Being an NFL fan is getting expensive. Really expensive. But New Orleans Saints fans might not believe it.
A trip to the stadium used to be something most fans could justify as a special weekend experience. These days, simply getting through the gates, grabbing a beer and eating a hot dog can put a serious dent in the wallet.
According to a new study by Casino Guru News, the average NFL game-day experience now costs 78% more than it did a decade ago. That works out to roughly $82 more per game than fans were paying in 2016.
And ticket prices are doing most of the damage. The average NFL ticket has jumped 82.7%, from $92.98 in 2016 to $169.88 in 2025-26. That increase is more than twice the rate of general consumer inflation over the same period.
That makes the New Orleans Saints something of an anomaly.
The Saints are now the cheapest team in the NFL when it comes to the overall game-day experience. Even better for their fans, the cost has actually fallen by 32% compared with a decade ago.
That is a pretty remarkable advantage.
While fans around the league are increasingly being asked to pay a premium just to watch their favorite team in person, Saints fans aren’t facing the same financial squeeze.
Rising NFL Costs Could Change How Fans Experience Games
There is a bigger issue hiding behind those numbers.
As NFL prices continue to climb, going to a game becomes less of an everyday experience and more of a luxury. A family that could once afford tickets, food and drinks without thinking too much about it may now have to choose what it can actually afford.
The ticket is obviously the biggest problem. The average price has soared, but concessions haven’t exactly remained cheap either. Beer prices are up 48% over the same period, also outpacing general inflation.
Some teams have gone much further than others.
Detroit Lions tickets, for example, have reportedly increased from $85.71 in 2016 to around $444 in 2025-26. That’s an increase of more than 400%, making Detroit the most expensive NFL team for a game-day experience.
The Saints are on the opposite end of the spectrum.
That’s not something New Orleans fans should take for granted. The study found that only 15 of the league’s 32 teams have game-day costs that are below or roughly in line with inflation.
That puts the Saints in a pretty exclusive group.
And it means fans can potentially spend less money on the actual game and more on everything that makes attending an NFL game worthwhile.
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Saints Offer More Than Just a Football Game
That’s where New Orleans has another advantage.
There are plenty of NFL cities with passionate fan bases, but very few can offer the same experience as New Orleans. The city itself is part of the attraction.
A Saints game doesn’t have to begin when the players take the field and end when the clock hits zero. Fans can spend the day enjoying the food, music, culture and atmosphere that make New Orleans one of the most recognizable cities in the country.
That’s important when the cost of attending sporting events continues to rise.
If fans are going to spend hundreds of dollars on a game, they want more than three hours of football. They want an experience they’ll remember.
Saints fans can get that without necessarily paying the kind of premium being demanded in some other NFL markets.
And that could become increasingly valuable.
The NFL is enormously popular, but there is a point where rising prices begin to change the relationship between teams and their fans. If attending a game becomes prohibitively expensive, some supporters will simply stay home and watch on television.
New Orleans has a chance to avoid some of that problem.
The Saints can give fans competitive football, a passionate atmosphere and one of the best sports cities in America without asking them to spend quite as much as fans elsewhere are being forced to spend.
That’s a rare advantage.
And with NFL game-day costs heading in the wrong direction, it may become an even bigger one.
Saints Fans Have a Rare Advantage as NFL Game-Day Costs Soar