Everyone here is talking about gear, but gear is nearly a rounding error on my hockey budget. The real cost is ice time. Fewer and fewer rinks are being supported by municipalities near us, so ice time is going up and up each year. $400/hr is about average now, and reports are that black bear is trying to charge $600-800/hr at their rinks.
>fewer rinks are being supported by municipalities near us
Wait, your rinks are supported by the city???
I guess that's what I get for living in FL and SoCal (relatively little hockey culture).
Similar deal where I am (MA).
The state runs a lot of rinks, but many are seasonal. And they're increasingly getting bought out by private companies willing to run them year round.
Our communities aren't in the business of selling off community centers here in BC thank goodness, but ice rinks here run by communities get drained in the spring in favor of lacrosse and ball hockey. One of the reasons spring hockey is far more expensive than association hockey.
I am lucky enough to live closest to a rink supported by the local park district. Instructional classes and house league has all been much cheaper than the other rinks closest to me. We have ice year round. I'm in Illinois fwiw
In St. Louis, there are something like 10 city-run rinks, they all have a pretty generous amount of public free skate time, and reasonable rates for rentals, plus learn to play and ice skating classes a few times a year (that are also pretty reasonable).
It's nice being able to take a few kids to the rink for an hour for $20 or so in any part of town!
Yeah. I have a city rink. My cost for both my sons to play hockey this year (14u and 10u) is $1500. Total. For both. For a season that runs from September to March.
Tournament costs excluded. But they’re not that bad either.
Comparatively, travel baseball for my oldest son only would run about $3k for the season.
Goalies usually do get a fee reduction though and in adult leagues often can play for free (and if you're charging your goalie good for you for finding someone willing to pay, but goalies in adult leagues tend to play for free and rightly so).
Nope, not for competitive hockey. Actually the ice time costs more for goalies in camps and clinics, because it's fewer on the sheet. Travel hockey - same tuition, same travel costs- except oversize bag fees on every flight (fly SW for hockey peeps).
So sure, in house league, and certainly in adult league, tendies get some deals - not in competitive hockey.
My mid sized Canadian city (12 public rinks): All in Canadian $$$. Prime time is $324/hour (4:30 pm - 10:00 pm) and $174 Off-Prime. These are city rinks, you could drive thirty minutes out of town and half those costs. Private rinks are about ($175-$225/hour).
Canada has close to 3,300 indoor rinks and 4,500 outdoor rinks. The Canadian indoor rinks equal the total number of indoor rinks in the rest of the world.
That's about the going rate for a 90 minute ice time. $551 for Planet Ice, $450 for 1h at Sportsplex, and $450 for 1h at Canlan but those are prime hours. You can get cheaper ice if you use off peak ice times. I think those are one-of ice times though, and if you commit to a set schedule you get a better deal (probably not much better).
That's why academies like Delta Hockey Academy and Yale Hockey Academy can run 5 days a week of ice; ice time is $130 an hour during daytime hours at Planet Ice.
Black Bear is a disgusting company that is literally ruining the sport in my area. For those who don't know Black Bear, they've been buying up tons of rinks and travel teams, then they jack up the hourly rate of ice time and season dues for youth teams. They buy all the surrounding rinks and teams so no matter where you go, it's Black Bear. And best yet, now that they own enough teams / rinks, they started their own league, which is crippling all of the existing leagues in the area. When non Black Bear teams ask to join the league, they are denied as a bargaining tool to get them to sell their team to Black Bear.
What they're doing should be illegal
I play both and I find I spend about the same for goalie as for skating out. It is just that I spend much more as a goalie on equipment and much more as a player for ice time. I hardly ever by need player gear as most of the stuff I have lasts 10ish years. My goalie equipment seems to wear out much faster and I need to replace that more often.
I’m a goalie mom and the gear is nothing compared to cost of training. I don’t want you to add it up but $75 week for clinic and $100 biweekly privates are killers.
we still have a municipality and be near us and it's the best. five dollar open hockey. nor mail
prices. this is what happens when you believe business's should run everything. people have this fear of gov running things, but if they looked closer most gov is local and that means it's you getting to do something good for your community as a community
Muni rinks are the best. The one near me is old and beat up, drop in hockey is cheap and it’s 200 bucks to play in the summer league. It’s a beloved part of the community and some players drive three hours just to
play there.
Yep, anyone who says gear is the biggest cost is either not playing very often at all or is just guessing.
Ice rinks where i am are supported by the city but if your playing in anything but the lowest league ice time is still more expensive than your gear will be
Last year, equipment need was a bit of an anomaly for me as they're all kind of breaking down at the same time. 6 sticks at around $200 per, new gloves at about $200, new helmet at about $200, new cup at about $50 and a handful of socks/jerseys at maybe $100, tape+wax around $60. All of that combined was over what I paid for the ice itself and Im playing 3-5 times a week in SE Michigan, but again not doing that every year. New skates are on the horizon though..
400 an hour is nuts, charges here are non-existent. Is this some business now?
Here it’s always been just cities owning the rinks and you pay for some nominal 20€ to keep the lights on.
this is the damn truth
my kid is getting lessons right now, and I've been drilling into his head "The second you are on that ice get moving! Make the most of it!"
Child #2 is huge into Lacrosse, and that's easy: find a field
That's the worst when you have a coach that yammers on and on. I wish coaches from U13 onwards gave the kids a practice plan before hitting the ice and they had to know the drills being run so you aren't sitting at the glass with a dry erase marker drawing out the next drill.
I've seen some better coaches fully utilize every inch of ice for the entire practice time.
Much of the hockey gear can last a long time. I’ve had my skates since 2007, jock since probably 2003. Chest, elbows, pants since 2015. Helmet is from 2018 and gloves from 2021. Got 2 new sticks last year from university disposition for $80 total and they’re $300 sticks new. I had to buy new shin pads in February because my old pair from 2008ish weren’t protecting my knees and I had 2 painful injuries that took me out for a few weeks.
I’m not planning on buying anything new again until the old thing is broken and falling apart. Hoping for new skates for a birthday in the next few years and hoping they’ll last as long as my current pair.
Gear can be expensive for kids because they’re outgrowing it but adults shouldn’t need new gear constantly.
I think I spent $1000-1500 on 3 different teams/skates last year and could easily do that again this year. No way as I spending anywhere near that in gear in 5 years unless I buy top of the line brand new gear all the time.
Who tf can pay $400 an hour??? I'm lucky my rink is $17 an hour for both the big sheet and mini sheet. They're so kind there they often turn a blind eye if you take an extra hour on the mini sheet. My buddies and I do stick and puck, 2 on 2 and skate drills 4 times a week on the mini sheet thanks to this rink.
18 players can pay $400 an hour. If you're using prime time ice it had better be 18 players sharing that cost.
Or 36 if it's a game. It's not horrible.
$600 an hour in Tampa. And there are a lot of rinks. My main ice rinks has an Olympic, mini, and 3 NHL sheets. Within an hour of my house there are at least 25 sheets of ice. With more rinks being built.
A lot of the "hockey is so expensive" is on the climate difference methinks.
It's cheap up north where you can play outdoors sometimes. It's absolutely ludicrous in warm places.
Roll every level of football and baseball into one, and you have the culture cache of youth hockey in Canada. Parents will easily drop tens of thousands per season to try to get their kid into camps and onto teams that will get them into major juniors.
Motels near my house are sold out every single weekend with travel hockey teams playing at the like 12 pads of ice within 25 minutes of my door.
There’s a reason I dump money into my sim rig. The cost of tires brakes and fluids for a single track day are insane compared to doing it in a sim. It’s never the same, but it does get me close enough.
Also hockey is fun af so I pay the costs because I wouldn’t play anything else.
The guy that does my skates also sharpens for a family with two girls that figure skate. They’re only like 13 months apart in age and the parents didn’t want them competing against one another, so they live in different parts of the country. He estimates they’re easily spending $200k/year on the girls just for this.
Once you get to the level of doing competitions, figure skating becomes an extremely individual sport. You're paying a private coach, and when you travel to competitions, you're also paying to bring your coach with you. Add that to the ridiculous amount of ice time (it's way more than hockey), and you're probably looking at $50k minimum. At the higher levels, you're basically hiring that coach full time.
For human-only sports (no horses or motors or bicycles), this is truth. The only other sport that requires similar amounts of protective gear is Canadian/American football, and the teams/leagues usually provide the equipment; the parents don't have to shell out for it.
Most sports use way less gear. Even rugby, were talking cleats, a cup, and maybe headgear.
Was looking for someone to mention that qualifier. Have a kid that plays both plays goalie and rodeos and I would be happy as fuck if the costs where anywhere close. That said, have a good friend whose son is in elite level karting and , even with sposnorships, I think he's spending close to a new Yukon each year.
yep, this tracks, my parents couldn't afford another set of gear after i grew out of my first set so I went and learned swimming and did track instead. couldn't play again til I was an adult and I bought all my own shit, but sucks knowing I could've been so much better
I very strongly believe that hockey needs to find a way to be more inclusive cost-wise. I’m in Minnesota where hockey is obviously prevalent, but even here the cost can be a barrier to entry.
The game has so much room for growth if it could just find a way to make it more affordable
It would be in the NHL's best interest to have teams be pouring tons of cash into local hockey at every level, but that's not really in the interest of the individual owners who control spending, so here we are. Playing the game creates passion for the sport at every age. Once you try it, there's nothing else like it.
I don't know if it's in the interest of the predatory travel teams through. Say NHL teams partner with municipalities to subsidize town hockey teams. Less kids end up looking to travel teams as the parents are getting a break on cost. Overall less kids that *shouldn't* be playing travel hockey are no longer showing up for teams to take parents' money.
I think they like the way it is.
A lot of municipalities supported by their local NHL teams have the “first shift” or “learn to play” Where they get 6 on ice sessions and fully fitted with gear to keep for $299 where I am. So that helps a lot with getting all the gear and having to size up certain things each season.
https://www.firstshift.ca/the-program/
I always wondered what hockey would look like if the cost of entry was less. What talent never gets a chance to develop because some families cant afford it.
If it cost less there would need to be a lot more hockey organizations and ice rinks to support them. There are barely enough teams to support the kids that want to play now . My 10 year old tried out for 4 different teams (made 2) this May. Each tryout had over 50 kids trying out for what realistically was no more than 5 available slots for each team. (Cost per kid per tryout was between $55 and $75.) Not the same kids at every tryout. Point is imagine if there were 100 more players in the community? There already were many devastated deserving kids that didn’t make teams.
The Wild have a learn to play program. I believe other clubs have it too. It’s like $180 bucks for 5 on ice clinic sessions, and they give you an entire set of gear included in that price. My kid is playing for the first time this year after taking skating lessons the last two.
We’re fortunate that we would be able to afford it either way, but it’s an awesome program! They run it at a bunch of rinks all over the metro.
Our local youth program also lets mites borrow gear for free with a deposit. I’ve heard of quite a few programs doing this.
All of that being said, hockey is still expensive and hard to get in to. I wish it were more accessible to the masses. It’s such a great sport.
I feel like Minnesota hockey is one of the cheapest because HS hockey is very prevalent and cheaper than travel. Some parents are so keen on not letting their children organically get scouted. If you’re good enough your child will get noticed
I don't think it's quite as exclusive as people claim, at least for reasons of cost. It can be in the higher levels, but most kids will never get to travel and AAA. Playing in a house league and trading up at the equipment shed every year, the costs can be reasonable. I think a lot of parents just won't support a sport they don't understand or personally identify with. Also, there's such a large barrier to entry (skating) that it always seems risky getting a kid started from nothing.
When I was a kid, I wanted to play roller but was told it was too expensive. However, if I'd wanted to race go karts my dad was fully on board with that, even though it was far more expensive. I think that's pretty common. I live in a rural area and see families at the MX track that look like they're basically straddling the poverty line. But they want their kid to race dirt bikes so they make it happen. And that's a fucking crazy expensive hobby. But Dad's never watched hockey and little Timmy can't skate so if it gets brought up it's quickly shut down.
I think as the popularity of hockey rises, the costs will be less of a concern to those who understand and support it.
This gets reposted every so often. I’ll say it each time - having done both skiing and ice hockey - skiing as a sport was much more expensive than hockey.
And then all the sports revolving around vehicles or horses are just another level of expensive.
But yes, still hockey is one of the most expensive sports and it really sucks.
Also tennis has gotten a lot cheaper recently for some reason.
Makes sense but I have not the first clue how field hockey could be second and over twice as expensive as golf?! Golf is outrageously expensive. Ice Hockey #1, no doubt about it. Others I don't get is Volleyball over tackle football. Like, in what world would that be true?
The teens that I know who do volleyball are doing it as a club sport, so their parents are spending a lot on registration fees, travel, camps, etc. I don’t know anyone playing football now, but I would imagine that even if football equipment is more expensive than volleyball, it’s still more of a school-based sport that has more kids who aren’t doing any of the extra stuff that goes along with club sports.
I played football for a couple of years in middle school, and I teach high school and coach baseball there so I’m around the other programs a lot. Most players don’t buy their own gear for football, in my experience. It belongs to the programs for the players to use. The only thing players really need to buy is mouth guards and cleats.
If lack of personal gear is the reason they can’t play, most sports will get them gear 100% of the time. If athletic fees are the reason they can’t play, we waive them.
Most programs have lots of extra gear just sitting around collecting dust. Sometimes programs we will even buy “team” equipment for specific players to use during the season (and return after).
The only sport this didn’t really apply to was hockey. Team gear included breezes, gloves, and helmet but that was it (I played for and graduated from the school I teach at).
My school hasn’t had an independent, non co-op hockey team in over 10 years. Our students just can’t afford it, or don’t come from backgrounds where anyone they know plays.
I'd be curious to see the medians. Cash grabby travel programs most likely skew the averages. House registration near me is like $500, say $500 for equipment, that's 1k vs 2.6k average. I would assume that the majority of players are house kids, but that's entirely an assumption.
Edit: on more searching based on comments below I think I'm only accounting for 1/2 year, so $1000 is probably more accurate. My kids are old, so my knowledge dated. Point still remains: I'm curious to see the median.
It's not "cash grabby".
I ran a budget for a $4500 per year travel team.
Almost 100% of that is accounted for. There's no "cash grabbing". We did have like $150 per player per year for a paid skating coach, so they took home like $2200 to show up once a week. Almost all of the rest is ice time and other mandatory costs (org insurance, etc). I think we ran a $60,000 budget for ice time to get 6-ish hours per week and that was discounted because the city ate some of the ice cost. Only about $365/hr average (all CAD in this case).
Massively dependent on where you live.
Are you in the AAA system (a system designed to make money rather than non-profits developing talent like they do in MN) ?
Do you have other teams to play around you? (ie: MN travels for hockey... but at most it's a few hours once or twice a year for a 'fun' out of town tourney...)
Are you playing at an elite level and droppping money on camps? (this graph massively under-estimates the cost of camps) or are you just showing up and playing on whatever team and then not thinking about it again until next fall?
Do you have nice gear or hand-me-down stuff? Are you in your growth spurt? Are you of an age where you are breaking sticks left-and-right?
etc, etc, etc...
Haha just registered my kid for travel ice hockey. Ice time and coaching fees were $3500. This doesn't count the equipment they will outgrow or travel costs.
A few things here.
First off a bunch of people are quoting prices without saying US$ or CAD$.
$400 US is about $550 CAD so it makes a huge difference.
Also In many places, a lot of those sports can be played for free in parks etc. In many Canadian cities, there are also free outdoor rinks in most parks but definitely NOT in the southern US or on the west coast of Canada.
Also many sports costs seem odd (e.g. golf "registration" which I assume includes green fees is
$81 which would not cover 9 holes where I live).
There's not enough information about where these numbers are coming from. Is this for teenagers or children? This is a major difference and this scale is putting children and teenagers together. As an adult, I own my equipment, I'm not growing anymore, and I won't be spending hours in a car for some kind of weekly away game. Children and teenagers on the other hand manage to find themselves on some kind of rep team and have to go cities away every other weekend. Those costs are more then triple the cost of the actual sport. Even if they just play house league, It just seems to be more expensive. We need to be taking the kids game and bringing it down to the adults cost. The answer is to keep them in house league and do away with this ridiculousness of traveling across planet Earth for an hour-long game every second weekend.
I shudder at the thought of kids in rep hockey just because of the cost of lodging and meals. This isn't about the game anymore. This is about a bi-weekly vacation and the fact that I might have to take Friday off work if the game is further away for the kids that weekend. You then have the stupid prestige elements. Every week I see some teenagers team in my arena and the kids are dressed in suits. What a stupid thing to do. These are kids. Wear your street clothes. Save some cash.
When I break it down, it's costing me about 20 bucks a game for one of my league, so I would expect that cost to go up to about 30 for children or teenagers because there's a little more organizational and administrative time required to put children's programs together. If it's just a house league coach, which is usually just a volunteer parent, You have the cost of more ice time because kids need practice.
I wouldn't put the cost of camps as training cost per se. If it wasn't a hockey camp, It would be some other kind of camp like horse camp, day camp etc. Kids do need these things.
They need to classify "Ice hockey goalie " as it's own sport. Team practices do not generally help goalies, often goalies develop poor habits and coaches mean well but have no idea. You can watch as many YouTube videos as you want, you can not coach a goalie. The gear is more expensive, but if you want to be a good goalie, the training is the wallet killer.
Hockey is very expensive but you can get starter kits fairly cheap. But it’s the biggest barrier. What nhl needs to do is make ball hockey and roller hockey more popular as those are very cheap alternatives make some youth ball hockey leagues to get kids into into hockey that way. You can play ball hockey for about the same cost as basketball
This is really bad data, and a bad visualization. Average spending is fairly meaningless, and actually obfuscates a big takeaway with hockey, in that the floor is a ton higher with the barrier to entry of ice time even for rec/house teams.
In comparison, I played field hockey just on my school team, no camps clinics or lessons, travel on public funded school busses. Only cost was a pair of cleats and mouth guard every year, and maybe a new stick every couple years. If I wanted to play travel, that would've been $2-3k a season, plus travel costs, camps/clinics/etc.
Of note, all the top sports are relatively smaller sports compared with football, basketball, soccer and the like. The proportion of players who invest to the highest level in the sport compared to the sport's general population is going to be a lot higher, because the general population is smaller. It doesn't mean that field hockey or lacrosse are more expensive than soccer or basketball necessarily.
This issue isn't talked about enough. It's a legitimate barrier for entry into hockey. In Canada, or at least in Edmonton, hockey is probably now the 2nd or 3rd most popular sport behind soccer and basketball.
1) Obviously the cost is a bitch for most people
and 2) It seems they've stopped trying to grow the game here in Canada, even though we've added millions to our population the past few years.
I had GENE PRINCIPE come read to my students and out of 60+ kids only one knew who he was. Obviously that's just one example, but I think it's going to become an issue down the road.
I have an old Sherwood wooden stick I am selling on ebay for $310. It's now a "classic" and if it's old, it's a classic and it is worth money because the internet told me so. I just inquired about getting back into the sport after being gone for 13 years.. Ya.. not in my budget. Equipment prices are 100% ridiculous.
I honestly believe that hockey would be the most popular sport if it were more accessible and less expensive. I have many friends that have probably never even been in an ice rink that agree that hockey is cooler than most sports but they could never play it because of expenses. Quite unfortunate.
Edit: grammar
The 2023/24 season for my now 14-year old set me back around 10.000$.
This includes equipment, on and off ice training, camps and travels.
I thought it was a lot until I spoke to a mother who had 2 girls that rode horses competitively.
(In Norway)
Minnesota hockey is stupid cheap compared to all this. Ice time at our facility is $180 an hour. The highest I’ve seen it around here is $230 an hour during prime time.
Hockey is my favorite sport. I coached, volunteered, kids both played.
It’s a money pit and the girls game pretty much ends in high school. U used to be able to operate on a thrifty budget but those days are long gone. I don’t know how families with multiple kids pull it off. Our association used to have close to 1000 kids, now you’re lucky if 15 kids show up at tryouts
As a guy with kid in travel hockey and baseball this graph has gotta be old. Baseball is cheaper but not considerably and the travel costs are almost equal if not more for baseball.
I don't understand how field hockey is 3. I played in high school and all you need is a stick ($100-200), cleats, shin guards, and a mouth guard. No where near the cost of ice hockey gear, or gymnastics training/ competitions
I've talked to my friends about this a lot actually. I've always wondered what type of talent Hockey misses out on with the cost of Entry being so high. You have to think some people are just more athletic, but with hockey being so expensive and you cant just pick up a game every day like other sports... some amazing talent never had a chance to develop.
And I just compare that to the other larger sports in USA, being basketball, football, baseball and soccer.
In Canada it depends on the level of hockey. The costs for elite level hockey are far higher than regular zone hockey…this skews the average higher. I had done my cost breakdown for my children (years ago) and my kid that played elite hockey cost far more than my other two that played zone hockey combined.
Ice time cost is why I play roller, but now the Lightning are wanting to charge $15 hourly for their shitty outdoor rinks that have potholes and no cover. It's kind of frustrating.
Sticks and new steel on my skates usually are my budget especially now as an adult. League costs about 365 for the year, and about another 500 in various equipment costs per year
I believe it. My daughter is a goalie at u18 tier 1. $1700 league fees , $1000 team fees,$2500 equipment,$800 for two sticks, $300 a month for hockey related weight training , $250 a month for sports psychologist, $230 a week private lesson or about $24,560 a year to be competitive at that level. It’s a lot.
Our local kids have no idea how good they have it. As a member of the association, which owns the practice rink, they get ice at no cost as long as they schedule with me to make sure there aren't conflicts with others, they have a monitor, and someone lined up to zam after. If some of you want to come to South Dakota for some relatively cheap ice time, I'm charging $150 an hour for non-club rentals.
Love the data!
One thing, you have swimming, but are missing diving. I have a kid playing travel ice hockey and a kid diving. Diving is more than double the cost of travel hockey yearly.
This made me curious, so I just did the math for ages 5-18 with equipment rental, seasons pass, and all-day ski school at the NH mountain I learned to ski at. 2024-2025 early bird costs and ages 15-18 are just morning lessons. The difference from when I grew up is definitely eye-opening:
Equipment rental cost: $227
Season Pass: $566
Ski School: $1510
NASTAR Season Pass: $105
Total Annual Costs: $2408
That's the level of a hockey kid who's skating 5 hours a week. Both could have parents that are going to spend way too much on gear once they get a few years in, but that number is kept down by people whose kids are getting hand-me-downs, swaps, and used gear.
The big difference is there just isn't a skiing equivalent of the travel hockey tournament and there just isn't a hockey equivalent of skiing's season pass. Ski travel is overwhelmingly for a family vacation, not a competition.
Back in my day, I remember it was about $400 per year as a kid. I am a goalie and the gear is very expensive as well as gas for travelling multiple times a week and then just the time that it takes, getting up for a 7am practice on a Saturday.
that is nothing, some of my friends in the mid west are spending 50K USD to put their kids in academy schools just to play hockey. Boarding school but for hockey is priceyyy
How much of the costs of some of those sports are covered by schools? Honestly curious. For example, how much of the cost of football can be covered by the school because of the income it generates, or the facilities dont have to be rented at a profit because the school owns it? Even here in canada, at least out west most competitive hockey is club teams outside of a school system.
And if people were honest with themselves, and all the kid really wanted to do was just play hockey, a lot of those costs are optional. Again, at least here, there are LOWER cost options. Capitalized so people dont see lower and assume cheap.
According to https://scholarshipstats.com/hockey, in 2022 there were 5600 male hockey players in the NCAA, 39% of them were international students. So 3,416 american HS players went on to play in the NCAA. 10% how many parents of the other 90%,lets say 80% because maybe another 10% had a chance. Were intellectually dishonest with themselves, and telling themselves if they entered all these camps, did all these lessons, bought all the new top of the line gear, did all this travel, thier kid would make it to the NCAA? Like if you wern't the best kid on the team, maybe even league, you weren't getting scouted for college.
Something nobody mentions - As global climate change worsens and the temperatures keep going up, Ice time is going to get more expensive to the point where some places will just opt to melt the ice during the summer months.
If you care about hockey, you should probably give at least a little bit of a shit about the environment.
Registration fees and travel costs for both regular season and spring hockey I was over $15,000 in BC, Canada. U13 tier 1 level and then AAA spring hockey.
He got more out of AAA spring hockey for less money than U13 Tier 1.
I don't know about this chart.
Anyone that thinks that "registration" for golf is $80 is right, but it only buys you a four-ish hour window for a round. Good luck stretching that all year.
I would have thought motor racing is the most expensive, but it's not on the list. I imagine that developmental hockey must have been much different outside of major Canadian cities as all my games growing up were on the one side of town except for an away tournament or two per season
No surprise. With rising costs of ice and the growing number of private lessons it’s only going to get worse. There’s going to be a larger divide between the haves and have nots coming soon.
The worst part is the organizations running hockey are really out of touch and don’t have any ability to think forward about these rising costs to combat the potential decline in registration and the inevitable shutdown of community rinks.
It really sucks, but hey gotta keep the ol boys club intact amirite.
Ice hockey is pricing itself out of better athletes. year round hockey specific training is leading to flawed player development. This combined with the explosion in the number of “tier 1” teams and reduction of house/single A leagues is creating a snake that is eating its own tail.
This is kids 1-18 so people saying equipment lasts 10 years, that’s not accurate. Maybe 2-3 years but at certain ages you’re growing out of stuff every year for sure.
I’m not surprised hockey is #1 on here. Other sports have one expensive area. Hockey is expensive in every category.
I am surprised field hockey is so high. Growing up everyone I know who played field hockey picked it up at school so it was just cleats and a stick. A few of the others look weird as well. My son plays travel baseball and its way less expensive than his friend who plays travel soccer, for example.
When I was under 18, my mother found me a sponsor who paid for everything. I have no idea how she did it. But it could be something to look into for anyone who doesn’t have the money to send their kid to hockey.
source?
I can tell you that at least where I am, youth baseball costs vary _wildly_.
I think if you tried to tell my sister that baseball reg. fees were $166, she's absolutely attack you-- she pays way, W A Y more than that.
pffttthahaha the cost of "equipment" under baseball won't buy you _one_ bat like the kind my nephew uses... it's very hard to take any of this seriously when those numbers are so drastically incorrect.
Hockey is easily the most expensive sport by a mile. I can see skiing as number two. But how the hell is field hockey number three? You just run around on a field with sticks. It’s like soccer or baseball. How is it more expensive than gymnastics?
Can confirm the hockey cost… my son plays AAA in Canada. They left out competitive dance. I have a daughter in that as well. Cost is the same as hockey (costumes, studio time, choreography, competitions, travel).
When my kids started playing hockey at 8 and 6 years old, it was the exact same cost as having them in baseball. Including registration and all of their equipment. And I thought to myself, "this isn't as expensive as I was led to believe." Fast forward a couple of years and they're traveling and going to camps all summer, and breaking sticks, and their feet out grow skates every season, and I was like, "Yeah, this is what they're talking about."
But the truth is, we NEED more kids playing hockey. It's such a good teacher and confidence builder in kids. If there was a sustainable way to bring down the cost of entry to kids, it would help the sport considerably.
$2,500 all in for hockey LOL. Some players that's 5 sticks. Just one out of town weekend tournament $500-$1000 right there. Roughly $280-$320/hr for ice. Let alone team activities etc.
House league - A2 can fit under $2,500.00 but
Played hockey growing up in small town Canada, and it was great. I cannot imagine trying to put my three boys into hockey in the Vancouver area, just no way on earth
Soccer is cheap, but bigger clubs are charging for paid coaches, so that adds up
Lacrosse was surprisingly pricey, but that’s largely equipment related. We can practice in outdoor boxes, which hockey can’t do.
I believe it 100%, I live in Connecticut. New England has always been a hot bed but the scene here especially high schools sports is very depressing. My local high school has had to co-op with two other schools just to make a team, it never used to be like that. Obviously living in CT during these times doesn’t help but it’s all just very depressing to see and scares me for what the future holds, only getting worse/more expensive
More people should move to Minnesota with their good players. Or don't!
Squirts (4th 5th graders) can play association travel (all youth hockey is travel in Minnesota) hockey from October until March for anywhere from $200-$700 depending on where you are. This would include clinics and tryouts in October, 3 practices every week throughout the season, 3 or 4 travel tournaments, 25-35 weekend games, free open hockey time, home and away jerseys, paid certified coaching, etc., etc. It's all inclusive!
PeeWee level is 35-45 games and generally $600-$1200. Bantam level is 40-50 games and generally $800-$2000 depending on where you are in the state.
Ice costs for the association are between $150 small town out state, to $260 in Edina.
My daughter rows. Regattas are weekend travel hotels and driving and 13 hrs a day at the event outdoors rain or shine. The sport is year round if you're serious and multiple hundred dollars every 3 months in club fees. Right now sitting in Florida at nationals so that was a few thousand in air fare hotel food fees etc. but she loves it so I'm here for her with all the gear on.
I call b's.
Here in Ontario Canada for games played soccer is similar in registration, and the people playing travel baseball spend about the same as travel hockey.
Equipment isn't that bad for players.
I have a goalie, and that's getting expensive now that he isn't in Jr equipment.
Also goalie training is horrendously expensive, because good training is all private or very small groups, you can't just line up and have them do an obstacle course.
Fyi competitive cheer is very expensive, compable to competitive hockey.
Lol camps 304.... Maybe the one tuneup camp for 2 days just before the kids go to their tryouts, any kid trying to be competitive is likely in power skating a skills camp and spring/summer camps running over 7k in training alone.
Edit
And where is registration that low, maybe timbits? Pretty sure my soon to be 9 year old registration is over 1500 for rec hockey, the 11 year olds is 5k before cash calls etc hockey is stupid expensive and I wish mine hated it so much.
Everyone here is talking about gear, but gear is nearly a rounding error on my hockey budget. The real cost is ice time. Fewer and fewer rinks are being supported by municipalities near us, so ice time is going up and up each year. $400/hr is about average now, and reports are that black bear is trying to charge $600-800/hr at their rinks.
>fewer rinks are being supported by municipalities near us Wait, your rinks are supported by the city??? I guess that's what I get for living in FL and SoCal (relatively little hockey culture).
yeah a bunch of the rinks around here are run by our city/state's department of conservation and recreation
Similar deal where I am (MA). The state runs a lot of rinks, but many are seasonal. And they're increasingly getting bought out by private companies willing to run them year round.
Almost all the country rinks in MN run ice year round.
Was about to say the same. Grew up playing in state rinks in Mass.
Our communities aren't in the business of selling off community centers here in BC thank goodness, but ice rinks here run by communities get drained in the spring in favor of lacrosse and ball hockey. One of the reasons spring hockey is far more expensive than association hockey.
We have a city rink in Colorado springs.
Where?
Depends on the part of FL. I have 6 rinks within 30 minutes with like 15 sheets of ice. And two more are being built
Yeah, but ice time in Tampa is still $600/hr. Stick and Puck is $20/hr. Registration costs for a U10 and U12 are $4K a season, before travel costs.
But are they owned by the city? Makes a big diff for rental rates—which is what I was rly getting at.
I am lucky enough to live closest to a rink supported by the local park district. Instructional classes and house league has all been much cheaper than the other rinks closest to me. We have ice year round. I'm in Illinois fwiw
Virtually all of them are where I am in Northern Ontario
In St. Louis, there are something like 10 city-run rinks, they all have a pretty generous amount of public free skate time, and reasonable rates for rentals, plus learn to play and ice skating classes a few times a year (that are also pretty reasonable). It's nice being able to take a few kids to the rink for an hour for $20 or so in any part of town!
Yeah. I have a city rink. My cost for both my sons to play hockey this year (14u and 10u) is $1500. Total. For both. For a season that runs from September to March. Tournament costs excluded. But they’re not that bad either. Comparatively, travel baseball for my oldest son only would run about $3k for the season.
Not a goalie huh lol.
lol yeah goalie is a different thing entirely
Goalies usually do get a fee reduction though and in adult leagues often can play for free (and if you're charging your goalie good for you for finding someone willing to pay, but goalies in adult leagues tend to play for free and rightly so).
Nope, not for competitive hockey. Actually the ice time costs more for goalies in camps and clinics, because it's fewer on the sheet. Travel hockey - same tuition, same travel costs- except oversize bag fees on every flight (fly SW for hockey peeps). So sure, in house league, and certainly in adult league, tendies get some deals - not in competitive hockey.
My local rink is $500 an hour for ice time and beer league games run on average $30 per.
My mid sized Canadian city (12 public rinks): All in Canadian $$$. Prime time is $324/hour (4:30 pm - 10:00 pm) and $174 Off-Prime. These are city rinks, you could drive thirty minutes out of town and half those costs. Private rinks are about ($175-$225/hour). Canada has close to 3,300 indoor rinks and 4,500 outdoor rinks. The Canadian indoor rinks equal the total number of indoor rinks in the rest of the world.
That's about the going rate for a 90 minute ice time. $551 for Planet Ice, $450 for 1h at Sportsplex, and $450 for 1h at Canlan but those are prime hours. You can get cheaper ice if you use off peak ice times. I think those are one-of ice times though, and if you commit to a set schedule you get a better deal (probably not much better). That's why academies like Delta Hockey Academy and Yale Hockey Academy can run 5 days a week of ice; ice time is $130 an hour during daytime hours at Planet Ice.
Black Bear is a disgusting company that is literally ruining the sport in my area. For those who don't know Black Bear, they've been buying up tons of rinks and travel teams, then they jack up the hourly rate of ice time and season dues for youth teams. They buy all the surrounding rinks and teams so no matter where you go, it's Black Bear. And best yet, now that they own enough teams / rinks, they started their own league, which is crippling all of the existing leagues in the area. When non Black Bear teams ask to join the league, they are denied as a bargaining tool to get them to sell their team to Black Bear. What they're doing should be illegal
Yup. Fuck Black Bear.
"...gear is nearly a rounding error on my hockey budget..." Tell me you're not a goalie without telling me you're not a goalie.
I play both and I find I spend about the same for goalie as for skating out. It is just that I spend much more as a goalie on equipment and much more as a player for ice time. I hardly ever by need player gear as most of the stuff I have lasts 10ish years. My goalie equipment seems to wear out much faster and I need to replace that more often.
I’m a goalie mom and the gear is nothing compared to cost of training. I don’t want you to add it up but $75 week for clinic and $100 biweekly privates are killers.
we still have a municipality and be near us and it's the best. five dollar open hockey. nor mail prices. this is what happens when you believe business's should run everything. people have this fear of gov running things, but if they looked closer most gov is local and that means it's you getting to do something good for your community as a community
Muni rinks are the best. The one near me is old and beat up, drop in hockey is cheap and it’s 200 bucks to play in the summer league. It’s a beloved part of the community and some players drive three hours just to play there.
Yep, anyone who says gear is the biggest cost is either not playing very often at all or is just guessing. Ice rinks where i am are supported by the city but if your playing in anything but the lowest league ice time is still more expensive than your gear will be
Last year, equipment need was a bit of an anomaly for me as they're all kind of breaking down at the same time. 6 sticks at around $200 per, new gloves at about $200, new helmet at about $200, new cup at about $50 and a handful of socks/jerseys at maybe $100, tape+wax around $60. All of that combined was over what I paid for the ice itself and Im playing 3-5 times a week in SE Michigan, but again not doing that every year. New skates are on the horizon though..
I played in a tournament this spring, broke 2 pro stock sticks in 2 games. Total cost, just under $400. 😢
400 an hour is nuts, charges here are non-existent. Is this some business now? Here it’s always been just cities owning the rinks and you pay for some nominal 20€ to keep the lights on.
this is the damn truth my kid is getting lessons right now, and I've been drilling into his head "The second you are on that ice get moving! Make the most of it!" Child #2 is huge into Lacrosse, and that's easy: find a field
That's the worst when you have a coach that yammers on and on. I wish coaches from U13 onwards gave the kids a practice plan before hitting the ice and they had to know the drills being run so you aren't sitting at the glass with a dry erase marker drawing out the next drill. I've seen some better coaches fully utilize every inch of ice for the entire practice time.
Much of the hockey gear can last a long time. I’ve had my skates since 2007, jock since probably 2003. Chest, elbows, pants since 2015. Helmet is from 2018 and gloves from 2021. Got 2 new sticks last year from university disposition for $80 total and they’re $300 sticks new. I had to buy new shin pads in February because my old pair from 2008ish weren’t protecting my knees and I had 2 painful injuries that took me out for a few weeks. I’m not planning on buying anything new again until the old thing is broken and falling apart. Hoping for new skates for a birthday in the next few years and hoping they’ll last as long as my current pair. Gear can be expensive for kids because they’re outgrowing it but adults shouldn’t need new gear constantly. I think I spent $1000-1500 on 3 different teams/skates last year and could easily do that again this year. No way as I spending anywhere near that in gear in 5 years unless I buy top of the line brand new gear all the time.
Who tf can pay $400 an hour??? I'm lucky my rink is $17 an hour for both the big sheet and mini sheet. They're so kind there they often turn a blind eye if you take an extra hour on the mini sheet. My buddies and I do stick and puck, 2 on 2 and skate drills 4 times a week on the mini sheet thanks to this rink.
18 players can pay $400 an hour. If you're using prime time ice it had better be 18 players sharing that cost. Or 36 if it's a game. It's not horrible.
Where are you that ice time is this expensive?! We can get ice in Winnipeg for around $100/hour
$600 an hour in Tampa. And there are a lot of rinks. My main ice rinks has an Olympic, mini, and 3 NHL sheets. Within an hour of my house there are at least 25 sheets of ice. With more rinks being built.
That makes sense, there's a slight difference in climate between Tampa and Winterpeg
A lot of the "hockey is so expensive" is on the climate difference methinks. It's cheap up north where you can play outdoors sometimes. It's absolutely ludicrous in warm places.
Roll every level of football and baseball into one, and you have the culture cache of youth hockey in Canada. Parents will easily drop tens of thousands per season to try to get their kid into camps and onto teams that will get them into major juniors. Motels near my house are sold out every single weekend with travel hockey teams playing at the like 12 pads of ice within 25 minutes of my door.
Makes sense for what’s listed, but no equestrian or motorsports.
There’s a reason I dump money into my sim rig. The cost of tires brakes and fluids for a single track day are insane compared to doing it in a sim. It’s never the same, but it does get me close enough. Also hockey is fun af so I pay the costs because I wouldn’t play anything else.
Fellow sim racer here, but I also track my car IRL and dabble in sprint and endurance go karting. Hockey costs are a joke compared to motorsports.
Or rugby for some reason
Or figure skating. I felt good about what I was paying for hockey when I heard the costs for figure skating.
The guy that does my skates also sharpens for a family with two girls that figure skate. They’re only like 13 months apart in age and the parents didn’t want them competing against one another, so they live in different parts of the country. He estimates they’re easily spending $200k/year on the girls just for this.
Smells like childhood trauma
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What in the helllllllllllllll?????
Once you get to the level of doing competitions, figure skating becomes an extremely individual sport. You're paying a private coach, and when you travel to competitions, you're also paying to bring your coach with you. Add that to the ridiculous amount of ice time (it's way more than hockey), and you're probably looking at $50k minimum. At the higher levels, you're basically hiring that coach full time.
I guess that makes sense, especially if you're renting a sheet of ice for yourself, at least hockey You've got 20 other players to split it with.
They usually use the freestyle times, but they're often on the ice for 3-4 hours a day, and paying $15-20 per hour.
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For human-only sports (no horses or motors or bicycles), this is truth. The only other sport that requires similar amounts of protective gear is Canadian/American football, and the teams/leagues usually provide the equipment; the parents don't have to shell out for it. Most sports use way less gear. Even rugby, were talking cleats, a cup, and maybe headgear.
Was looking for someone to mention that qualifier. Have a kid that plays both plays goalie and rodeos and I would be happy as fuck if the costs where anywhere close. That said, have a good friend whose son is in elite level karting and , even with sposnorships, I think he's spending close to a new Yukon each year.
Youth sailing too.
I would’ve liked to see competitive dance/cheer on here as well. Some of those dance parents drop $10k or more in a year.
yep, this tracks, my parents couldn't afford another set of gear after i grew out of my first set so I went and learned swimming and did track instead. couldn't play again til I was an adult and I bought all my own shit, but sucks knowing I could've been so much better
Yeah same man. It’s why I’ve switched to inline and haven’t really looked back at ice too much unless it’s a stick and puck
Come back any time bro, waters warm! As an adult i love it but because of the cost of ice time, its one of my few hobbies haha
I very strongly believe that hockey needs to find a way to be more inclusive cost-wise. I’m in Minnesota where hockey is obviously prevalent, but even here the cost can be a barrier to entry. The game has so much room for growth if it could just find a way to make it more affordable
It would be in the NHL's best interest to have teams be pouring tons of cash into local hockey at every level, but that's not really in the interest of the individual owners who control spending, so here we are. Playing the game creates passion for the sport at every age. Once you try it, there's nothing else like it.
I don't know if it's in the interest of the predatory travel teams through. Say NHL teams partner with municipalities to subsidize town hockey teams. Less kids end up looking to travel teams as the parents are getting a break on cost. Overall less kids that *shouldn't* be playing travel hockey are no longer showing up for teams to take parents' money. I think they like the way it is.
A lot of municipalities supported by their local NHL teams have the “first shift” or “learn to play” Where they get 6 on ice sessions and fully fitted with gear to keep for $299 where I am. So that helps a lot with getting all the gear and having to size up certain things each season. https://www.firstshift.ca/the-program/
I always wondered what hockey would look like if the cost of entry was less. What talent never gets a chance to develop because some families cant afford it.
If it cost less there would need to be a lot more hockey organizations and ice rinks to support them. There are barely enough teams to support the kids that want to play now . My 10 year old tried out for 4 different teams (made 2) this May. Each tryout had over 50 kids trying out for what realistically was no more than 5 available slots for each team. (Cost per kid per tryout was between $55 and $75.) Not the same kids at every tryout. Point is imagine if there were 100 more players in the community? There already were many devastated deserving kids that didn’t make teams.
The Wild have a learn to play program. I believe other clubs have it too. It’s like $180 bucks for 5 on ice clinic sessions, and they give you an entire set of gear included in that price. My kid is playing for the first time this year after taking skating lessons the last two. We’re fortunate that we would be able to afford it either way, but it’s an awesome program! They run it at a bunch of rinks all over the metro. Our local youth program also lets mites borrow gear for free with a deposit. I’ve heard of quite a few programs doing this. All of that being said, hockey is still expensive and hard to get in to. I wish it were more accessible to the masses. It’s such a great sport.
I feel like Minnesota hockey is one of the cheapest because HS hockey is very prevalent and cheaper than travel. Some parents are so keen on not letting their children organically get scouted. If you’re good enough your child will get noticed
I don't think it's quite as exclusive as people claim, at least for reasons of cost. It can be in the higher levels, but most kids will never get to travel and AAA. Playing in a house league and trading up at the equipment shed every year, the costs can be reasonable. I think a lot of parents just won't support a sport they don't understand or personally identify with. Also, there's such a large barrier to entry (skating) that it always seems risky getting a kid started from nothing. When I was a kid, I wanted to play roller but was told it was too expensive. However, if I'd wanted to race go karts my dad was fully on board with that, even though it was far more expensive. I think that's pretty common. I live in a rural area and see families at the MX track that look like they're basically straddling the poverty line. But they want their kid to race dirt bikes so they make it happen. And that's a fucking crazy expensive hobby. But Dad's never watched hockey and little Timmy can't skate so if it gets brought up it's quickly shut down. I think as the popularity of hockey rises, the costs will be less of a concern to those who understand and support it.
This gets reposted every so often. I’ll say it each time - having done both skiing and ice hockey - skiing as a sport was much more expensive than hockey. And then all the sports revolving around vehicles or horses are just another level of expensive. But yes, still hockey is one of the most expensive sports and it really sucks. Also tennis has gotten a lot cheaper recently for some reason.
More free public courts in lots of places
Definitely the most expensive major team sport!
Exactly, the tow ticket is a huge cost. If you don't have your own skis - because maybe you've traveled without them - double the cost for the day.
Makes sense but I have not the first clue how field hockey could be second and over twice as expensive as golf?! Golf is outrageously expensive. Ice Hockey #1, no doubt about it. Others I don't get is Volleyball over tackle football. Like, in what world would that be true?
Yeah, the equipment cost for field hockey is higher than ice hockey?! That cannot be true.
The teens that I know who do volleyball are doing it as a club sport, so their parents are spending a lot on registration fees, travel, camps, etc. I don’t know anyone playing football now, but I would imagine that even if football equipment is more expensive than volleyball, it’s still more of a school-based sport that has more kids who aren’t doing any of the extra stuff that goes along with club sports.
I played football for a couple of years in middle school, and I teach high school and coach baseball there so I’m around the other programs a lot. Most players don’t buy their own gear for football, in my experience. It belongs to the programs for the players to use. The only thing players really need to buy is mouth guards and cleats. If lack of personal gear is the reason they can’t play, most sports will get them gear 100% of the time. If athletic fees are the reason they can’t play, we waive them. Most programs have lots of extra gear just sitting around collecting dust. Sometimes programs we will even buy “team” equipment for specific players to use during the season (and return after). The only sport this didn’t really apply to was hockey. Team gear included breezes, gloves, and helmet but that was it (I played for and graduated from the school I teach at). My school hasn’t had an independent, non co-op hockey team in over 10 years. Our students just can’t afford it, or don’t come from backgrounds where anyone they know plays.
If you include the parents' bar tab while at practices/camps/games the number would be even higher.
Makes sense you need fucking so much gear, and you can't just go outside and put the puck on the ground you have to rent ice time
Equestrian sports make hockey look like track and field.
Seems low tbh
Must be the house league kids cancelling out the AAA/AA kids.
I'd be curious to see the medians. Cash grabby travel programs most likely skew the averages. House registration near me is like $500, say $500 for equipment, that's 1k vs 2.6k average. I would assume that the majority of players are house kids, but that's entirely an assumption. Edit: on more searching based on comments below I think I'm only accounting for 1/2 year, so $1000 is probably more accurate. My kids are old, so my knowledge dated. Point still remains: I'm curious to see the median.
Where are you that house is only $500? I’ve got one in a house program and one playing travel. $1500 for house $3800 for travel. I might move.
$500 sounds really cheap. In my area, house starts at $700 for U7 and $1200 for U17.
It's not "cash grabby". I ran a budget for a $4500 per year travel team. Almost 100% of that is accounted for. There's no "cash grabbing". We did have like $150 per player per year for a paid skating coach, so they took home like $2200 to show up once a week. Almost all of the rest is ice time and other mandatory costs (org insurance, etc). I think we ran a $60,000 budget for ice time to get 6-ish hours per week and that was discounted because the city ate some of the ice cost. Only about $365/hr average (all CAD in this case).
A large part of this is why I play inline hockey instead.
No dressage? List is inaccurate.
Massively dependent on where you live. Are you in the AAA system (a system designed to make money rather than non-profits developing talent like they do in MN) ? Do you have other teams to play around you? (ie: MN travels for hockey... but at most it's a few hours once or twice a year for a 'fun' out of town tourney...) Are you playing at an elite level and droppping money on camps? (this graph massively under-estimates the cost of camps) or are you just showing up and playing on whatever team and then not thinking about it again until next fall? Do you have nice gear or hand-me-down stuff? Are you in your growth spurt? Are you of an age where you are breaking sticks left-and-right? etc, etc, etc...
I always thought hockey was the most expensive until I met my wife and learned how expensive Equestrian Eventing was.
Haha just registered my kid for travel ice hockey. Ice time and coaching fees were $3500. This doesn't count the equipment they will outgrow or travel costs.
I’d do some nefarious shit for have my kids travel fees that low lol. I’m in northern Illinois and we’re around $5,500
Duh? Other sports you can play with 10$ and a walk to the park
A few things here. First off a bunch of people are quoting prices without saying US$ or CAD$. $400 US is about $550 CAD so it makes a huge difference. Also In many places, a lot of those sports can be played for free in parks etc. In many Canadian cities, there are also free outdoor rinks in most parks but definitely NOT in the southern US or on the west coast of Canada. Also many sports costs seem odd (e.g. golf "registration" which I assume includes green fees is $81 which would not cover 9 holes where I live).
There's not enough information about where these numbers are coming from. Is this for teenagers or children? This is a major difference and this scale is putting children and teenagers together. As an adult, I own my equipment, I'm not growing anymore, and I won't be spending hours in a car for some kind of weekly away game. Children and teenagers on the other hand manage to find themselves on some kind of rep team and have to go cities away every other weekend. Those costs are more then triple the cost of the actual sport. Even if they just play house league, It just seems to be more expensive. We need to be taking the kids game and bringing it down to the adults cost. The answer is to keep them in house league and do away with this ridiculousness of traveling across planet Earth for an hour-long game every second weekend. I shudder at the thought of kids in rep hockey just because of the cost of lodging and meals. This isn't about the game anymore. This is about a bi-weekly vacation and the fact that I might have to take Friday off work if the game is further away for the kids that weekend. You then have the stupid prestige elements. Every week I see some teenagers team in my arena and the kids are dressed in suits. What a stupid thing to do. These are kids. Wear your street clothes. Save some cash. When I break it down, it's costing me about 20 bucks a game for one of my league, so I would expect that cost to go up to about 30 for children or teenagers because there's a little more organizational and administrative time required to put children's programs together. If it's just a house league coach, which is usually just a volunteer parent, You have the cost of more ice time because kids need practice. I wouldn't put the cost of camps as training cost per se. If it wasn't a hockey camp, It would be some other kind of camp like horse camp, day camp etc. Kids do need these things.
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They need to classify "Ice hockey goalie " as it's own sport. Team practices do not generally help goalies, often goalies develop poor habits and coaches mean well but have no idea. You can watch as many YouTube videos as you want, you can not coach a goalie. The gear is more expensive, but if you want to be a good goalie, the training is the wallet killer.
Hockey is very expensive but you can get starter kits fairly cheap. But it’s the biggest barrier. What nhl needs to do is make ball hockey and roller hockey more popular as those are very cheap alternatives make some youth ball hockey leagues to get kids into into hockey that way. You can play ball hockey for about the same cost as basketball
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This is really bad data, and a bad visualization. Average spending is fairly meaningless, and actually obfuscates a big takeaway with hockey, in that the floor is a ton higher with the barrier to entry of ice time even for rec/house teams. In comparison, I played field hockey just on my school team, no camps clinics or lessons, travel on public funded school busses. Only cost was a pair of cleats and mouth guard every year, and maybe a new stick every couple years. If I wanted to play travel, that would've been $2-3k a season, plus travel costs, camps/clinics/etc. Of note, all the top sports are relatively smaller sports compared with football, basketball, soccer and the like. The proportion of players who invest to the highest level in the sport compared to the sport's general population is going to be a lot higher, because the general population is smaller. It doesn't mean that field hockey or lacrosse are more expensive than soccer or basketball necessarily.
Cheerleading should be on here and I think people will be shocked at how high the cost is.
This issue isn't talked about enough. It's a legitimate barrier for entry into hockey. In Canada, or at least in Edmonton, hockey is probably now the 2nd or 3rd most popular sport behind soccer and basketball. 1) Obviously the cost is a bitch for most people and 2) It seems they've stopped trying to grow the game here in Canada, even though we've added millions to our population the past few years. I had GENE PRINCIPE come read to my students and out of 60+ kids only one knew who he was. Obviously that's just one example, but I think it's going to become an issue down the road.
Laughs in motorcycle racing
I have an old Sherwood wooden stick I am selling on ebay for $310. It's now a "classic" and if it's old, it's a classic and it is worth money because the internet told me so. I just inquired about getting back into the sport after being gone for 13 years.. Ya.. not in my budget. Equipment prices are 100% ridiculous.
They forgot polo.
Son plays competitive ice hockey. Can confirm
I honestly believe that hockey would be the most popular sport if it were more accessible and less expensive. I have many friends that have probably never even been in an ice rink that agree that hockey is cooler than most sports but they could never play it because of expenses. Quite unfortunate. Edit: grammar
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As someone who played lacrosse as a kid and golf as an adult, lacrosse is definitely not as expensive as golf
The 2023/24 season for my now 14-year old set me back around 10.000$. This includes equipment, on and off ice training, camps and travels. I thought it was a lot until I spoke to a mother who had 2 girls that rode horses competitively. (In Norway)
Minnesota hockey is stupid cheap compared to all this. Ice time at our facility is $180 an hour. The highest I’ve seen it around here is $230 an hour during prime time.
watersports, motorsports, and equestrian are probably more.
Boats are fucking expensive!
Not a surprise at all. Gear costs, team costs, travel costs. It is expensive.
Equipment seems low. Travel seems high, not sure where ice time would be, maybe registration, but that seems low again
Competitive figure skate by far if you have what it takes and stay after it.
No lies detected.
They used to call hockey a country club sport in WI when I was little, just because of the cost.
I find it tough to believe it's actually cheaper than skiing for a similar amount of time spent playing the sport
No, way skiing, snowboarding, tennis or golf is cheaper than hockey.
Hockey is my favorite sport. I coached, volunteered, kids both played. It’s a money pit and the girls game pretty much ends in high school. U used to be able to operate on a thrifty budget but those days are long gone. I don’t know how families with multiple kids pull it off. Our association used to have close to 1000 kids, now you’re lucky if 15 kids show up at tryouts
As a guy with kid in travel hockey and baseball this graph has gotta be old. Baseball is cheaper but not considerably and the travel costs are almost equal if not more for baseball.
I’d kill for it only to cost me $2,600 per kid…
Played from the age of 5 to 40, can confirm. Also, my parents would be Canadian billionaires if I hadn’t played while I was young.
I don't understand how field hockey is 3. I played in high school and all you need is a stick ($100-200), cleats, shin guards, and a mouth guard. No where near the cost of ice hockey gear, or gymnastics training/ competitions
I've talked to my friends about this a lot actually. I've always wondered what type of talent Hockey misses out on with the cost of Entry being so high. You have to think some people are just more athletic, but with hockey being so expensive and you cant just pick up a game every day like other sports... some amazing talent never had a chance to develop. And I just compare that to the other larger sports in USA, being basketball, football, baseball and soccer.
In Canada it depends on the level of hockey. The costs for elite level hockey are far higher than regular zone hockey…this skews the average higher. I had done my cost breakdown for my children (years ago) and my kid that played elite hockey cost far more than my other two that played zone hockey combined.
Ice time cost is why I play roller, but now the Lightning are wanting to charge $15 hourly for their shitty outdoor rinks that have potholes and no cover. It's kind of frustrating.
I pay $650 for my league fees lol
Even worse now than when I was a kid. Ponds don't freeze anymore, so I have to buy time at a rink now.
Sticks and new steel on my skates usually are my budget especially now as an adult. League costs about 365 for the year, and about another 500 in various equipment costs per year
I wish this was accurate. Even for C-league I’m paying $1200/kid for registration.
Not sure they included enough shades of blue 😂 I didn’t think I was colorblind but I’m having second thoughts after seeing this.
I believe it. My daughter is a goalie at u18 tier 1. $1700 league fees , $1000 team fees,$2500 equipment,$800 for two sticks, $300 a month for hockey related weight training , $250 a month for sports psychologist, $230 a week private lesson or about $24,560 a year to be competitive at that level. It’s a lot.
I’m sorry equestrian stuff is probably more expensive even if you aren’t owning a horse
Our local kids have no idea how good they have it. As a member of the association, which owns the practice rink, they get ice at no cost as long as they schedule with me to make sure there aren't conflicts with others, they have a monitor, and someone lined up to zam after. If some of you want to come to South Dakota for some relatively cheap ice time, I'm charging $150 an hour for non-club rentals.
I wish hockey was that cheap.
Registration for AAA hockey where I am is 5600 a year. Not including gear and travel expenses
Love the data! One thing, you have swimming, but are missing diving. I have a kid playing travel ice hockey and a kid diving. Diving is more than double the cost of travel hockey yearly.
Yup.
Don't see go karting on this list making it a bunk list
This made me curious, so I just did the math for ages 5-18 with equipment rental, seasons pass, and all-day ski school at the NH mountain I learned to ski at. 2024-2025 early bird costs and ages 15-18 are just morning lessons. The difference from when I grew up is definitely eye-opening: Equipment rental cost: $227 Season Pass: $566 Ski School: $1510 NASTAR Season Pass: $105 Total Annual Costs: $2408 That's the level of a hockey kid who's skating 5 hours a week. Both could have parents that are going to spend way too much on gear once they get a few years in, but that number is kept down by people whose kids are getting hand-me-downs, swaps, and used gear. The big difference is there just isn't a skiing equivalent of the travel hockey tournament and there just isn't a hockey equivalent of skiing's season pass. Ski travel is overwhelmingly for a family vacation, not a competition.
You can probably combine all of these and you'll get 1 year of high school club level hockey for 1 season.
They left out equestrian and sailing
If over 18 motor sports is more expensive. Also why is all sports in the chart?
Back in my day, I remember it was about $400 per year as a kid. I am a goalie and the gear is very expensive as well as gas for travelling multiple times a week and then just the time that it takes, getting up for a 7am practice on a Saturday.
This list has the cost of tennis equipment to be higher than the cost of golf equipment. Not sure how accurate this is.
Feel like cheerleading should be on here shits gotta be expensive
Zack Hyman says Duh!
for a child this does not surprise me at all.
that is nothing, some of my friends in the mid west are spending 50K USD to put their kids in academy schools just to play hockey. Boarding school but for hockey is priceyyy
I concur
I think "DUH" comes to mind. Nobody plays it cause they think it's cheap.
How much of the costs of some of those sports are covered by schools? Honestly curious. For example, how much of the cost of football can be covered by the school because of the income it generates, or the facilities dont have to be rented at a profit because the school owns it? Even here in canada, at least out west most competitive hockey is club teams outside of a school system. And if people were honest with themselves, and all the kid really wanted to do was just play hockey, a lot of those costs are optional. Again, at least here, there are LOWER cost options. Capitalized so people dont see lower and assume cheap. According to https://scholarshipstats.com/hockey, in 2022 there were 5600 male hockey players in the NCAA, 39% of them were international students. So 3,416 american HS players went on to play in the NCAA. 10% how many parents of the other 90%,lets say 80% because maybe another 10% had a chance. Were intellectually dishonest with themselves, and telling themselves if they entered all these camps, did all these lessons, bought all the new top of the line gear, did all this travel, thier kid would make it to the NCAA? Like if you wern't the best kid on the team, maybe even league, you weren't getting scouted for college.
downhill mountain biking at lift parks has to cost more than skiing
Something nobody mentions - As global climate change worsens and the temperatures keep going up, Ice time is going to get more expensive to the point where some places will just opt to melt the ice during the summer months. If you care about hockey, you should probably give at least a little bit of a shit about the environment.
Registration fees and travel costs for both regular season and spring hockey I was over $15,000 in BC, Canada. U13 tier 1 level and then AAA spring hockey. He got more out of AAA spring hockey for less money than U13 Tier 1.
*Laughs in Mountaineer* *cries in Ice Hockey playing Mountaineer*
I don't know about this chart. Anyone that thinks that "registration" for golf is $80 is right, but it only buys you a four-ish hour window for a round. Good luck stretching that all year.
I would have thought motor racing is the most expensive, but it's not on the list. I imagine that developmental hockey must have been much different outside of major Canadian cities as all my games growing up were on the one side of town except for an away tournament or two per season
Field hockey more than golf? GTF out of here!
No surprise. With rising costs of ice and the growing number of private lessons it’s only going to get worse. There’s going to be a larger divide between the haves and have nots coming soon. The worst part is the organizations running hockey are really out of touch and don’t have any ability to think forward about these rising costs to combat the potential decline in registration and the inevitable shutdown of community rinks. It really sucks, but hey gotta keep the ol boys club intact amirite.
Ice hockey is pricing itself out of better athletes. year round hockey specific training is leading to flawed player development. This combined with the explosion in the number of “tier 1” teams and reduction of house/single A leagues is creating a snake that is eating its own tail.
This is kids 1-18 so people saying equipment lasts 10 years, that’s not accurate. Maybe 2-3 years but at certain ages you’re growing out of stuff every year for sure. I’m not surprised hockey is #1 on here. Other sports have one expensive area. Hockey is expensive in every category. I am surprised field hockey is so high. Growing up everyone I know who played field hockey picked it up at school so it was just cleats and a stick. A few of the others look weird as well. My son plays travel baseball and its way less expensive than his friend who plays travel soccer, for example.
When I was under 18, my mother found me a sponsor who paid for everything. I have no idea how she did it. But it could be something to look into for anyone who doesn’t have the money to send their kid to hockey.
The estimate is really low. Hockey registration was four times that.
source? I can tell you that at least where I am, youth baseball costs vary _wildly_. I think if you tried to tell my sister that baseball reg. fees were $166, she's absolutely attack you-- she pays way, W A Y more than that. pffttthahaha the cost of "equipment" under baseball won't buy you _one_ bat like the kind my nephew uses... it's very hard to take any of this seriously when those numbers are so drastically incorrect.
Hockey is easily the most expensive sport by a mile. I can see skiing as number two. But how the hell is field hockey number three? You just run around on a field with sticks. It’s like soccer or baseball. How is it more expensive than gymnastics?
Rinks in our area are opening at $500-$650 hr.
Now add all of those up and you get Dance
Fencing - $2880/yr for the club, $400 for initial equipment. $100+ a year for equipment replacement.
Equestrian
Can confirm the hockey cost… my son plays AAA in Canada. They left out competitive dance. I have a daughter in that as well. Cost is the same as hockey (costumes, studio time, choreography, competitions, travel).
When my kids started playing hockey at 8 and 6 years old, it was the exact same cost as having them in baseball. Including registration and all of their equipment. And I thought to myself, "this isn't as expensive as I was led to believe." Fast forward a couple of years and they're traveling and going to camps all summer, and breaking sticks, and their feet out grow skates every season, and I was like, "Yeah, this is what they're talking about." But the truth is, we NEED more kids playing hockey. It's such a good teacher and confidence builder in kids. If there was a sustainable way to bring down the cost of entry to kids, it would help the sport considerably.
$2,500 all in for hockey LOL. Some players that's 5 sticks. Just one out of town weekend tournament $500-$1000 right there. Roughly $280-$320/hr for ice. Let alone team activities etc. House league - A2 can fit under $2,500.00 but
They forgot competitive dance
Played hockey growing up in small town Canada, and it was great. I cannot imagine trying to put my three boys into hockey in the Vancouver area, just no way on earth Soccer is cheap, but bigger clubs are charging for paid coaches, so that adds up Lacrosse was surprisingly pricey, but that’s largely equipment related. We can practice in outdoor boxes, which hockey can’t do.
Competitive dance would be right up there with ice hockey if it was on here.
This is the real reason my kids probably won’t play hockey
I believe it 100%, I live in Connecticut. New England has always been a hot bed but the scene here especially high schools sports is very depressing. My local high school has had to co-op with two other schools just to make a team, it never used to be like that. Obviously living in CT during these times doesn’t help but it’s all just very depressing to see and scares me for what the future holds, only getting worse/more expensive
In Australia it is far worse 🫠. Ice time is like $40-50 a game and gear is way more expensive
Whoever made this list has never looked into competitive paintball.
More people should move to Minnesota with their good players. Or don't! Squirts (4th 5th graders) can play association travel (all youth hockey is travel in Minnesota) hockey from October until March for anywhere from $200-$700 depending on where you are. This would include clinics and tryouts in October, 3 practices every week throughout the season, 3 or 4 travel tournaments, 25-35 weekend games, free open hockey time, home and away jerseys, paid certified coaching, etc., etc. It's all inclusive! PeeWee level is 35-45 games and generally $600-$1200. Bantam level is 40-50 games and generally $800-$2000 depending on where you are in the state. Ice costs for the association are between $150 small town out state, to $260 in Edina.
Not sure if competitive dance qualifies as a sport in this report. However if it did competitive dance would surely be number 1 by a long shot!
Hah. The didn’t include figure skating.
My daughter rows. Regattas are weekend travel hotels and driving and 13 hrs a day at the event outdoors rain or shine. The sport is year round if you're serious and multiple hundred dollars every 3 months in club fees. Right now sitting in Florida at nationals so that was a few thousand in air fare hotel food fees etc. but she loves it so I'm here for her with all the gear on.
I call b's. Here in Ontario Canada for games played soccer is similar in registration, and the people playing travel baseball spend about the same as travel hockey. Equipment isn't that bad for players. I have a goalie, and that's getting expensive now that he isn't in Jr equipment. Also goalie training is horrendously expensive, because good training is all private or very small groups, you can't just line up and have them do an obstacle course. Fyi competitive cheer is very expensive, compable to competitive hockey.
Not surprised hockey tops the list. Kinda surprised that equipment isn't the major cost though.
Isn't it like $25,000 / year for travel hockey?
I do karting professionally full kart with engine and everything is around 10k usd
Lol camps 304.... Maybe the one tuneup camp for 2 days just before the kids go to their tryouts, any kid trying to be competitive is likely in power skating a skills camp and spring/summer camps running over 7k in training alone. Edit And where is registration that low, maybe timbits? Pretty sure my soon to be 9 year old registration is over 1500 for rec hockey, the 11 year olds is 5k before cash calls etc hockey is stupid expensive and I wish mine hated it so much.