FanroadtripsGames · Travel · Memories
☕

Math (statistics) · Grades 9–12 · about 50 minutes

Stadium Parking: comparing center and spread

Students compare NFL and NBA official parking prices with medians, quartiles and IQR, and explain how the shape of the data moves the mean.

Students will: Compute median, quartiles and IQR; Compare two distributions; Interpret skew in context.

Common Core: HSS-ID.A.2, HSS-ID.A.3

Free to print and share with your class. Includes an answer key.

Stadium Parking: comparing center and spread

Name: ______________________

Parking can be one of the biggest costs of going to a game. The lists show the cheapest official game-day parking we found at NFL stadiums and NBA arenas in the United States.

NFL stadiums (21 venues), USD
Cheapest official parking, sorted
10, 20, 20, 20, 25, 25, 25, 25, 30, 35, 35, 38, 40, 40, 40, 40, 50, 50, 50, 60, 70
NBA arenas (23 venues), USD
Cheapest official parking, sorted
8, 8, 10, 10, 10, 10, 15, 15, 15, 15, 15, 20, 20, 20, 20, 20, 20, 22, 25, 30, 35, 35, 40

From FanRoadTrips' October 2026 research. Approximate; prices vary by game.

  1. Find the median NFL parking price.
  2. Find the median NBA parking price.
  3. Find Q1, Q3 and the IQR for the NFL list.
  4. Find Q1, Q3 and the IQR for the NBA list.
  5. Find the mean of each list. Which mean is further from its median, and in which direction?
  6. Make a box plot of each list on the same scale and compare them in two sentences.
  7. Give one real-world reason NFL parking might cost more than NBA parking.

FanRoadTrips.com · free classroom resources · CC BY 4.0

✅ Check your answers online

Type a number for each question, then press Check. It tells you if you're right without showing the answer.

🔑 Answer key (for teachers)
  1. Find the median NFL parking price.
    $35.00
  2. Find the median NBA parking price.
    $20.00
  3. Find Q1, Q3 and the IQR for the NFL list.
    Q1 = $25.00, Q3 = $45.00, IQR = $20.00
  4. Find Q1, Q3 and the IQR for the NBA list.
    Q1 = $10.00, Q3 = $22.00, IQR = $12.00
  5. Find the mean of each list. Which mean is further from its median, and in which direction?
    NFL mean $35.62 is $0.62 above its median $35.00; NBA mean $19.04 is $0.96 below its median $20.00. The NBA mean is further from its median. A mean sits below the median when a cluster of low values pulls it down, and above it when high values pull it up.
  6. Make a box plot of each list on the same scale and compare them in two sentences.
    NFL: min $10.00, Q1 $25.00, median $35.00, Q3 $45.00, max $70.00. NBA: min $8.00, Q1 $10.00, median $20.00, Q3 $22.00, max $40.00. Typical NFL parking is higher and more spread out.
  7. Give one real-world reason NFL parking might cost more than NBA parking.
    Possible answers: NFL stadiums hold far more people, games are rarer (fewer chances to sell), tailgating space is in demand, suburban stadiums depend on driving.

Teacher notes

  • Quartiles use the median-of-halves method; other methods give slightly different Q1/Q3.
  • Each value is the venue's cheapest official general lot we could price; venues without one are left out.

More high school worksheets