Thursday, April 5, 2007
I attended my first professional baseball game of the season Wednesday — though not my beloved Cardinals (who doesn’t struggle after winning the World Series, right?) — and I was reminded what a gift the Kansas City Royals are to this community, particularly to college students.
And if you really want to make it a good time, bring some of your favorite adult beverages along with you to drink in the parking lot. That’s maximizing your dollars.
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Do yourself and your body a favor and take advantage of the most affordable professional sports franchise in the United States. There’s nothing like a Kansas City Royals game.
I grabbed four of my buddies and we headed for the first Buck Night of the season, choosing of course to sit in the $8 Hy-Vee view seats. Hot dogs for a buck? Peanuts for a dollar? A soda for four quarters?
Count me in. I don’t care what team is playing.
As a St. Louis Cardinals fan, the notion of Buck Night and $8 seats is completely foreign to me. For instance, standing-room only seats sell for a minimum of $13 in the new Busch Stadium. A beer at our year-old stadium will set you back $8.25. Other concessions are equally outrageous.
For college students, a trip to Busch can be a tough experience for the wallet. And while I’ve anecdotally known that the Royals are one of the cheapest experiences out there, ESPN The Magazine went to the trouble to quantify that cheapness.
According to their analysis (you can check out their methodology at ESPN's Ultimate Standings: Our Methodology), the Kansas City Royals come in as the most affordable franchise out of all 122 teams that play in the Big Four pro leagues: NBA, NFL, MLB and NHL. For a college student, this list should be a guide to good weekend getaways and short summer trips.
For basketball fans, for instance, the San Antonio Spurs come in at number 12 among all franchises. San Antonio, Texas, is driveable — though beware of traffic in Austin and Dallas — and is an absolutely outstanding town to visit. Much fun can be had there and even more up the road in Austin, home to Sixth Street and the University of Texas.
If you’ve planned in advance, the Spurs make a number of tickets available for $10 a piece. You’re probably out of luck on any of the remaining games for this regular season, but next season could be the perfect opportunity.
Incidentally, the Spurs are not the only successful team that is lauded for being an affordable experience for sports fans. The Buffalo Sabres of the NHL are ranked as the overall best franchise by ESPN The Magazine. The Sabres get high marks for their on-ice performance, fan relations, coach and player behavior as well. This should give Royals fans a little bit of hope that remaining affordable won’t doom them to baseball’s cellar forever.
As for the Cardinals, probably the closest non-Kansas City sports franchise, they come in at 19th overall, but all the way down at 38th for affordability. Not exactly college student friendly.
The next Royals Buck Night is May 5, just days before we all go into over-stress mode with term papers, final exams and other projects that are designed to increase our stress and decrease our sleep.
Do yourself and your body a favor and take advantage of the most affordable professional sports franchise in the United States. There’s nothing like a Kansas City Royals game.
Except, that is, for a St. Louis Cardinals game. As long as someone else is paying.
Kealing is a Chesterfield, Mo., senior in journalism and political science.
—Edited by Lisa Tilson
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