If You Catch A Baseball Game This Summer, Expect Expensive Hot Dogs

As another season of major and minor league baseball begins, fans of the sport will be flocking to their nearest ballparks to enjoy the action with family and friends. A major part of any live ballgame experience is sampling the stadium fare, and these days, the concessions offer way more than just peanuts and Cracker Jacks.

The San Francisco Giants' Oracle Park dishes up a starchy seafood combo in its Philadelphia Crab Fries, or if you catch a New York Mets' game at Citi Field, you can indulge in a decadent Donut Milkshake. Atlanta's Truist Park offers the (cardiac) arresting The Cleanup Burger, beef patties topped with nearly every savory breakfast item, served on a sweet Belgian waffle, and drizzled in maple syrup. Of course, this is just a sample of the best foods in every MLB ballpark, all just waiting for you this summer. 

While you may be ready to sink your teeth into these eats, prepare to spend a little money if you don't go all out on stadium menus. In addition to the caloric colossus that is The Cleanup Burger, even hot dogs are anticipated to be a tad more expensive than usual.

The cause behind the general increase in stadium meal and snack pricing can be linked, at least, in part to the same culprit responsible for driving up our grocery bills: food inflation. Just as with supermarkets though, not everything will be impacted the same. As many may recall, the price of eggs has far surpassed many other items due to a combination of factors, including inflation, avian flu, war, and high consumer demand. Costs have skyrocketed to more than double what they were just a year ago, according to The New York Times.

Similarly, one of the staples of any ballpark concession, the almighty hot dog, will see some of the steepest rises because of supply chain issues that are spiking meat prices. Location can also affect price, as that San Francisco hot dog will typically set your finances back more than the Atlanta one (per CNBC). It remains to be seen whether MLB fans will eat more than 19 million hot dogs in 2023, as estimated in 2022. But since the lofty expense of buying a dozen eggs hasn't curtailed egg consumption, maybe frankfurter sales will fare just fine this season.