Yes, it’s getting more expensive to go to Lions games. For some fans, it’s dramatically more expensive.
Dave Birkett of the Detroit Free Press has found a season-ticket holder who initially believed the email was mistaken. It wasn’t.
Jeff Paxton paid $5,536 for four season tickets in 2023. Next year, the same seats will cost $13,616.
That’s a price increase of 146 percent.
Paxton contacted his season-ticket rep. A full 24 hours later, Paxton had not gotten a response.
“We’ve seen a steep rise in the market value of the tickets which helped inform all of our pricing increases,” a Lions spokesperson told Birkett. “The tickets in question, front row seats, were significantly under market value in the past, which is why they’re seeing the higher increase.”
It’s one of the basic realities of a world in which scalping is perfectly legal. The market sets the ultimate price. If those tickets are going for far more than the Lions are getting, why not charge more in the first place?
In the end, it’s all driven by economics. Loyal fans who paid for season tickets during plenty of subpar seasons might not like that, but that’s the way it goes. Look at the money Lions fans are spending to go to road games. It shows a willingness to pay more to go to home games.
If the current season-ticket holders don’t want to pay the price, someone else will. The teams will never put it that bluntly, but it’s true.
Supply and demand. Football is business. They say “football is family” because it’s good for business to say “football is family.”
And it’s not good for business to say, “If you don’t want to pay higher prices, turn in your season tickets so we can sell them to someone who will happily write the check.”
