Hawks to lower concession prices on some items

The Atlanta Hawks announced Thursday that they are adopting-fan friendly pricing made famous by their local football team, the Atlanta Falcons.

"I think we'd be fools not to acknowledge the success the Falcons have had at Mercedes-Benz Stadium," said Hawks CEO Steve Koonin, referencing the team's dropping of prices of everyday concession items, which resulted in a 16 percent increase in concession revenue this past season. "I went there for the national championship game and got four bottles of water and was shocked when they said $8."

The Hawks, who use Levy, the same concessionaire as the Falcons, said they are dropping the price of 11 of their most popular concessions by an average price of 50 percent. The pricing will be available for every other event -- nearly 200 annually in total --at Phillips Arena.

A bag of chips will be the cheapest at $1. Candy, pretzels and bottled water will be $2, while fries, hot dogs, nachos and bottled soda will be $3. A pizza slice, bottomless popcorn and bottomless soda will be $4 and a small domestic beer will be $5.

Sources say that the Falcons sold a lot more volume compared to their last season in the Georgia Dome, but they lost money on the deal. But the money lost was negligible and the value pricing helped make money everywhere else.

"In the aggregate it's better business," Koonin said. "People think so positively about the food."

At the Masters, Koonin said, patrons fixate on the cheap food even though they are spending $120 on polo shirts and $1,000 a day on badges.

The pricing move corresponds with the Hawks completing a transformation of Phillips Arena that cost nearly $200 million and will be completed before the start of next season. There will be almost 40 percent more beer taps and more than 71 percent more points of sale, Koonin said.

Like at Mercedes-Benz Stadium, self-serve refill stations hope to keep the main lines moving. Fans can also play in a Top Golf simulator and get a haircut in a barbershop.