Do Utah's 'fan-friendly' concessions shave the cost of an expensive night out?

Utah Hockey Club made headlines recently by announcing concession prices so low they seemed to have come out of yesteryear. Five items will be discounted this season – Dasani water will cost $2 per bottle, popcorn, nachos, a hot dog and a scoop of ice cream will each cost $3. That pricing will apply for Utah Jazz games, too. But will Utah fans really spend significantly less to attend a hockey game than fans of other franchises?

The so-called "fan-friendly" pricing in Utah is an obvious step the newly minted franchise is taking to create a fan base. "They need to get people out there because, in the long run, having those folks be fans is going to pay off," said economist Dr. Daniel Rascher from the University of San Francisco, whose work has focused on advising professional teams across all major sports on their pricing strategies.

But it could also benefit the team immediately. "A team sells multiple products," Rascher said. "They sell tickets, concessions, merchandise, and parking. If they can keep one of the prices on those low enough, and market that, it draws the fan to come out to the game, and then they're going to make additional money on the other products."

So just how much of a deal are hockey fans getting compared to other NHL franchises?

In the 2023-24 season, the most expensive NHL experience across those categories was a Toronto Maple Leafs game, which cost an estimated $703.88 for a family of four, according to Team Marketing Report's Fan Cost Index. The Golden Knights came in second at $676.56. The most affordable game day experience came courtesy of the Arizona Coyotes at $285.36. TMR's ranking represents the cost of four average-priced tickets, two small beers, four small soft drinks, four hot dogs, parking, two game programs, and two of the cheapest adult-size hats.

The cost of attending Utah's home opener using an average ticket price of about $110 (based on season-ticket prices), the cheapest parking available online ($30), two of the cheapest hats ($56 at the NHL's online store), two of the cheapest draft beers ($28), and four each of the specially priced hot dogs ($12) and bottles of water ($8), would total $574 for a family of four. That's about 101% more than their Arizona predecessors and about 33% above the league average of $432.02 - and that doesn't even include the cost of game programs. Compared to the 2023-24 Fan Cost Index, Utah would be the fifth most expensive game-day experience in the NHL.

For Utah fans looking to pick up tickets on the secondary market, the cheapest seats are already running at about $110 on Ticketmaster.

Utah could climb even higher on that index in the future; it's unlikely the discounted concession prices will last. Last year's prices for Jazz games could indicate what fans should expect in the future: Dasani water was $5, popcorn was $8.50, ice cream was $8.25, nachos were $5.75, and hot dogs were $5.50.

We also won't know the effects of the Delta Center's three-year renovation project to increase seating capacity for hockey.

"If they're truly pricing below their best level - their proper maximizing level – they will wait until they build the fan base before raising prices," Rascher said. "If you have a repeat customer, you want to entice them to be your customer, not do something else with their sports entertainment dollars. They really want to do everything at the beginning to sort of build that fan base as big and as fast as possible."

Jolene Latimer is a feature writer at theScore.