What a Night Out Costs at Denver's Big Venues
By Gil Tabor, November 7, 2026
Fees, parking, a beer and the cheap way in at Ball Arena, Empower Field, Coors Field and Red Rocks, with the rules on all-in ticket prices.
1. A ticket price is not real until the fees are in it
For years a Denver ticket was a number, and then a bigger number, and then a bigger number again at the last screen, where you had already typed your card. That part is mostly over. Colorado passed a law in 2024 requiring ticket sellers to show the all-in price, and since May 12, 2025, a federal rule says anyone advertising a live-event ticket has to show the total, fees included, from the first screen. Nobody capped the fees. They just have to show you. So the ticket is honest now. The rest of the night is not, and that is what this guide is for. Every number here is as posted when we checked in November 2026, and venues change them, so treat them as the floor.
2. Ball Arena
Tickets go through Ticketmaster or the arena's own site, delivered to your phone, and there is no box office to walk up to and dodge a fee. The good news is inside: since October 2025, a 20-ounce domestic draft is $10 at most of the 100- and 300-level stands, down from $14, and hot dogs and pretzels are $5. Parking is the knife. The closest lots run $35 to $55 for most events and the premier lot $70 to $80, card only except one lot that takes cash. Light rail stops at Ball Arena-Elitch Gardens Station, which is the only parking spot that costs nothing.
3. Empower Field at Mile High
Face value for some Broncos games last season started around $108. Then the building gets its turn: a canned premium beer or canned cocktail from the walk-through coolers runs $15.99, the frozen drinks $18.49, though a menu of house favorites sits at $5 and is the right answer. The stadium's own lots are card only, $55 for the closest and first come, $45 if four of you carpool. Light rail drops you at Empower Field at Mile High Station. That beer, in real units, is three items off the $5 menu, with change.
4. Coors Field
The cheapest good seat in Denver sports, partly because the Rockies have made sure it is easy to find one. The move is the Rooftop: before first pitch, a 12-ounce Coors or Coors Light has gone for $3 on the Rooftop and at the Silver Bullet Bar. After that, beer inside costs what stadium beer costs. Walk from Union Station. It is ten minutes and you pass four better bars on the way.
5. Red Rocks
Tickets go through AXS. The park itself costs nothing to visit outside show times, and on show days the box office opens about four hours before the show, at the venue. Plan the ride before you plan the outfit: the free Jefferson County shuttle that runs out to the park on weekends does not run for concerts. A designated driver is a person who has agreed to miss the encore so you can see it.
6. The small-room exception
HQ on South Broadway lists its ticket prices with every fee already in, the way the law now requires everyone to show them and the way it should always have worked. A night there, ticket and a beer, can come in under what the arena charges to park. That is not a sales pitch. It is arithmetic. The rest of the small rooms are in our guide to them.
7. Skip it: the premium lot
Seventy to eighty dollars to park closer to an arena that is a short light-rail ride from most of the city is the single worst purchase on this page. Spend it on the next show instead. The Stub ran the parking prices next to the ticket prices every week from 2009 on, and the parking column made more readers angry. It still should. (Gil)
Quick answers
- Do Denver concert ticket prices include fees now?
- The advertised total should. Colorado's 2024 ticketing law requires all-in pricing, and a federal rule in effect since May 12, 2025 requires the total price, fees included, to be shown up front for live-event tickets. Fees still exist; they are just part of the number you see.
- How much is a beer at Ball Arena?
- Since October 2025, a 20-ounce domestic draft is $10 at most stands on the 100 and 300 levels, down from $14.
- How much is parking at Ball Arena?
- Most lots run $35 to $55 depending on the lot and the event, and the premier lot $70 to $80, as posted in November 2026. Lots open three hours before the event. Light rail stops at Ball Arena-Elitch Gardens Station.
Get the Drop every Thursday.
One email. The concerts, markets, and nights out worth leaving the house for.