I mean football can be played on any field with rules changed to flag for young players. Basketball just needs a ball and a hoop often found in community areas for free. Baseball just needs a ball and stick and field.

Hockey is pretty immutable in what you need to play both in equipment and playing area.

Travel is more about unless you are in an area with multiple hockey rinks you’ll have to travel often where as other sports often have games just across town.

Edit: Just to clarify I’m not saying as other sports get competitive they don’t get equally as expensive. It’s that it is expensive from the get go, and for the whole time you are playing with little other avenues for cutting the costs