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NFL Ticket Averages $62.38, up 5.6 percent

If you’re looking to stretch your entertainment dollar, the NFL is not the place to go.

NFL ticket prices increased an average of 5.6 percent for the upcoming season, according to Team Marketing Report, which surveys ticket costs each year. The survey found the average ticket will cost $62.38, an increase of more than $3 over last year.

Twenty-one teams raised their ticket prices, including the Washington Redskins at a league-high 17.2 percent. San Diego’s increase was 14.6 percent, the second consecutive year of double-digit increases for the Chargers.

“What we’re trying to do is compete with the upper echelon of the NFL,” said Jim Steeg, Chargers chief operating officer. “I know that fans don’t want to hear that. But the most important thing we’ve got to do is make sure we do what everybody wants, which is put the best product on the field.”

Other teams raising ticket prices by more than 10 percent were Atlanta (14.6 percent), Arizona (14.1 percent), Chicago (12.9 percent), Seattle (12.7 percent), Jacksonville (12.2 percent) and Carolina (10.2 percent). All of those teams except the Falcons and Cardinals made the playoffs last season.

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The Super Bowl champion Steelers did not increase ticket prices and remain among the lowest in the league at an average of $59.19. The highest average ticket cost is in New England ($90.89) and the lowest is in Buffalo ($41.29).

That’s for one ticket, with no discount for children. So, it would cost a family of four an average of $250 just to get in the gate. And that’s to say nothing of $20 for parking, $6 for a hot dog, $7 for a beer, or $4 for a bottle of water. It could easily cost $400 to take in a game.

Alternatively, you can watch the game on television for free (or pay less than $200 for NFL Sunday Ticket and get the whole season’s games, if your favorite team doesn’t play in the local broadcast market) and have your buddies over to for snacks and beers you bought at the supermarket for reasonable prices. Granted, it’s not the same thing as being there. Then again, you won’t have to endure traffic jams, long lines at the bathroom, or bad weather.

 
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