July 29, 2008
From TheKCGuy
I noticed a recent article in the Star about all you can eat seats at Royals games. If you're a regular reader of this site, you know that I go to a fair number of Royals games, so I've had a good bit of time to ponder the benefits of the all you can eat seats. Here's how my analysis breaks down:
All you can eat seats are $40 for an individual or $45 if you buy in advance. I almost never buy my tickets in advance, but let's assume I do in this case. $40.
Typically, I don't buy my tickets from the window, I take advantage of the newly found freedom in Missouri to buy an unused ticket second hand in the parking lot. It's rare that I have to pay $20, but I think that's the most I've ever paid to get into the game. You can get decent seats for that, certainly as good as the all you can eat seats which are really far down the first base line, but in the club level.
I am a firm believer in Super Nachos at the game. At $7, these stale chips and yellow polymer cheese product take a good sized bite out of your wallet, but they last for an entire inning even if you focus entirely on them and refrain from heckling players while you devour them.
In the rare case that I didn't eat dinner before the game, I may eat something other than a super nacho. In this case, I'll hit up one of the more premium items available. For instance, a Gates sandwich or piece of pizza may suffice for dinner. I should note that I don't think I've ever eaten one of these items and a super nacho, but for the sake of argument, let's say I do spend an additional $6 for one of these. The running total is now up to $33
I don't drink Cokes at the ballgame. In fact, I don't drink them very often at all. I typically drink 2 beers at the park, but they're not available in the all-you-can eat package, so they don't tip the scale either way.
I'm still $7 short of breaking even. I guess I could get into a coke and a bag of peanuts to bring the two options to even, but in this case I will have eaten so much that not only would I feel guilty about my diet, but I would probably be unable to sleep that night due to indigestion. The Star article says that the average number of concession items eaten by all you can eat patrons is 8. Seriously, people? You can eat 8 things at a Royals game? I guess that's one item each inning, except for the 7th, which you presumably spend vomiting in the bathroom.
Unless you are Takeru Kobayashi, I recommend that you stay away from the all you can eat seats at the K. Save some money, save about 2000 calories that you would not have otherwise eaten, and get a better seat.
