 50 cents per dollar on beer sales.
Why do the Padres – who have the final say on prices – charge so much for a simple beer?
The Padres say they're vastly different from a neighborhood bar, given their overhead and the limited dates they're open for business. The team also wants to discourage excessive drinking through higher prices, an executive said.
Not everyone buys that. Spectators in today's ballparks are treated like “captive prisoners,” said Bill Sutton, associate director of the DeVos Sport Business Management Program at the University of Central Florida.
“They're locked up and can't get out,” he said, which gives teams leverage when it comes to pricing their concessions. “It's a crazy mentality.”
Beer prices at Petco are even higher than at the trendy Gaslamp nightclub Stingaree two blocks away.
A pint of beer costs $6 there and beer prices haven't been raised since the club's opening in 2005, said Ali Pouladin, lead bartender. A bottle of domestic beer costs $5.
“That's a lot for a beer,” he said of Petco's prices.
Out of control
Up the road, in Anaheim, the most amazing thing happened five years ago. The Angels actually lowered beer prices. The new owner, Arturo Moreno, thought prices had spun out of control and cut some by up to 20 percent. The Angels still haven't increased the price of a 14-ounce beer at Angel Stadium. It remains $4.50 this season.
The move by the Angels hasn't exactly caught on league-wide, which might seem surprising. Fans loved it. And the Angels say the lower prices haven't resulted in more booze-fueled boorishness.
But the Padres say higher beer prices help maintain a family-friendly environment, which is one of the reasons they're more aggressive in raising those prices instead of others, said Richard Andersen, executive vice president in charge of ballpark management.
“We don't want to do anything to encourage excessive alcohol consumption,” Andersen said. “We want people to have a beer or two if they like. We're not interested in attracting people who want six or eight beers.”
Most concession prices at Petco aren't rising this year, he said. Of the 98 items offered, 57 remain unchanged. Peanuts are still $4.50 a bag. Popcorn is still $4.
The Friar hot dog will cost $4, up 50 cents from last year.
Andersen declined to say how much beer is sold during a Padres season, though the Boston Red Sox reported selling 3.1 million beers in 2004, with an attendance of about 2.8 million. Last year, the Padres attracted about 2.7 million.
Andersen did say the volume has remained pretty much consistent year-to-year, despite the annual cost increases.
The economics of beer works like the economics of everything else, experts say. A price can be set too high, discouraging consumption. Price beer at $30 a bottle and see what happens.
But sports concessions are free of one key element that exists in the open market: competition.
If a number of enterprises were allowed to set up shop and fight for the beer dollar, costs would drop. But the chance of that happening is about as likely as the Padres getting Alex Rodriguez.
Sutton questions the business approach many sports teams take with pricing, particularly in these tough economic times. If the customer believes he is being gouged, he'll begin to harbor negative feelings toward the franchise, he said. If the team performs badly, where's the incentive to hang with the club?
“That's not good long-term thinking,” he said.
Bitter taste
Beer has always been a big part of baseball. Breweries once owned teams. Today, a number of beer companies – Miller, Coors and Busch – pay to have their names on ballparks. Years ago, fans could actually bring their own beer into some stadiums. That was the case until 1984 for the Padres, who played at Jack Murphy Stadium, now Qualcomm. Then the team complained that alcohol-related problems were increasing.
Other baseball teams banned carry-in beer, saying the change was needed to create a better ballpark environment. But there was another reason: money.
Paul Fordem, a San Diego County supervisor at the time, complained that the new ban granted the Padres “an absolute monopoly” on stadium concessionaires.
Talk about vision.
Another supervisor, Paul Eckert, wondered why, if the Padres organization really wanted to solve the alcohol problem, it wasn't banning all beer-drinking at games.
Today, fans keep forking over the money for beer, even though the prices can leave a bitter taste in their mouths. At an exhibition game last night at Petco Park against the Angels, the new beer prices were in place.
And even though fans said they've grown accustomed to higher prices, nobody was exactly applauding another increase.
“You come here expecting to pay a lot,” said Geoff Longenecker of La Jolla, who was sipping a Stone beer, which set him back $9.
He called the prices, “extraordinarily high,” yet was happy that at least the variety was broad.
Christina Curtin of Mission Valley said she should could buy a six-pack for what she paid for a single beer, a premium draft for $9. But she said she expected it, given that she was at a baseball game.
Marc and Jodi Stein of El Cajon said having a beer or two is part of the baseball experience, so they forked over $16.50 for two beers.
The guy behind the counter forewarned them that the price was going to be ugly, Marc Stein said. “He said, 'Believe it or not, it's $16.50, and you don't get a TV set with it.' ”
