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Super Bowl concessions aren't cheap - $11 for a Coke

HOUSTON — These are the Super Bowl food and drink prices that Aramark, the Super Bowl concessionaire, declined to reveal to USA TODAY Sports prior to Sunday's game:

<p>Feb 5, 2017; Houston, TX, USA; New England Patriots fans line up for concessions before Super Bowl LI against the Atlanta Falcons at NRG Stadium.</p>

HOUSTON — These are the Super Bowl food and drink prices that Aramark, the Super Bowl concessionaire, declined to reveal to USA TODAY Sports prior to Sunday’s game:

A Coke and pretzel combo costs $17.

A hot dog is $8.

A 16-ounce Bud Light is $12.

And if you only want a soda, it’s $11 for 32 ounces, but it includes the plastic souvenir cup.
“It’s expensive,” Japan Times journalist Satoru Otsubo said after buying a hot dog prior to Sunday’s game at NRG Stadium.

But it’s not surprising, either. “It’s the American style,” Otsubo said with a laugh.

Welcome to the NFL’s biggest event, where the league and related businesses try to vacuum up every extra dime they can. Call it Super Bowl inflation.

During the regular season, the average price of a hot dog and 16-ounce beer is $5.19 and $7.38, respectively, according to Team Marketing Report, a publisher of sports marketing information. At a Houston Texans game in the same stadium, a hot dog cost $5.75 during the regular season, according to Team Marketing Report.

By comparison, a 24-ounce can of Bud Light at Main Street Market in downtown Houston costs $4.99. And it’s only $1.49 for a 20-ounce bottle of water at the same place. At the Super Bowl here, a bottle of water costs $6.

Sunday’s prices still are on par with previous Super Bowls, which benefit from monopolizing the concessions in the stadium. On Saturday, it even cost $50 to park in a lot three blocks away from the Super Bowl festivities downtown.

“I don’t care about that,” a New England Patriots fan said about the prices after buying a hot dog at NRG Stadium.

“I’m good,” he said before walking away.

That’s usually how it works. Many of the fans attending the game already paid a king’s ransom for tickets. What’s an extra $11 for a Coke?

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