Pour form: Counting the cost of beer at the game

Written on the 20 December 2016

The price of a beer can vary wildly between venues and fans can be left feeling ripped off when they go to games, a survey of Australian stadiums has found.

Keith Parry is a lecturer in sport management at the University of Western Sydney and has been investigating the cost and quality of food and drink at Australian sporting venues.

He turned his attention to the price of beer after a furore over price rises at Adelaide Oval during the third Test between Australia and South Africa in November.

The increase from $8.90 to $9.20 prompted South Australian Premier Jay Weatherill to issue a "please explain" to the stadium managers.

The price is not right!

Take a closer look at the price of beer at 21 Australian sports stadiums.

Mr Parry and his colleague Blair Hughes compared the cost per 100 millilitres of the cheapest beer sold at 21 stadiums.

"We were expecting them to be quite consistent, and then when we started to see some of the variations it was pretty interesting," Mr Parry told Peter Bell on 720 ABC Perth.

"We tended to see that the smaller, regional venues are actually better value a lot of the time."

 

Regions cheaper than capital cities

The cheapest beer cost just $1.39 per 100ml at Hunter Stadium in Newcastle, followed by Canberra's Manuka Stadium at $1.46.

The most expensive place to buy a drink was Perth's Subiaco Oval at $2.42 per 100ml, followed by Adelaide Oval at $2.09.

While he could not be certain why prices differed so much, Mr Parry speculated it "probably comes down to the pourage rights and the deals stadiums have with outside catering firms".

And Australia is certainly more expensive when compared to the rest of the world.

"Australia, compared to Europe, is definitely dearer," Mr Parry said.

"Compared to North America we are actually not so bad and probably a little bit cheaper, but it depends on the beer that you are getting."

Most of the beers they looked at were light or mid-strength beers, and many stadiums are locked into exclusive deals with brewers that limit customer choice.

Source:  ABC News