美国“娱乐通胀”持续，居家消费也变贵

Since the pandemic, we've talked a lot about how the experiences that were put on hold, like concerts or sporting events, saw prices surge as consumers raced to make up for lost time. Economists even had a name for it: funflation. Take a look at this chart PNC made exclusively for CNBC. You see back in 2023 that funflation items like amusement parks or concerts had much higher price growth than a broader basket. That normalized a bit over time.

But now that funflation category is surging above average once again. The way that it has slowly happened over time, especially if you're like, I'm a millennial, if you're like Gen Z, you don't even remember how cheap things were because you weren't here. Now, even staying home is expensive. Streaming services like HBO Max and Spotify hiked prices by more than 8% over the past year, and a standard Netflix ad free account in July 2026 is $20 a month, compared to $14 just five years ago.

Consumers typically pay for more than one service, and costs can add up to more than $1300 per year. Now, it's not just one subscription. You have Netflix, Disney Plus, Hulu, etc., etc. you can't even do that without subscribing to a million different things and buying a million different things. Funflation is hitting youngest consumers the hardest. Gen Z spends more on experiences and is now pulling back the most on leisure activities inside and outside the home.

The people who haven't made out as well in the labor market over the past few years are younger workers. So they've, you know, had more difficult time getting jobs. They've run down their savings more. And also, you've just got, you know, five now years of inflation, fatigue. Even the cost of gaming is soaring and could likely get worse. Microsoft doubled the price of its Xbox subscription Game Pass in 2025, and upped the cost of its Xbox consoles in 2026.

The company said that it expects hardware prices to double by 2027. By September, the cost of a Nintendo Switch System two will increase by 11%. The two companies have attributed the markups on tariffs and the global memory shortage that's impacted their businesses. Microsoft announced thousands of job cuts recently. Games were a way of me enjoying things at home without having to pay high prices, and now it's hit there too.

It's just kind of unescapable. I can't buy a new computer. I'm on something that's too old to play modern games. I'm struggling to get any of the newest stuff, even if I can afford them, but also I can't even afford them, so it doesn't really matter. I'm not paying any more than what I'm paying now. And after a certain point, if I have to get rid of all streaming, I will find something else to do. I like my hobbies and they're free.

Physical media like books, CDs and DVDs are seeing a resurgence. Despite all of this, there are many fans who are still willing to pay for fun no matter the cost. Nearly a quarter of fans say they would cut back on other spending, while about a fifth say they'd go into credit card debt just to attend a live sports event. The consumer has remained pretty resilient despite repeated shocks to inflation, despite a very, you know, a weakening labor market.

Consumers have more in the tank. And I think the evidence suggests that they do.