> Yes of course if you buy a whole bunch of Stadium food it is expensive, but one of the entire gimmicks of the baseball stadium is that they make most of the money on beer and food. The thing is, food is optional! This is a form of progressive pricing that allows the team to charge people who are price insensitive more while still being affordable.
I don't think it's realistic to expect a family of four to have a good time sitting through a three hour baseball game without any food. And if their historical pricing data is correct, food and drink prices were comparatively much more reasonable in the 60s, so it's not a inherent property of ballparks to have outrageous concession prices.
> One last thing is to note that the experience at the stadium has changed enormously. Stadiums in the 60s were basically a bigger version of high school bleachers. Now they’re luxury palaces.
Here's a picture of the seats at Coors Field today [0]. Here's some pictures of 1960s baseball stadium seating [1][2]. They look pretty much the same to me. Now you get a cupholder, I guess?
> I don't think it's realistic to expect a family of four to have a good time sitting through a three hour baseball game without any food.
There’s a big leap from not wanting to spend a lot on concessions to not eating anything. This isn’t a movie theater. I usually just bring snacks from home and/or but food outside the stadium and bring it in.
It’s gotten harder as we’ve locked things down for “security” since you usually can’t bring a big bag in anymore, but even with kids it’s very doable.
There was a viral post on social media about a couple Orioles fans who brought a gallon ziploc of spaghetti and meatballs to Camden Yards (park policy says you can bring in one gallon ziploc) and ate out of the bag with a fork in their seats.
When I went to an Oakland A's game about a decade ago you were allowed to bring in your own food (not alcohol, of course). Not sure if that is still the case or if other stadiums allow that also. Getting a hot dog is fun, but you could bring in peanuts, popcorn, sandwiches, etc. and many people did.
The San Diego Padres permit guests to bring food into Petco Park intended for individual consumption (not for groups of individuals) and should be consumed in one’s seat. Outside food cannot be brought into any ballpark restaurant, club lounge, or suite. Guests must also adhere to the following:
All food items should be wrapped, bagged, or left inside a container to avoid spillage.
Food that might be thrown as a projectile must be sliced or sectioned (i.e., oranges, apples, and other fruits).
Food containers must be soft-sided and comply with Petco Park bag policies.
Guests are allowed to bring one factory-sealed plastic bottled water that is still, clear, and unflavored and that is one (1) liter (32 ounces) or less, and soft-sided single juice or milk containers or ADA required liquids in a sealed container.
One (1) liter reusable water bottles (no glass) are permitted and must be empty upon entry into the ballpark.
California liquor regulations prohibit guests from bringing alcoholic beverages into Petco Park. Security officers at every gate will inspect packages, bags, and purses to prevent guests from bringing bottles, cans, or any other type of liquid containers of alcohol into Petco Park.
I don't know if you have children, but my kids will not generally go 3 hours without eating without getting grumpy, no. As an aside, they are not fat (and neither am I). Ball games are also frequently scheduled at meal times (around noon for day games or around 6pm for night games). You may want to also consider that your comment comes across as pretty insulting.
This is turning into a parenting advice thread which is pretty far afield from the point. Yes there are potential workarounds at ballparks that let you bring in food. If you check in advance on exactly what's allowed, you can often pack what you need.
The point of the OP is that you didn't used to have to do that. You could just go to the ballpark, have some food and drink and enjoy yourself on a middle-class income, without worrying about being gouged for $10+ for a hot dog or $15 for a beer.
The parent comment to which you are responding and the comments replying to you are an interesting insight to the mindset behind the comments: nobody can even conceive of going to a ball park for 3 entire hours and not gorging on concessions.
The concept of a beer/soda and a hotdog or whatever have been so burned into the American psyche that people have a hard time separating the snacks from the sport.
It's completely understandable that hotdogs are an integral part of the baseball game experience, the same way that getting popcorn at a movie theater is part of the experience.
But that's not really how it was phrased and it's ridiculous to think that anyone, even children as young as 5 or 6, should have any issue with not having food available for 3-4 hours.
I mean it's longer than that. You eat before the game so you have to go out somewhere hopefully near the stadium or worse at home. Some are in downtown areas and are accessible others [are not.](https://preview.redd.it/39fpjlmmvui31.jpg?width=1024&auto=we...) The game itself might last 3 hours but getting in and out, travel time to the stadium, are you getting there when the game starts or before?
You can easily push over 4 hours between food. How well is a young kid going to do for +4hrs outside with no food or water?
The very odd thing is the assumption that of one did not bought cola, there is nothing to drink. I used to carry bottle of water and quick snack in case, it is not big deal.
You're right, this is unreasonable. Please teach a class to 5-year-olds on intermittent fasting and why they should learn to do it to properly enjoy a sportsball game.
It's only 3hrs without food if you eat immediately before and after the game. Which, when you're trying to corral small children, means that there is likely time on either side of it.
But also, WTF, If you eat 3 meals a day you go 5h20m on a 16h day without food. And 56% of that is unreasonable for a child to feel hungry during? You're a special kind of inconsiderate at the very least with this comment. In actuality your comment mostly reads as malicious and bad.
It's super common to have lunch at 12 and dinner at 8 without any food in-between. 3 hours without food is completely normal. Actually believing that you can't have fun for 3 hours because food isn't available (or too expensive) is weird. Even for 5 year olds.
Of course you still need something to drink during that time.
Huh, super common. What's your source for that info? Most of the 5-YO I know go to sleep at 8, so that doesn't pass the smell test for me. Where in the world are you that the average dinner time is 8pm?
Also, I don't think anyone is saying you can't do it, just that most people doing it wouldn't consider it "fun" or "an enjoying evening out" if they have a 5-YO who is screaming cause they're hungry.
I don't think it's realistic to expect a family of four to have a good time sitting through a three hour baseball game without any food. And if their historical pricing data is correct, food and drink prices were comparatively much more reasonable in the 60s, so it's not a inherent property of ballparks to have outrageous concession prices.
> One last thing is to note that the experience at the stadium has changed enormously. Stadiums in the 60s were basically a bigger version of high school bleachers. Now they’re luxury palaces.
Here's a picture of the seats at Coors Field today [0]. Here's some pictures of 1960s baseball stadium seating [1][2]. They look pretty much the same to me. Now you get a cupholder, I guess?
[0]: https://www.thedenverchannel.com/sports/rockies/heres-what-g... [1]: https://www.nytimes.com/2019/08/19/sports/baseball/al-jackso... [2]: https://nxstrib-com.go-vip.net/wp-content/uploads/sites/5/20...