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Big games, big prices: Admissions for sporting events up 123 percent since 2000
February 05, 2026
Professional sporting events continually make the news, with Americans following their favorite individual and team sports through regular season competitions, playoffs, and championships. Also often discussed are the prices fans pay to attend professional sporting events, a large part of which is the cost of tickets for admission. Of course, prices for many things have increased over the years, leading us to ask: how do rising ticket prices for sporting events compare?
Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers, admissions and recreation, percent change, 2000–2025
Category
Percent change
Admission to sporting events
123.1
Admission to movies, theaters, and concerts
105.0
All items
87.0
Recreation
36.6
From 2000 to 2025, prices for admission to sporting events more than doubled, increasing by 123 percent. Prices consumers paid to see movies, theatrical performances, and concerts also went up over this 25-year period, but by somewhat less, increasing by 105 percent.
Prices for recreation, a larger category that includes televisions, pets, sporting goods, toys, games and hobbies, and recreational reading materials, as well as admissions, increased only 37 percent.
In comparison, the all items index of consumer prices, which includes housing, transportation, food, apparel and more, increased 87 percent from 2000.
These data are from the Consumer Price Index program and are not seasonally adjusted.
United States Department of Labor
