Cowboys Stadium: Pricing Average Fans Out of the Game

(Photo by Ronald Martinez/Getty Images)

Yesterday marked the opening of the new Cowboys Stadium in Arlington. An estimated 60,000 people attended the building's inaugural event; a concert featuring country music legend George Strait. "Jerry World" is officially up and running.

This three-million square-foot marvel of modern technology and engineering is, without question, the premiere sporting venue in the world. On many levels the Cowboys' new home is an answer to years of prayers made by Dallas fans that were in desperate need of some stadium upgrades.

Texas Stadium, despite its tradition and charm, was an outdated relic. It definitely wasn't the best place in the world to watch a football game. That signature hole in the roof allowed God to watch his favorite team play, but it also let the blistering Texas sun roast certain unfortunate fans, depending on the time of day.

Almost 40 years of public restrooms, spilled beer, stale food, and God knows what else had given Texas Stadium a signature odor. The concessions were terrible, and there were not enough bathrooms. The concourse was a sea of people crammed elbow to elbow fighting just to make it to their destination alive.

Long suffering Cowboy fans were overdue for a change of scenery when the franchise broke ground on the new location, and the idea was greeted with much excitement and approval. Perhaps if for no other reason than the air conditioning. But, as the old saying goes, be careful what you wish for.  

For many of these loyal fans who weathered countless days in the searing heat, the new stadium has made attending games a thing of the past. With a fancy new state-of-the-art building comes a hefty price tag. For many middle class Cowboy fans, that price is simply just too high.

The sources of these soaring costs are Personal Seat Licenses. These PSL's are a fee paid by season ticket holders which ensures the right to purchase the same seat for 30 years. In other words, these tickets cost much more than the face value.

The amount of this license varies depending on seat quality and location, and will help to pay a portion of the $1.5 billion dollars it took to build the stadium. Although the individual ticket prices are very competitive, these PSL's drive those prices skyward, and out of the range of your average fan.

For instance, most folks would prefer to sit on either sideline within the first few levels. That's not asking too much. It's not asking for seats right on the 50 yard line, just anywhere along the sideline and below the highest reaches of the building will do.  

At Cowboys Stadium, these are called Club Level seats. Any sideline seat that resides on the first three levels between the goal lines falls under this Club Level heading. Club Level is stadium talk for expensive.

The PSL's for these coveted seats range from $16,000 to $50,000.00. In addition to this lofty fee, tickets in these locations have gone from a maximum of $139 in 2008 to $340 across the board.

What? You don't have the $16,000 to $50,000 needed to purchase the right to purchase the tickets?

Don't worry, the Cowboys will finance that amount over the next 30 years just like your mortgage. You can simply pay $13,960 down and $3,490 a year for the next 30 years in lieu of the entire 50 grand at once.

But remember, that's just the payment for the rights to buy your tickets. The actual tickets will cost you an additional $3,400.00 per year. Of course, those ticket prices are only locked for the first five seasons, and from that point they can rise from time to time.

So if you want to sit in one of the top 15,000 seats available, be ready to pay anywhere between $4,490 and 6,890 per ticket each year for the next 30 years. Or you can just pay the entire PSL up front and pay $3,400.00 a year. Either way, this is a dramatic increase from previous seasons. 

Keep in mind that if you finance that PSL you really end up paying from $32,700 (on a $16k loan) to $118,660 (on a $50k loan) with eight percent interest over 30 years. Over that 30-year period you will spend a total of somewhere between $135,000 and $207,000 for eight football games a year. That's if ticket prices never go over the next 30 seasons.  

That kind of money can fetch you a pretty nice house in the Dallas area.

These PSL's aren't only charged on the most expensive seats either. The End Zone and corner seats in the lowest three sections of the Cowboys Stadium have PSL's that range from $4,000 to $5,000. The ticket prices in these sections are between $89 and $125 per game.

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