Getting to an NFL stadium anywhere in the country is tough. Week after week, the stadiums are full of excited fans enjoying America’s favorite sport live, in person, generating an immense and exciting atmosphere where the players can compete.
Watching the NFL is an exciting experience we all want to enjoy at some point in our lives if we aren’t lucky enough to live near an NFL side. Getting across to see a team with short NFL playoff odds and see them push on toward the postseason is a real bucket list opportunity.
Many teams have such a strong following it can be hard to get a ticket, with newborns in Green Bay growing up to find they’ve been on the waiting list for a season ticket since birth and could go a lifetime without one.
With all this in mind, demand is high, and supply is limited to the number of seats across the stadiums, not to mention that international matches are taking some opportunities away from the US.
Teams around the league are amending their price plans year on year. While TV rights, sponsorships, and other revenue streams are the most significant income generators, tickets can still generate substantial income throughout the season.
With only 17 regular season games, a franchise only has a limited time with games at their stadium each year. This is far less than other sports, such as Baseball and Basketball, where MLB and NBA sides play 162 and 82 games, respectively. This limited supply, along with so much demand, means that prices can be set incredibly high compared to these other sports.
Fans in different regions of the country can pay differing prices for various reasons.
The Detroit Lions, pushing for their first Super Bowl after an impressive 2023/24 season, have the highest average get-in price, with $254.
For the second-highest average ticket in their state-of-the-art stadium since their move from Oakland, the Las Vegas Raiders had the most expensive tickets in the NFL last season. The Raiders, who are struggling this season and won’t make the playoffs, are missing out again, with their previous appearance in 2021. At $243, their tickets are even more than Super Bowl contenders Philadelphia Eagles, who are currently third with $224.
Opening in 2020, Allegiant Stadium cost around $1.9 billion to build, the second most of any other NFL stadium. With its incredible, state-of-the-art facilities, the quality of the stadium and environment is considered well worth the price, despite the quality of the team on the field.
On the other hand, The Chiefs have provided a three-time Super Bowl-winning franchise in the past five seasons. With one of the best quarterbacks in recent history, a chance to get a sighting of Taylor Swift, and so much history in Arrowhead Stadium, don’t even crack the top five with an average get-in price of $102, which was the 21st highest average price in the league.
From the experience on the field to the facilities around the stadium, there are differing reasons why a team can cost more than others, but all these are taken into account when setting ticket price plans.
Riding the strict line of being one of the worst teams in the league and a decent, yet close to 20-year-old stadium, the Arizona Cardinals offered the third lowest prices to fans with an average get-in price of $58. The Jacksonville Jaguars came in second lowest with $48, but the New Orleans Saints offered all their home matches to fans, not a single game, with a price tag of over $100.
Some of the most expensive games in the season include the Pittsburgh Steelers. Known for their excellent road support, Steelers fans will travel and back their team no matter what obstacles are put in the way. For this reason, their opponents have made their tickets the most expensive to get hold of. According to Sports Casting, the most expensive ticket is $414 for a Steelers ticket at the Las Vegas Raiders, with the Steelers trip to the Denver Broncos being the second most expensive.
The cheapest tickets for a single game this season are for the Arizona Cardinals at the Carolina Panthers, which cost as little as $18.
As a division, the highest average get-in price for matches is the NFC North, which comes in at $171.25. This includes the Detroit Lions, who have the highest average get in price, as well as the Minnesota Vikings ($88), Green Bay Packers ($167) and the Chicago Bears ($176).
The cheapest division to see on average is the NFC South, which is over $100 cheaper than the NFC North, at $65.
