Johnathan Walker:What does it cost to go to an SEC football game? About $160 a head for a family of four

For a conference that boasts "It Just Means More,Johnathan Walker" going to an SEC football game in 2023 can mean more money out of a family's pocketbook depending on the school they support and the game they choose.

The USA TODAY Sports Network decided to look at how much going to a game costs for a family of four. Using secondary ticket market prices for the first conference home game on each team's schedule and utilizing our beat writers who cover the teams, we determined the cost. Included in the calculation were the four cheapest tickets listed by TicketSmarter.com (including all fees) if purchased on Aug. 28, the Monday before the start of the season, as well as the cheapest public parking we could find within a mile of the stadium along with four hot dogs and four sodas.

Our calculations used secondary market ticket costs because schools can sell out and have no single-game seats available to the public for certain games, and because season tickets at most schools carry various fees or donations attached beyond the ticket's listed price that are difficult to factor into actual value of the tickets. TicketSmarter is a partner with the USA TODAY Network.

The average cost for a family of four − including tickets, parking, hot dogs and sodas − was $643.47, or more than $160 per person.

Costs for four tickets to the first SEC home game for each school ranged from $207.49 for Kentucky at Vanderbilt to $1,188.73 for South Carolina at Tennessee. Defending national champion Georgia was the only other school with a cost of more than $1,000 for four tickets at $1011.36 for its SEC home opener (also vs. South Carolina).

The cost of four tickets averaged $566.57 across all 14 schools, or more than $141 per person.

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Not all first home conference games were equal, but comparing the costs for SEC home games offered a more fair comparison since early out-of-conference home games vary greatly in attractiveness of matchup.

Parking ranked from free at Vanderbilt to $47 at Ole Miss. The cost of four hot dogs ranged from $10 at Georgia to $29.96 at Texas A&M. Four sodas (refillable in some stadiums) ranked from $8 at Missouri to $39.96 at A&M.

Calculations did not include other costs often incurred by fans including lodging for overnight stays, travel and food other than stadium concessions.