This article was updated on August 30, 2018 to reflect information from Fiserv Forum that has since been shown to be incorrect. Those updates have been removed and the original article remains below. For the most up-to-date beer prices at Fiserv Forum, check here.
Milwaukee paid $250 million for the opportunity to pay $10 for a Coors Light.
No, that’s not all: we also got a shiny new basketball arena, the (potential) revitalization of a downtown dead-zone, and the rights to keep a 50-year pro basketball franchise in the state (at least until Fiserv Forum is also deemed unacceptable by the NBA).
But the Fiserv Forum is built. It’s here, and tens of thousands of Milwaukeeans went to see it first-hand at their Open House this past Sunday. It really was impressive, and from top to bottom you could tell thought had been put into every aspect to make the slogans emblazoned on each employee’s shirt ring true: “Welcome Home”.
Every aspect, that is, except beer prices.
Me drinking a $3 16oz Coors Light AND getting a free hat AND a section all to myself at a Bucks game at the Bradley Center last season.
To be fair, I was truly impressed by the effort the Bucks organization put into incorporating fantastic local food options into the new arena via their MKEat program (Gold Rush Chicken FTW). Prices for these new noms seemed more than reasonable, and the lines on a non-game-day Sunday afternoon proved the crowd was interested.
And the beer selection itself, which had been improving the last couple of years at the Bradley Center, seemed to take another step forward with additional local craft options available (the Leinie’s Lodge also does remain, thank God).
My last Leinie’s at my last Bucks game at the BMO Harris Bradley Center. RIP that dungeon building and $9 16oz craft beers.
But is any of it really worth it (for beer drinkers like myself) if a 12oz can of Spotted Cow takes a Hamilton, and that’s the cheapest craft you can find? $10 at least gets you a 16-ounce draught pour of MKE’s Lo-Gii at Miller Park, and if you go Domestic you’re only looking at $7.
Though the Atlanta Falcons made waves last year with downright affordable beer and food prices in their new stadium, Lambeau Field has no plans to lower anything. Even so, you can still snag a tapper of Miller Lite in Titletown for $8.
Ten years ago the Bradley Center was charging half, literally half, what the Fiserv Forum will be for the same beer made by Miller just down the road. Just a few months ago it was a few bucks cheaper. It’s not even highway robbery: it’s State Street robbery.
Non-beer-drinkers: don’t worry about it. Go to Fiserv Forum, enjoy the amazing new amenities, cheer on an exciting young Bucks team. You and this city deserve it.
But us beer drinkers deserve it, too, and we deserve to enjoy a beer while watching sports in Brew City without being gouged by billionaire owners who got half a stadium for free. Now please excuse me while I drown my sorrows in my store-bought, $0.53 Miller High Life.
All photos by Joe Powell for The Squeaky Curd.