Which Team Has the Most Expensive Beer in the NBA This Season?

Mike Pomranz
·2 min read

Fans apparently pay a premium to drink while watching the reigning conference champions.

Getty Images
Getty Images

The 2022/23 NBA season tips off tonight with both of last year's Finals teams in action: The Boston Celtics are hosting the Philadelphia 76ers while last season's champs, the Golden State Warriors, host the Los Angeles Lakers. So which teams are the frontrunners this year? Food & Wine can't offer that kind of insight — we're here to discuss the NBA's influence on the wine industry and basketball-branded Oreos. But we can also help with another important question: Which teams have the most and least expensive beers?

Last month, the site Bookies.com posted their analysis of the beer prices for all 32 NFL football teams. This week, they're back again with their breakdown of NBA beer prices as well. Adam Thompson, who researched and wrote both articles, said that finding prices for the NBA was trickier than for the NFL, which is a more popular league. To determine pricing, he reached out to most of the NBA teams directly but also used news articles where available. After the prices were gathered, everything was standardized to 16-ounce servings to create a fair comparison. And no specific brands were chosen, instead using the presumption that any data was for the most-commonly purchased beer.

In the end, the prices varied even more than in the NFL. The two conference champs apparently charge a whopping $17.28 for 16 ounces of beer while the Cleveland Cavaliers had the price of their beers clocked in at a very reasonable $5.28. Meanwhile, the NBA average was $10.53 — which is actually more towards the middle than it sounds. After the Warriors and Celtics super-pricey pints, the third most expensive team is the Nuggets at a mere $14.72 per 16-ounce beer.

Here's the entire league from most to least expensive:

  • $17.28: Warriors, Celtics

  • $14.72: Nuggets

  • $13.76: Knicks

  • $12.96: Nets

  • $12.00: Mavericks, Pelicans

  • $11.52: Bucks

  • $11.20: Heat

  • $11.04: Lakers, Timberwolves, Clippers, Trail Blazers

  • $10.56: Wizards, Rockets

  • $10.40: Suns, Kings

  • $10.08: Jazz, Hornets

  • $9.76: Bulls

  • $9.44: Raptors, Magic

  • $9.28: 76ers

  • $8.96: Grizzlies

  • $8.00: Spurs

  • $7.20: Pacers

  • $6.72: Hawks, Pistons

  • $6.08: Thunder

  • $5.28: Cavaliers

Of course, the only way to buy a beer at an NBA game is to first buy a ticket to attend an NBA game, and, as Bookies.com points out, beer is only one of the costs that go into enjoying professional basketball in person. When tickets, parking, soda, and hot dogs are also included in the price, the site suggests that while Golden State is still the most expensive team, the Indiana Pacers are the cheapest. You can see Bookies.com's entire analysis here.

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