New England Patriots charging money for tap water

After thinking about it all weekend, I can no longer stay silent. It wouldn’t be the right thing to do.

That’s right, I need to call out the New England Patriots… for selling tap water at their game on Sunday. Hard to forgive them for such a move.

The Patriots game on Sunday was a hot one. It was over 80 degrees farenheit–in the fall. At first, they were just selling their waters for $4-ish per usual. You know, just the normal price gouging. But then, in the first quarter, they ran out of bottled water, so they started just using tap water instead. Oh, and they charged $4.50 for it.

Now, anyone who has ever been to one of the big three venues in Boston knows a lot about overpaying for bottled waters in a facility. One bottle costs as much as a 24-pack of waters would at the CVS across a block away from the venue. But hey, you can’t bring your stuff in, so you have to pay their prices or you could die–or be mildy uncomfortable.

When I was in Ft. Myers earlier this year, I found a little loophole in the system when I went to (I think) two spring training games this year. I asked for tap water instead and while it irked the Jetblue Park workers, they did it. Someone told me it was a law, but I looked now and apparently there’s no free tap water law at the federal level.

I can’t really say the Gillette thing is a surprising move. After all, Fenway Park charges people some of the most expensive prices in the league–just to sit behind a pole. So yeah, there’s great fans in the Boston area and sometimes, teams try to take advantage of it. It’s not morally right but then again, but they make more money because of it.