Reading this week’s “NASCAR in the Neighborhood” series in The Herald, I soaked up facts and figures like a race car guzzles gas. Decibel levels, sales tax revenues, how long it takes to drive home from Chicagoland Speedway – there was a lot to learn.
One number really hit home: $195.
Did you catch that? Of all the information reporter Scott Morris brought back from Joliet, Ill., $195 is the stat that sticks with me. That’s the price of the cheapest seat at a NASCAR race there.
Whether International Speedway Corp. puts a track in Snohomish County or elsewhere, it’s doubtful I could afford it, never mind taking a son or two.
Morris said if I really wanted to take the kids, the cheapest way would be to pay $500 for an RV site inside the racing oval (but not next to the track, that’s $650). With that, you can get two adults and four children 12 or younger into Chicagoland for a NASCAR race.
Unless my Volkswagen counts as an RV, forget it.
With $195 in my head, I went looking for events that cost more – not for the most expensive admission price, but for the cheapest single seat. I had to go a long, long way to find a pricier minimum. I had to go all the way to Athens.
Opening ceremonies at the Summer Olympics in Greece Aug. 13 will run you at least $867.64 – that’s 700 euros – for a single ticket. But there are bargains in Athens, compared with NASCAR. The women’s gold medal beach volleyball match is a mere $154.94.
You can spend far more in Seattle for the best seat in the house. A front-row courtside seat for one SuperSonics game at Key Arena is $700. Those are season tickets, so unless you’re chummy with the likes of Paul Allen or Howard Schultz, dream on.
But it is possible to see a Sonics game for $11 – cheap enough to take your kid and his buddy. Sonics single tickets top out at $129.
I’m not wild about the new Qwest Field name in Seattle, but you can get into what was Seahawks Stadium for $28, the cheapest single-game price for NFL football. As for Seahawks charter season tickets on the 50-yard line, what’s the old saying? If you have to ask, you probably can’t afford it.
The Seattle Mariners can be a deal. Infield club seats are $55, but for $7 you can get a spot in Safeco Field’s center field bleachers.
How about the Everett AquaSox? Lawn seating is $6, with prices climbing to $13 for the Diamond Club behind home plate. Few events are more fun than Silvertips hockey at the Everett Events Center, where single tickets run $9 to $20.
Culture is more spendy than sports. An upcoming Seattle Opera performance of Richard Wagner’s “Lohengrin” at McCaw Hall will set you back a minimum of $47. Single tickets go as high as $123 for the “dress circle.”
Even Broadway shows in the Big Apple are cheaper than NASCAR. Tickets are $76 to $98 to see “Chicago” at the Ambassador Theatre in New York.
Big concert tours don’t fetch NASCAR prices. Tickets were $87 to $107 for the Rod Stewart show at the Everett Events Center last spring. Next month’s Farm Aid show at the White River Amphitheatre – with Neil Young, John Mellencamp, Dave Matthews and Willie Nelson – is $33.75 to $98.75.
Here’s a treat: KC and the Sunshine Band and the Village People play the Skagit Valley Casino on Sunday. At $43 for cheap seats, a disco party of four could get down, shake some booty and spell out “YMCA” all for the price of one NASCAR ticket.
With all that going on, who has time for NASCAR? Good thing, too, because most of us would be turning empty pockets inside out – $195, indeed.
Columnist Julie Muhlstein: 425-339-3460 or muhlsteinjulie@heraldnet.com.
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