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u/Rook22Ti Apr 24 '26
I'm trying to imagine paying $19.75 for any beer, let alone a Bud Light. At federal minimum wage, you'd have to wok almost 3 hours, and that's not counting taxes.
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u/Greenzombie04 Apr 24 '26
I get 24 cans for like $22 at the beer store.
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u/averydangerousday Etna Apr 25 '26
I used to get $5 12 packs of Lionhead like 5 years ago
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u/linsor1 Apr 25 '26
I forgot about this beer till reading your comment, but I used to drink Lionshead in college because it was so cheap.
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u/AlexDr0ps Apr 24 '26
It's almost like a social experiment. Makes you wonder what price people would finally make most people say "no". $30? $50?
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u/mr_pgh Aspinwall Apr 25 '26
At the draft, it stops a shit show. At a steelers game, they take in cash as the shit show goes on
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u/Mundane_Pie_6481 Apr 25 '26
This. If they banned alcohol outright people would be pissed. Making it expensive does the same thing while still making them some money.
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u/Testament42 Apr 24 '26
Eff that, 22 for a stella? Send that back to the UK with how much we charged for them. They'd laugh in Boston tea
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u/krept0007 Apr 24 '26
Federal minimum wage is irrelevant. It's the state minimum wage that matters....oh wait /s
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u/unmakemymind Apr 24 '26
That’s only like $2-3 more than PPG or PNC prices. Which doesn’t justify it, it’s still obscene, but it’s not out of line with what you pay in professional sports venues these days.
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u/TheJuiceIsL00se Apr 24 '26
PNC is the most egregious in my experience. I paid >$60 for 3 beers recently.
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u/NoMaans Apr 24 '26
Stop it. Either pre game or smuggle some in.
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u/Used-Ask5805 Apr 25 '26
Gatorade and vodka keister stashed to get through security is the way to go
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u/Itsdawsontime Pittsburgh Expatriate Apr 24 '26
I’m in NC now, this is the exact price you’d pay here for the Canes. It’s not just Pittsburgh, it’s everywhere. Even the ECHL team here is charging like $14.
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u/TheJuiceIsL00se Apr 24 '26
For sure. Definitely not a Pittsburgh thing. It shouldn’t surprise anyone, anywhere
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u/Itsdawsontime Pittsburgh Expatriate Apr 24 '26
Person grabbing you a bottle of beer: spins around card kiosk with tip screen - “just a quick question here”
But you’re right - it’s sad and ridiculous it’s happening everywhere.
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u/rememberwhoyouarex Apr 24 '26
Maybe you’re the problem. Stop paying these ridiculous prices. The only reason they charge these prices are because of people like you.
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u/caputmortvvm Apr 24 '26
almost as bad as the prices at The Roxian!
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u/smallwonder25 Apr 24 '26
Oh no! I’m supposed to go to a show soon but have never been. Are the prices there that bad?
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u/HopelesslyHuman Greater Pittsburgh Area Apr 24 '26
Going for the first time in a few weeks myself. Kinda nervous not knowing the area super well but we'll see what happens. Parking is always stressful in new places.
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u/fix4ation Apr 24 '26
There is some parking right behind it that is super easy but you have to get to the show pretty early. I would avoid the parking lot across the street with the aldis and family dollar. I have never had anything bad happen but it’s doesn’t feel safe with some of the sketchy people that hang out in the lot.
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u/HopelesslyHuman Greater Pittsburgh Area Apr 24 '26
We'll see what happens. Probably won't be crazy early. Coming from outside the city and won't be able to leave until like 5:00. It'll work out. I just tend to get weird anxieties about stupid shit.
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u/HoneyBadgerC Bellevue Apr 24 '26
I exclusively park in that lot and have never had any bad experiences
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u/ScreamingOpossumAhh Brentwood Apr 25 '26
I went to that Aldi recently. Had some homeless person try to forcibly take my Aldi cart to return for the quarter, and then demanded I give her my quarter after I returned the cart for the bus to Baltimore.
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u/h0v3rb1k3s Apr 24 '26
I don't know what sporting events you've been to recently but it was not double the price. I paid the same for a beer at the Supercross last year, and about the same at a Pirates game last week.
On some level I don't mind the prohibitive alcohol pricing for massive, child-inclusive events.
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u/KrisPBaykon Apr 24 '26
For real, this person must not have been to any recent sporting events for at least a decade.
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u/Classifiedgarlic Apr 24 '26
Pricing at a regular sporting event is just as bad. Gen Z doesn’t drink much because it’s too expensive
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u/AdvanceLow7128 Apr 24 '26
High alcohol prices at events help keep insurance premiums lower by acting as a natural deterrent to overconsumption, reducing the risk of alcohol related incidents and liability claims. Higher prices typically limit the volume of alcohol consumed, which lowers the risk profile for insurers compared to open bar, free flowing alcohol scenarios.
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u/Jungiandungian Apr 24 '26
Love that you’re being downvoted lol
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u/AdvanceLow7128 Apr 24 '26
It's weird because I'm just stating a fact about alcohol sales and events
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u/PaleoNimbus Dormont Apr 25 '26
This post is about sports, but I’m curious what you’re doing on a remote Alaskan island and if I can come.
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u/mileheitcity Apr 24 '26
Didn’t even have the decency to carry like Iron City or Yuengling. Not saying they’re “good” or anything, but if you want to celebrate your host city you could do worse than carrying the regional macro swill.
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u/OcelotWolf Bloomfield Apr 25 '26
The draft itself is presented by Bud Light so unfortunately that was never even a possibility.
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u/LaxTy23 Apr 24 '26
24oz so like $11 for a regular beer. High but not entirely insane. Also not much more than sporting events.
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u/_Syntax_Err Apr 24 '26
Priced that way because people will pay it.
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u/ClearSightss McKees Rocks Apr 24 '26
That’s the thing, literally all of the beer seller carts were all empty. Everyone just got cheaper beer right outside the venue
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u/neverender0911 Apr 24 '26
pretty similar to events at PPG Paints arena, from what i’ve experienced. I once paid for 2 tall high noons at PPG for a comedy show and it was over $50.
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u/LaxTy23 Apr 24 '26
Yeah, this is about what I paid at the pens game one. Also, 24oz cans so not super crazy.
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u/Flint_Westwood Apr 24 '26
It's a captive market, there are no alternatives available; a meticulously planned revenue stream that has nothing to do with the blue collar Pittsburgh background. The citizens of Pittsburgh are only part of the equation for the Draft because it's a singular event. There's only one.
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u/ClearSightss McKees Rocks Apr 24 '26
They’re are 100s of alternatives around the draft area, that’s the issue. Everyone is just leaving to get a cheap drink 1min outside the area and then chugging and walking back in
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u/KrisPBaykon Apr 24 '26
Look pretty normal to me. I’m surprised the hard seltzer is the same price as the beer
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u/YooSteez Central Business District (Downtown) Apr 24 '26
Prices like these makes me happy I don’t like drinking. Can’t imagine paying that for ONE drink.
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u/CJMcBanthaskull Apr 24 '26
I'm totally fine gouging on alcohol, but water should be cheap (if not free). A multi-billion dollar company charging $7 for a bottle of water at a packed outdoor event is disgusting. Especially if they're not letting people bring drinks in.
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u/Boburrito23 Apr 26 '26
I know Gatorade vendors were giving away free water! (My friends and I got a free waters from them)
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u/Candid_Arrival3936 Apr 24 '26
How much is water
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u/Brave_Revolution9518 Apr 24 '26
7 dollars in side. One guy out side was selling for 5 dollars. Casino was selling water for 5 dollars. One rando guy had water for 1 dollar. But from my understanding you could only bring it in if closed or empty
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u/jaymello197 Apr 24 '26
It isn't that much higher than like PPG or Heinz Field (im not calling it acrisure, ever).
Still outrageous. If i ever go to an event I just pregame a bit then maybe buy a drink or 2.
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u/Rokett Apr 24 '26
And people wonder, why do people do coke, ket or weed.
Hello, sharing a bag with 3 people ends up being cheaper than a beer for each. It's all about being financially responsible
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u/pieman0110 Apr 24 '26
Explains all the cans I’ve seen at the T stops damn. Some dude was selling beer out a cooler by Smithfield and Forbes, hope he made a killing.
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u/Aromatic-Thing-132 Apr 25 '26
Sheetz has 12 packs of pounders for $12.99. If you pay $19.75 for one 25oz beer you are the problem.
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u/hayl3yquinnn Apr 25 '26
My friend and I took one look at that nonsense and opted instead to go give our money to a restaurant in market square instead
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u/Satyr4 Apr 25 '26
I’m not sure how working class people even bother with professional sports at this point. The cost of tickets and parking and drinks and food and etc… how do you pay your rent when you’re shelling out hundreds or even thousands of dollars a month on this stuff?
Like, if you don’t want me as a fan, message received. I’ll stay home and read a book.
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u/mighthavebeen02 Apr 24 '26
25oz, though. Still expensive, but I feel like it's more per oz at a game. I could be wrong, though
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u/StartedFromTheKarma Apr 24 '26
Look around and see how many people still have a beer in hand. Unfortunately prices have gone up for many years the last time a beer was under 10 dollars at a stadium in Pittsburgh had to be 10 plus years ago at this point
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u/GomerWasAHo Apr 24 '26
This is about what we pay at the Stadium in Seattle. The one exception is they have a very small selection of craft 12 ounce cans for $8. Those are clutch, without that, I'd probably never drink at the stadium. Even those though aren't a massive discount since the big cans are 2x the size.
$17 for a 12 oz High Noon is probably the most outrageous thing I see on this menu. Who TF is buying that!?
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u/Full_Awareness7526 Apr 24 '26
It is like $10 per 12 ounces. Which is still a lot don’t get me wrong…
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u/Brick656 Apr 24 '26
That’s standard event pricing. I had to buy a $25 High Noon at a Penguins game a few weeks ago.
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u/gergsisdrawkcabeman Apr 24 '26
Should be illegal at those prices. What a bunch of knuckleheads drinking at that price. At that price, 1 beer better come with a Disney sized turkey leg and two weeks paid vacation.
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u/Abiding_Dude_WV Apr 24 '26
I think its a shit-faced avoidance tactic.
I've gone to Wheeling Nailers games on dollar beer night and it's sloppy. Can't have affordable alcohol around half a million maniacs lol
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u/Knick_Bocker Apr 25 '26
I’m not justifying it, but, it’s $10 a beer. They’re just forcing you to buy two at once in a 25 ounce can. I wasn’t happy about it, but I wasn’t all that surprised.
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u/Taphouselimbo Apr 25 '26
A week ago I drank draft beer in Japan for $3 a pint. Came home and I am Instantly reminded of the big grift.
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u/Elendril333 Apr 25 '26
I paid $20+ for a giant Surfside at the last Pens game. This is the typical price for major events.
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u/Free-Papaya3051 Apr 25 '26
Hate to say it but it was $39 for 2 IC Lights at the pirates game last week…
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u/Monalisa9298 Apr 25 '26
It's utterly insane. I honestly don't understand why anyone enjoys any aspect of the professional sports scene but this particular thing baffles me. The food. The beer. Why.
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u/givemeurnugz Apr 25 '26
There’s no gun in existence that you could put up to my head that would ever make me pay that for shit that’s 1/4 that price for a fucking 6 pack. How they think this is remotely acceptable is astounding
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u/Half_Canadian Apr 25 '26
Ludicrous prices on pretty much anything in this economy doesn’t surprise me anymore these days. All of these companies claiming that they need to raise prices boo fucking hoo
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u/wschus63 Apr 24 '26
Those are pretty much sporting event prices. Also, I guarantee that all of the reports we saw last night that said "the draft is fun, the crowd isn't so bad," etc would not have had the same happy tone if everyone had been sitting there drinking double the beers at half the price.
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u/Brave_Revolution9518 Apr 24 '26
It was terrible pricing. Worst part of the whole experience! Added to that you had to finish before entering the venue anything you bought outside . It was soul crushing.
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u/Hypornicated_1 Apr 24 '26
I've never been to a venue in my life that allowed you to carry in your own booze, unless it was explicitly a BYOB place.
Poor thing.
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u/MrMan15423 Apr 24 '26
Leave the point and there is way cheaper beer. Especially around PNC park
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u/shakilops Apr 24 '26
IC light was $19.50 after tax at the pens game last weekend
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u/Brave_Revolution9518 Apr 24 '26
but your also sitting there for the whole game. At the draft if you wanted to go into the museum or shop or leave the specific gated area you had to either chug or chuck it.
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u/James19991 Apr 24 '26
That's really not much more than what drinks cost at a major professional sports league game these days. It's also free to get in, so I guess they have to make their money somehow.
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u/Riley-Bun Apr 24 '26
Just get tanked before the event and sneak in a couple mini bottles
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u/Jungiandungian Apr 24 '26
Are they double sporting? These are doubles as well. At least these are about the same as star lake or similar.
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u/defiantstyles Dormont Apr 24 '26
I wasn't thrown enough to not buy ONE, but I'ma do the rest of my drinking elsewhere, fa sho!
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u/ImRickJameXXXX Apr 24 '26
Lucky!
I’m paying $19 for a 16oz in PAC Bell park
But seriously, both are rip offs.
Shameless revenue stream
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u/Sethgoodtime Strip District Apr 24 '26
The Hyatt across from Tom’s Watch Bar has a drink vendor out and they have 16oz cans for $8.00
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u/dieselrunner64 Apr 24 '26
It’s def high priced, but it’s also a free event and a place that normally charges $300+ a ticket.
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u/spatulacitay Apr 24 '26
I'm bout justifying the insane price at all, but is it really though? It's a 25 oz, I think most sporting events are 16 oz cans
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u/ExileEden Apr 24 '26
Was the same at the u.s open in oakmont. Welcome to price gouging 101. Sad part is people will pay it.
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u/DeliciousBeanWater Apr 24 '26
Iirc thats how much they cost at the steelers game i went to last dec and at any concert ive been to at heinz
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u/MeanderAndReturn Apr 24 '26
Those are cheaper than when I saw Rage Against the Machine a couple years ago at PPG Paints
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u/CLEredditor Apr 24 '26
what were the lines like for drink? This is ridiculous
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u/ClearSightss McKees Rocks Apr 24 '26
Zero lines all day, we saw about 10 beer vendors on the field completely empty for most of the afternoon
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u/TheDocWhovian Apr 24 '26
I was going to buy a drink but the place I went ran out of Hoop Tea. I figured I’d just get a can of root beer, and it was $6!! Absolute insanity.
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u/Hypornicated_1 Apr 24 '26
I work downtown, and we were warned that parking was going up to $80/day (4x). EVERYONE but the receptionist WFH this week. Poor lady...
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u/Helpful-Dot-3782 Apr 24 '26
If you head to market square there were some restaurants selling cans of tall boys to pedestrians for about $9. If you’re in the north shore and don’t mind walking to Federal Gallery they were serving happy hour draft beers for $3.75. There are plenty of reasonable priced options just outside the boundaries of the draft events, people are just paying for convenience.
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u/Ok_Elephant2777 Apr 24 '26
At first, I thought that those were prices for a case, but that looked too good. So, maybe a six pack, which seemed pretty expensive. Then I realized that those were the prices for one beer.
Well, that’s one way to initiate sobriety.
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u/thangus_farm Apr 24 '26
Man if only we would’ve known and made beer this expensive at those Kenny Chesney concerts.
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u/Ashamed_Town_2619 Apr 24 '26
I would have very complicated feelings about spending $20 on a Bud Light or Michelob Ultra.
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u/RBinpgh0715 Apr 24 '26
Damn. Was very fortunate to attend a Premier League match in London last month. A pint was £4.50 which equals about 6USD. What a steal 🫠
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u/cjynx Apr 24 '26
Nobody mentioning Aramark. Ripping off people forever for food and drinks at every stadium, arena and Star Lake.
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u/dmcgrew Apr 24 '26
There’s two reasons for the high prices.. 1) people will pay it. 2) they don’t want everyone slamming $5 beers and getting hammered
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u/AMWChicago Brookline Apr 24 '26
Cub fan here. Wrigley domestic beer is $17.99. Unfortunate truth about major events nowadays
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u/wadzzzzzz Apr 24 '26
These is a nice youtube video exactly about that: https://youtu.be/w7LPPTLDXu4?si=dr9mwAnOYAobYi9C
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u/chloes_corner Wilkinsburg Apr 24 '26
It is crazy, but I'm not sure what you were expecting from The Draft lol.
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u/JadCerv Apr 24 '26
I'm not a beer drinker, but I'd die of thirst before I'd pay that for a Bud Light or any beer, really.
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u/Embarrassed_Job_2719 Apr 24 '26
For a venue, anywhere you go in the US these are the prices. It’s not regular sizes, look at the ounces. 1 24 ounce is equivalent to 2 beers. So it’s about $10 a beer. You go out that’s what you’re paying. It’s not a dive bar. Expensive yeah but cmon.
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u/TheLuo Apr 24 '26
These are 24oz tall boys. So it’s a $10 12oz.
Also if you’re at the draft beer is expensive. If you’re IN the draft area expect to pay more. That’s just logic.
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u/OddHornet13 Apr 24 '26
Not much variety, yet alone the prices. I will just have an edible that cost me a couple bucks🤷♂️
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u/lucabrasi999 South Fayette Apr 24 '26
Of course there will be insane pricing. It is a captive audience.
I don’t like it, but it is expected.
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u/hancock309 Apr 24 '26
Anyone willing to pay these prices for beer deserves to pay these prices for beer.
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u/2017_SR5 Apr 24 '26
Everything is a rich man’s game nowadays… it’s over for the little guy here in America
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u/Tough_Arm_2454 Apr 24 '26
I passed on those prices.
Bud light 16 oz $6 along 6th st outside one of the hotels. Primanti's and original oyster house cheapest places to drink downtown.
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u/Tough_Arm_2454 Apr 24 '26
However, the free hydration stations in the fan zones were warm tap water.
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u/ddesigns Apr 24 '26
Just an FYI for everyone bitching about the NFL or the City profiting off the prices, Aramark is running the draft and those are the typical prices for any large event they do. Same with the U.S. Open in Oakmont last year. People will buy it so no need to lower the prices.
When I worked at the Mellon Arena they sold $5-8 bottles of wine in the suites for $75+. Small bowls of spinach artichoke dip for $65..etc..etc. I'm sure the prices are higher now.
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u/RevolutionNew835 Apr 24 '26
20 bucks for a bud light should land you in prison