FOXBOROUGH, MASSACHUSETTS - DECEMBER 28: A general view of Gillette Stadium before the game between the Buffalo Bills and the New England Patriots on December 28, 2020 in Foxborough, Massachusetts. (Photo by Maddie Malhotra/Getty Images)

Massachusetts is the most expensive state to watch live sports. I’m not sure if this will be a shock to anyone but the website remitly.com has revealed the numbers. They determined that 159 million people in the United States watch live sports at least once per month. They also determined that 70% of people in the country consider themselves sports fans. This is all well and good. But when the cost of everything seems to be going up, Americans are shelling out hundreds and thousands to go to live sporting events each year. And here in Massachusetts, we are paying the most in the entire country.

Cost of attending a live game in each of the four major sports

So in addition to ranking all of the states for live games, Remitly broke down each of the four major sports to determine which state cost the most. From basketball, to baseball, hockey and football, we now know where Massachusetts ranks. For football, we’re second behind Nevada with the average cost being $516 per ticket to watch The Patriots. Baseball we rank third with the average price to watch the Red Sox being $96. For hockey we rank second with the average price to watch the Bruins being $223. And for basketball we rank second with the average price to watch the Celtics being $280.

Average ticket prices per sport and state

While soccer seems to be the most popular sport in the world, here in America football dominates and it shows in ticket prices. According to Remitly, $297 is the average for a single game ticket is across the 32 professional teams in the NFL. Basketball ranks next then hockey then soccer then baseball. You can see the rankings for each sport by state HERE. 

So we know Massachusetts is #1. But how much does it cost to attend each sport and how far ahead of the second most expensive city? Let’s take a look.

  • #8 California

    California has 18 teams and 5 sports. The average cost to attend a game in California is $173. There’s a bill currently seeking to restore competition in California among ticket agencies. This would bring prices down in the long run.

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  • #7 Tennessee

    Tennessee has 4 teams and 4 sports. The average cost to attend a game in Tennessee is $175. The jump of ticket prices for Titans games alone has skyrocketed in the past several years.

  • #6 Missouri

    Missouri has 5 teams and 4 sports. The average cost to attend a game in Missouri is $175.  Cost of tickets to see the Chiefs definitely add to the average cost. Having a winning team in your state will drive cost up.

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  • #5 New Jersey

    Missouri has 4 teams and 3 sports. The average cost to attend a game in Missouri is $177. This may be a shock to you. But it’s the cost to attend soccer games in Harrison, NJ that is driving the average up.

  • #4 Arizona

    Arizona has 4 teams and 4 sports. The average cost to attend a game in Missouri is $178.

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  • #3 Florida

    Florida  has 11 teams and 5 sports. The average cost to attend a game in Missouri is $182.

  • #2 New York

    New York has 9 teams and 5 sports. The average cost to attend a game in Missouri is $198.

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  • #1 Massachusetts

    Massachusetts has 5 teams and 5 sports. The average cost to attend a game in Missouri is $236.