Before Going to Game, Be Sure to Go to Bank

Gather up the family this Sunday and head to the football stadium. Don’t forget your wallet and, oh, about $151.55.

That’s what the average family of four spends for a day at an NFL game, according to Team Marketing Report’s Fan Cost Index. The Chicago sports-business publication says that represents a 4.7% increase over 1990.

The average ticket price for the 1991 NFL season is $25.21, an increase of 5.2% from 1990, when the average was $23.96. This season’s ticket price is more than twice that of 1981, when the average ticket cost $12.18.

And it seems the quality of play has something to do with the price you pay. San Francisco 49er fans are paying a league-high $197.50, whereas a trip to a San Diego Charger game costs a family $124.67. The Raiders are above the average, at $157.33, and the Rams are below at $139.17.

Based on a survey of the 28 NFL teams, the Fan Cost Index is determined by adding the average cost of items a family of four might buy at a game. Besides four game tickets, the FCI includes two beers, four hot dogs, four soft drinks, two caps, two game programs and parking.

Trivia time: Who was the last Heisman Trophy winner not to play in the NFL?

On this date: On Sept. 5, 1906, the first legal forward pass was thrown by St. Louis University halfback Bandbury Robinson to Jack Schneider during a game against Carroll College of Waukesha, Wis.

High-level opinion: Eric Lindros’ stalled contract negotiations with the Quebec Nordiques have drawn the criticism of Canadian Prime Minister and hockey fan Brian Mulroney, who said Quebec is not all that bad.

“There are cities in the world that are a lot less pleasant than Quebec--I assure you of that,” was Mulroney’s response to claims by the 18-year-old star that he will return to the Oshawa Generals of Ontario Hockey League instead of signing with the NHL team.

“I think that anybody that can turn down what appears to be a couple of million dollars a year . . . he’s got something going that I don’t know about,” Mulroney said. “If he’s made the choice of Oshawa over Quebec City, well, God bless him.”

Collector’s dream: A 35-year-old truck driver from Shelbyville, Ind., got more than he expected recently when he bought a pack of baseball cards.

Mark Leffler discovered a certificate redeemable for a 1952 Mickey Mantle card, valued at $8,000, in the pack of Topps cards he purchased at a local convenience store.

“My heart just about went through my chest,” Leffler said.

Trivia answer: Ernie Davis, a halfback with Syracuse who won the trophy in 1961, becoming the first black to do so. Davis signed an $80,000 contract with the Cleveland Browns but became ill with leukemia, which he battled on and off through the ’62 season. Davis died May 16, 1963.

Quotebook: Sports agent Leigh Steinberg, maintaining that the $10-million-a-year player is soon to be reality: “And for people who find that incredulous, it’s the same as yelling at a soft drink machine saying that it’s ridiculous to put a dollar in when the same exact can cost five cents in your youth.”