I found myself in a heated debate yesterday about how much I would pay to experience “Westworld” if it were actually real.
It was a fascinating argument. In the show it costs $40,000 a day to visit the park. That’s a ton of money. You can buy around 2,000 cases of Miller Lite or 40 decent AR-15s with $40,000. You could split it and get 1,000 cases of beer and 20 rifles. Sounds like a good time if I’ve ever heard it.
For the sake of this argument, let’s pretend you have unlimited funds. Now, this is where I think it becomes a fascinating debate. I think $40,000 is wildly low.
I’ve long debated starting a luxury pirate hunting business, and the numbers I’ve heard thrown around are between $100,000 and $250,000 for a short cruise. If it costs six figures to hunt pirates, which is way more realistic and possible, then there’s zero chance you could go to the Westworld park for only $40,000.
I would say that a park with this type of experience would be worth probably $500,000 a day. It might even be worth closer to a cool million, and I think people would pay it. It’s the same logic behind why people will pay $250,000 to hunt pirates.
There will always be wealthy individuals will also be willing to pay a premium in order to experience something they shouldn’t, such as being at Westworld or hunting pirates. I don’t know about you guys, but I think HBO should reach out for my expertise on this issue. I just don’t want the fans to think $40,000 would get the job done. It most certainly wouldn’t. Tack on another zero, and then we can start talking.
Now go back to binge watching in preparation for season two, which will be released April 22.