The regular season the National Football League is just a month away. The first full week of preseason games is already underway, and training camp is in full swing. Season ticket holders have already received their package of tickets, and they’ve been on sale on the secondary market for quite some time now. But when it comes to ticket prices the best selling ones are always rivalry games, and in today’s NFL there are some rivalries that rise above the rest.
Perhaps the most talked about rivalry in the NFL these days is between the San Francisco 49ers and Seattle Seahawks. The NFC West used to be the laughingstock of the league, with a 7-9 Seahawks team taking the division back in 2010. But now it is probably the best division, with now four teams that could realistically make the postseason. At the top of that group is the Seahawks and 49ers, the last two NFC representatives in the Super Bowl.
Last season the two met in the NFC Championship game – the third straight year the 49ers made the game – and the Seahawks won and eventually dismantled the Denver Broncos for the franchise’s first Super Bowl victory. This season, the two games between the two are two of the most expensive in the league on the secondary market.
The game in Seattle is currently averaging $495.22 a ticket, which is 25 percent more than the regular season average for Seattle Seahawks tickets. The game in San Francisco costs even more, with the game currently at a $542.46 average, which is an incredible 51 percent over the San Francisco 49ers tickets average. The game in San Francisco will be the Thursday night game on Thanksgiving.
But those two aren’t the only major rivals in the NFL. The Baltimore Ravens and Pittsburgh Steelers held the title of best NFL rivalry before the NFC West emergence. The Ravens and Steelers met in the postseason several times, and were the clear cream of the crop of the AFC North. Last season it was the Cincinnati Bengals that won the division, while the Ravens and Steelers missed the postseason with identical 8-8 records, but both teams should be better this year.
There isn’t a huge ticket average for the two teams regularly, but their rivalry games have some of the highest premiums in the league. Right now the game in Baltimore has the larger premium, with Ravens tickets up 55 percent from their season average, for a ticket average of $301.73 for the game. Meanwhile the Pittsburgh Steelers tickets have a $249.25 average against the Ravens at Heinz Field, which is 27 percent above the regular season average.
Back in the NFC two of the top selling teams are also in the same division. The Green Bay Packers and Chicago Bears have some of the most expensive tickets on the secondary market in the league. When the NFC North rivals meet in Chicago, the game is more expensive than any of the other games among these featured rivals, with Chicago Bears tickets currently averaging $576.20 for the game. That is part of a 53 percent premium, while the game in Green Bay has a 38 percent premium over the season average for Green Bay Packets tickets at a $296.30 average price.
Rivalry games are among the most expensive in the league. There are a few rivalries that stand out above the rest this upcoming season, and each of them has a game with a premium price over 50 percent more than its normal regular season average.
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