Could High Sports Ticket Prices Change Fans’ Behavior At Games?
By Movieguide® Contributor
One moment from the World Series Game 4 has experts abuzz.
“Two New York Yankees fans were ejected from the game after they interfered with Los Angeles Dodgers outfielder Mookie Betts by prying the ball out of his mitt as he made a leaping catch against the wall, near where they were seated. The men were also banned from attending Game 5,” USA Today reported.
“We may have a new entry in the annals of fan behavior. But we didn’t get here overnight,” Daniel Wann, a psychology professor at Murray State University, said of the incident.
But this isn’t the first time fans have been ejected from games for obscene behavior.
During that same game, “a fan chose a Stand Up to Cancer moment of silence to heckle Dodgers’ player Freddie Freeman. In 2021, a Celtics fan was arrested for throwing a water bottle at former Boston player Kyrie Irving following an NBA playoff game. At another 2021 NBA playoff game, a fan was banned and had his season ticket membership revoked after dumping popcorn on then-Washington Wizards guard Russell Westbrook.”
So, what’s getting fans riled up to the point of ejection?
Many experts believe it is because of the high price of sports tickets.
“People seem to feel like they have more license to act in a rude and disrespectful fashion,” Harvey Milkman, professor emeritus of psychology at Metropolitan State University of Denver, explained.
Earlier this year, CNN reported, “Ticket prices to sporting events increased 15% in December from the year prior.”
In 2023, the average NFL ticket cost climbed 8.6% to $120, meaning that to take a family of four to a game costs $631 (including food, souvenirs and parking), per CNN.
“MLB tickets increased 3.5% to an average of $37 in 2023. It cost[s] $266 to take a family to a game,” CNN added.
“You would think that if you’re going to pay all of that money, you wouldn’t want to do something that’s going to get you kicked out of the game,” Wann explained. “People don’t go to the games expecting to. Once you get in the environment and you get wrapped up with other fans, you’re not thinking about the ticket price. You’re thinking about the game on the line.”
“If your team wins, you and your self-esteem hinges upon how the team is doing,” Milkman added. “Then, when you invest a thousand dollars in a ticket, you become even more invested.”
Alcohol also plays a major role in fans’ erratic behavior.
“You can’t talk about this without talking about the potential impact of alcohol,” Wann emphasized. “Certainly alcohol has the potential to embolden people to do things that they might not otherwise do.”
Often, fans see themselves as part of the team they love, and they want to do anything they can to help their team win.
“For a lot of fans, the sporting event and being a fan of the team is an extension of who they are,” Wann added. “When the team loses, it’s their loss, and if the team wins, it’s their win. But also, if a referee makes a controversial call against a fan, that fan’s going to feel like they were slighted, just like the players do.”
