ALLEN PARK, Mich. -- The Detroit Lions would like you to know that no, they do not have the most expensive beer per ounce in the NFL.
A study done by teammarketing.com said the price of beer sold at Ford Field is $0.67 an ounce, 14 cents higher than the No. 2 team in the league, Dallas.
That, however, is not true.
Ben Manges, the director of corporate communications for the Lions, disputed the findings of the study with the actual price per ounce of the beers sold at Ford Field. Jon Greenberg, the executive editor of Team Marketing Report, said in an email it was a miscommunication.
“A concessions person for Detroit told me their cheapest beer was $8 for a 12 oz. I double-checked with them a week later,” Greenberg wrote. “Now, the Lions DO have an $8 12-oz. beer, but it’s only in suites. We wouldn’t have used that in the survey had the concessions person told me that.”
Greenberg said his group uses only the cheapest beer sold at general concession stands for the study, even if it doesn’t sell the best in the stadium. That happens to be the case in Detroit.
Manges said 93 percent of the beers sold at general concession stands are 20-ounce drafts for $9 each, or $0.45 an ounce. Even if the study went by the cheapest beer sold in the stadium -- the $8.50 16-ounce bottle -- it would still equate to $0.53 an ounce.
Manges said only 6 percent of the Lions’ beer sales are those bottles. And less than 1 percent of the sales, Manges said, are the $11 16-ounce craft beers, which are $0.69 an ounce.
No matter the metric, Greenberg said Detroit has one of the more expensive beers in the NFL.
“Or at least on par with the most expensive,” Greenberg wrote. “The by-ounce stuff doesn’t mean much, because many teams don’t have choices. You don’t get to decide sizes. Some teams now offer small size beer, like MetLife Stadium. Many do not.”
The Lions offer the beers listed above, none in the 12-ounce variety at general concession stands.
If you’re curious, the most expensive cheap beer in the NFL is sold in Oakland, at $9.75 for a 20-ounce beer, according to the study. The cheapest cheap beer? Multiple teams sell a 12-ounce beer for $5.