Unofficial business: Falcons’ $2 hot dog is ‘revolutionary’

Things are out of whack in the sports industry when the owner of the Atlanta Falcons holds a big press conference to announce that the team will not – I repeat, NOT – charge fans ripoff prices for concessions at the new Mercedes-Benz Stadium.

The team calls its new pricing “revolutionary.”

I can’t remember the last time there was so much attention for $2 hot dogs and $5 beers.

It speaks to the nagging certainty that we’ve been abused when we’re part of a captive audience in stadiums, movie theaters, theme parks and concert arenas.

I’m glad Falcons owner Arthur Blank is making the move. And a little surprised.

This is, after all, a profitable pro team that is a getting a brand new stadium so the team can profit even more from fans. (It's also tapped into government hotel-motel taxes that will pay for $200 million of the $1.4 billion cost of building the stadium. And hundreds of millions in additional hotel-motel tax dollars will pay for other stadium costs in coming decades.)

I suspect the new stadium will give Blank such a bump in long-term profit that it will easily make up for the cuts in food and drink prices. And concessions will still be profitable even at the reduced charges, I’m told.

Operators of stadiums and movie theaters aren’t dumb. They know that charging outrageous prices for cruddy food is not a nice way to treat customers. And they know that if they cut prices, they might sell more stuff.

But they also fear losing profits. If they can’t make enough from concessions, they’ll try to squeeze cash out of us some other way to make up the difference. (Or they’ll find a way to cut expenses. Or they’ll do both.)

Under the current system, fans who are willing to buy stadium food (or those who don’t have much choice because they have low-blood-sugar issues) are subsidizing cheapos like me who try not to.

Splitting drinks

Falcons President Rich McKay told me that he and his wife split a drink at the movies.

You can be sure he can afford his own Coke Zero, but he tells me he shares his wife's Diet Coke. (First World hardships.) Paying high prices for two drinks just seems "not right," he said.

Feel ripped off? I asked.

“’Ripped off’ is a tough word,” he said. He offered an alternative description: “It’s not justified.”

(Movie theater owners traditionally like concessions business because they don’t have to share that money with movie studios, unlike ticket sales.)

Food and drink concessions have been the biggest fan complaint related to stadium operations.

The state controls the system at the Georgia Dome. But the Falcons get most of the state’s net take from the Dome, which includes a piece of the action from food and beverages. So the Falcons have profited from the high concession prices.

A different model

I asked McKay if the team ever pushed the state to permanently lower the regular prices. No, he said.

The state is “in a financial model that is completely different,” McKay said.

With the new stadium, the Falcons are in control of how concessions are handled and what prices will be charged.

Let’s see if other pro teams feel pressure to follow the Falcons’ lead and give their fans a little more love.

Of course, even with the lower prices for hot dogs and drinks, families will still have to lay out serious cash for a Falcons game. So it’s good to keep the changes in perspective.

Ticket prices per game are $55 to $385. That's equal to 27.5 to 192.5 hot dogs. And the team will charge season ticket holders for a one-time personal seat license, priced at $500 to $45,000. That converts to 22,500 hot dogs at the top end.

Happy eating.