Over the past few years, ticket prices for almost all sports events have gone up, but sports fans are still willing to pay more. In 2023, sports fans worldwide are expected to spend around $29bn buying tickets to watch matches live at stadiums, and most of that value will come from the US market.
According to data presented by CasinosEnLigne.com, an average American sports fan is expected to spend close to $300 on sports tickets in 2023, almost double that of Europeans.
Americans Spend 87% More on Sports Tickets than on Music Events
There are many reasons why sports tickets have become high-priced, including the construction work on building new stadiums and the rising sports players’ salaries. On the other hand, some sports events have been known for years for having expensive tickets. Super Bowl is the best example. The average Super Bowl ticket price in 2023 was nearly $10,000, making the game between the Kansas City Chiefs and the Philadelphia Eagles the third-most expensive Super Bowl ever. But even without such extreme examples, Americans still spend more money on sports tickets than any other country.
According to Statista Digital Market Insights, US sports fans will spend an average of $298.8 on sports tickets this year, way more than Europeans or Chinese. Europeans will pay just over $140 to attend sports events this year, while the Chinese will spend six times less than that.
The United Kingdom is the only European country close to the United States when talking about buying sports tickets. In 2023, Brits are forecast to spend an average of $228 on attending sports events, way above the European average.
The Statista data also showed Americans would spend 87% more on sports tickets than on music events this year. The average spending per user in the US music events market hit $150.9 in 2023, up from $106.8 in Europe and $29.8 in China.
45% of Global Ticket Sales Revenue Comes from the United States
As the country with the highest average spending per user, the United States generates almost half of global sports ticket sales revenue. Statista expects sports ticket sales to bring nearly $29bn in revenue this year. Around 45% of that value, or $13bn, will come from the United States.
The United Kingdom ranked as the second-largest sports events market, with $1.83bn in revenue, only $10 million more than third-ranked China. Japan and Canada follow with $1.15bn and $1.11bn in revenue, respectively.
According to a Statista survey, 43.8 million Americans will spend money on buying sports tickets this year, up from 43.1 million in 2022. By 2027, this figure will rise to 45 million.
