The start of the footballs season is just underway and, if you’re a diehard football fan, you want to be as involved as you can. However, being a diehard fan certainly comes with a hefty price tag. Whether you want to watch your favorite teams from in the stands or you prefer to have a few friends over and watch it in your family room, there are a lot of associated costs that could leave you a bit broke by the end of the season.

4 Ways To Save Money This Football Season

Well fear not, you don’t have to sacrifice your love for football to save money. Check out these simplistic ways to save money while still enjoying your favorite sport:

  1. Saving on Tickets

Wouldn’t it be nice to see every home game and enjoy your favorite team from the stands? Of course you would, but sometimes coming up with the funds to do so is a bit tedious. Tickets are generally pretty costly (especially for national leagues). Instead of breaking the bank on the cost of admission, you might consider doing one of the following:

  • Split the Costs with a Friend – Some season tickets come in pairs, therefore, if you have a friend who enjoys the same team you guys can split the costs and go to the games together. This is a sure-fire way to make sure that you have a buddy along with you to cheer for the home team. If the tickets you’re purchasing does not come in pairs, you could always consider the option of purchasing the tickets and you and your friend still splitting the costs. However, you guys can choose which games you want to go to. Maybe you choose every other game and your friend chooses the opposite.
  • Buy Season Tickets and Sell Some – If you don’t intend on making every game but believe that purchasing season tickets is still the best option, you could always purchase the tickets and then sale those you’re not interested in going to (or those dates you already have plans).
  1. Save on Concessions

There is no doubt about it, the next big cost for fans looking to see a live game are the concession prices. A soda that would cost you about 50 cents in the grocery store can easily run you $5 at the game. There aren’t too many ways you can save in this category as many stadiums will check your bags ahead of time (which means sneaking in snacks is out of the question). The best way to deal with this would be to either eat before you head to the game, look for deals (i.e. a deal for 2 hotdogs and 1 large drink might be ideal if you’re with a friend), or split the costs with a friend.

  1. Save Money on Parking

Did you know that your parking costs are likely not included in your ticket price? That means you could easily end up spending another $20 or more just to get a good parking space. Well, the best way to save money here would be to:

  • Carpool – if you know friends or family members are headed to the game, you can always hitch a ride with them. This way you could simply split the cost of parking.
  • Park outside of stadium – depending on the location of the stadium, there may be free or more affordable public parking elsewhere. Try to arrive to the game early so that you have time to find more affordable parking and still get there in time to take your seat.
  1. Switch to Satellite Television

If you don’t plan on watching the games live from the stands but you still want to be able to save money while watching it at home then it may be time to say good-bye to your cable subscription services. Cable packages alone can run about $100 or more. Adding on a sports package can make those costs even higher. Instead of going broke to watch your team this football season, consider switching to satellite services with sports packages.

Satellite providers such as DIRECTV offers sports packages like Sunday Ticket, which allows sports fans to see all of their favorite games in HD quality for a fraction of the cost they would pay for cable. Direct-ticket.net displays various packages for DIRECTV in Long Beach, California as well as other qualifying cities and states.

As you can see, there is certainly more than one way to skin a cat. So if you’re looking for affordable ways to keep up with this year’s football season you’re in luck. By using each of these ideas you are sure to see a significant amount of savings. While this tips are geared towards the football season, you can also use these ideas for any sport be it basketball, tennis, or hockey, these tips will help you keep track of your favorite teams without spending a lot of cash.