The anchors
Numbers you can plan against- Staffed station, local eventfrom ~$5,000
- Staffing$250 per hour
- Travel within OC, LA, San Diego$0
- Travel beyond those areas$900
- Most corporate events, all-in$25–$40 per guest
If you need a placeholder for a budget deck this afternoon, take your expected attendance, multiply by $30, and check it against the $5,000 floor. That is close enough to survive a first review and it will not be wildly wrong.
Why there is no rate card. Two events with identical guest counts routinely differ by thousands of dollars, because the cost of a station is driven by hours and garments far more than by headcount. A vendor who quotes you a flat per-head price without asking about your window is guessing, and the guess will be corrected later — usually upward.
Where the money actually goes
Line by lineStaffing hours, including the invisible ones
Staffing is billed hourly, and the clock starts at load-in, not at doors. A three-hour reception is realistically a five- or six-hour crew day once build and teardown are counted. This is the single most common source of quote surprise, and it is entirely avoidable by budgeting for the full crew day from the start.
Lane count
A lane is one press and one operator. Events commonly run two to four; large activations run more. Lanes are the throughput dial, and they are the line item most worth protecting when a budget gets trimmed — an under-laned station is the only version of this that guests actually complain about.
Blanks
Jersey cost varies by cut, weight and colour, and it multiplies across your whole guest count, so it is usually the largest single element. If you already own kit, supplying it removes that element entirely. Teams and leagues do this routinely.
Art preparation
A clean vector logo with an agreed layout is a short prep. A screenshot of a logo, three rounds of stakeholder feedback and a final decision the week of the event is not. Lock the artwork early and this line stays small.
Travel
Orange County, Los Angeles and San Diego are local at no travel charge. Outside those, travel is $900. Las Vegas and further programmes are quoted with that built in.
Take rate
Not every attendee will queue. We scope against a realistic take rate rather than raw headcount, which is why a 900-person conference does not automatically mean 900 jerseys. Over-ordering slightly is deliberate; sending guests away empty-handed at hour two is worse than a box of leftovers, which you keep.
Three ways to bring the number down
If the budget is fixedSupply the garments
The biggest single reduction available. If your organisation already owns kit, or can buy it through an existing apparel supplier, the quote drops to staffing, application and travel.
Shorten the window, not the lanes
A two-hour, well-laned station beats a four-hour, under-laned one on both cost and guest experience. Concentrate the activity rather than stretching it.
Change the garment
If the point is a personalized takeaway rather than a jersey specifically, a tee or a cap with a pressed patch does the same job for less per unit and moves faster through a lane.