Fans of a minor-league hockey team recently discovered they were being scammed by the venue selling beer at Centurylink Arena in Boise, Idaho. They thought they were getting more beer for $3.00 more - small 16-ounce beers cost $4 and large 20-ounce brews cost $7. The story just came out that they were being ripped off because the two cups contained virtually the same amount of beer, approximately 16 ounces:

YouTube, If you've EVER purchased a beer at Century Link Arena in Boise...

But I say even if the cup sizes were legitimate what this reveals is the stupidity of any fan who paid $7.00 for a large 20 ounce cup when he could have bought two small 16 ounce cups totallying 32 ounces for only a buck more than the 20 ounce price.

The president of the arena apologized, announcing that the arena would now offer cups "that will hold 24 ounces, instead of 20, for the remainder of this season to provide better value to our fans." (1) How is that a good deal? The small cup comes out to 25 cents per ounce, with the new 24 ounce cup beer will cost over 29 cents per ounce (it used to be 35 cents/oz). Shouldn't a larger cup give a better deal per ounce?

This is just another example of stupid businessmen. If the arena owners weren't even bigger idiots than the fans who continually bought the more expensive cup size, they would also have announced a drop in price, to give real value to a larger dollar-amount purchase. My suggestion: $5.00 for the 24 ounce size. Otherwise, dear hockey fans, screw the arena, buy two small cups.

If our schools properly taught arithmetic, nobody in that arena would have ever bothered to buy the 20 ounce size.

Of course, visitors to my blog who read my article Never Shop Without a Calculator, are less likely to get scammed.