Photo of a game between the Milwaukee Bucks versus the Denver Nuggets. 

Image Credit: Jeramey Jannene (CC BY 2.0)

The 'Fan Cost Index' is the amount of money a family of four could expect to spend at an NBA game. It fluctuates from season to season, varies by team and city and is calculated from a number of factors. First, you take the price of 4 average-priced NBA season tickets, the two cheapest draft beers, the four cheapest soft drinks, four regular sized hot dogs, parking for one car, two game programs and two adult hats from the team's gift shop. Add all of those numbers together and you've got yourself the total fan cost index. 

 

Here is how all 30 NBA teams stacked up against each for the current NBA season (2014-2015). As you can see, the two wealthiest NBA franchises had the highest total fan cost index for the past two seasons (New York Knicks and Los Angeles Lakers). The Charlotte Hornets, Memphis Grizzlies and New Orleans Pelicans offered basketball fans some of the best bargains in all of professional sports. This often shows that the younger professional basketball franchises struggle to find stability in it's fan base.

 

2014-2015

Team

Average Ticket Price

Average Beer Price

Average Price for Parking

Total Fan Cost Index

1. New York Knicks

$129.38

$10.50

$30.00

$676.42

2. Los Angeles Lakers

$102.25

$8.50

$25.00

$541.00

3. Chicago Bulls

$82.33

$8.00

$24.00

$477.32

4. Miami Heat

$78.30

$8.00

$35.00

$468.20

5. Boston Celtics

$70.79

$8.50

$42.00

$444.16

6. Los Angeles Clippers

$78.43

$8.50

$25.00

$435.72

7. Brooklyn Nets

$66.15

$8.50

$17.00

$404.60

8. Houston Rockets

$65.60

$7.25

$15.00

$369.86

9. Phoenix Suns

$56.10

$10.25

$12.00

$341.90

10. San Antonio Spurs

$58.65

$5.50

$5.00

$340.60

11. Golden State Warriors

$47.38

$7.00

$25.00

$336.52

NBA League Average

$53.98

$7.45

$17.11

$333.58

12. Milwaukee Bucks

$50.30

$6.50

$22.65

$325.85

13. Denver Nuggets

$54.00

$6.75

$10.00

$322.50

14. Portland Trail Blazers

$52.90

$7.00

$15.50

$317.08

15. Dallas Mavericks

$51.80

$6.00

$15.00

$312.20

16. Oklahoma City Thunder

$51.35

$5.00

$10.00

$295.40

17. Toronto Raptors

$42.94

$6.47

$17.85

$289.71

18. Minnesota Timberwolves

$37.27

$9.50

$15.00

$281.06

19. Sacramento Kings

$46.32

$7.00

$10.00

$280.28

20. Philadelphia 76ers

$39.25

$8.50

$22.00

$278.90

21. Utah Jazz

$43.19

$7.50

$10.00

$275.74

22. Cleveland Cavaliers

$43.31

$7.25

$10.00

$271.74

23. Orlando Magic

$39.40

$5.75

$10.00

$263.10

24. Detroit Pistons

$38.80

$9.50

$10.00

$261.20

25. Washington Wizards

$32.70

$8.00

$20.00

$258.78

26. Atlanta Hawks

$35.26

$7.50

$15.35

$245.39

27. Indiana Pacers

$32.59

$7.25

$10.00

$232.44

28. Memphis Grizzlies

$31.48

$7.50

$15.00

$223.44

29. New Orleans Pelicans

$30.20

$7.00

$15.00

$221.80

30. Charlotte Hornets

$30.60

$6.50

$5.00

$212.40

 

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