Photo courtesy of Lucky Gambler
With Major League Soccer (MLS) returning for the start of a new season on February 21, i-gaming site Lucky Gambler studied which were the most- and least-affordable clubs to be a fan of. According to a press release, researchers from Lucky Gambler indexed all 29 MLS teams and weighted them by eight factors.
“When going to a soccer game, the cost of a ticket isn’t the only expense involved, as costs of travel, food, and hotel can also be included,” said a spokesperson for Lucky Gambler in their news release. “Today, even jerseys are becoming more expensive than the price of one game ticket. MLS stadiums are now above the 20,000 average fans per match threshold, but numbers vary greatly by venue.”
These factors were determined to contribute to the average fan's experience at an MLS game.
Leading the way in terms of most affordable were Minnesota United FC and Allianz Field – the St. Paul, Minnesota-based club was determined to cost fans an indexed score of 81.91 per game.
The eight factors that determined the cost were game tickets, the average cost of a jersey, the median cost for a one-night hotel stay that is within two miles of the stadium, the average cost of a meal at an inexpensive restaurant in the city, the number of hotels within a two-mile radius, the average cost of a taxi within one kilometer, the number of jerseys available, and the cost for a one-night stay in an Airbnb.
FC Cincinnati at TQL Stadium is the second most affordable team scoring 72.34 out of 100 in the index. Minnesota United and FC Cincinnati were virtually equal across the eight factors, with one deciding metric separating them. On the other end of the spectrum, New England Revolution was deemed the most expensive team for fans, with a score of 43.17.
“The average cost of living in Foxborough is about 38% higher than the national average and about 11% higher than the Massachusetts state average,” the spokesperson said. “Therefore, it doesn’t come [as] a surprise that New England Revolution [is] the most expensive team to be a fan of. [While] Minnesota United is the cheapest team, with the cost of living in Minnesota at 3% lower than the national average.”
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