It’s Getting Too Expensive to Have Fun

livemint.com:

The rising cost of fun is becoming a drag. Ticket prices for live entertainment events, from Taylor Swift concerts to National Football League games and high-season Disney theme-park visits, rose at a startling rate this year, triggering a phenomenon that analysts have dubbed “funflation." Families coughed up large sums saved during the pandemic to attend live events and parks this year. Friends treated themselves to memorable performances.

Mothers took their daughters to stadiums packed with friendship-bracelet-clad concertgoers to see Swift’s Eras Tour. Now, some Americans are feeling tapped out. Angela Wentink, 48 years old, recalls going to concerts regularly as an essential—and attainable—part of what she describes as a lower-middle-class upbringing in Massachusetts.

It didn’t break the bank to see Bon Jovi. Trying to give her children some semblance of a similar experience feels impossible. The San Antonio resident was laid off from Amazon in January, and received her final severance check around the time Swift was headed to Houston.

“Do I do something that feels really irresponsible and take this check and make my daughter’s dreams come true?" she remembers thinking. Wentink, who has since started working for an ad agency, said she couldn’t stomach paying thousands for nosebleed seats. Nearly 60% of Americans say they have had to cut back on spending on live entertainment this year because of rising costs, according to a Wall Street Journal/Credit Karma survey of about 1,000 U.S.