Secondary Market Prices For NFC Championship Tickets Are 28% Higher Than The AFC Championship Game
By TicketIQ
When it comes to the AFC and NFC Championships, it’s truly a tale of two cities — at least where ticket prices are concerned. According to secondary ticket marketplace TicketIQ.com, the AFC Championship is one of the cheapest conference championships the company has tracked in seven years. In the NFC, Saints-Rams is in the middle of the pack historically for NFC Championship game prices, but they’re also 28% higher than this year’s AFC match-up.
In both cases, the average asking price represents a huge increase over the price of regular-season tickets in Kansas City and New Orleans. The AFC Championship, which will feature the New England Patriots at Kansas City, is averaging $497 on the secondary market, 277% higher than a regular-season ticket, which cost an average of $132. The NFC Championship, which will feature the Los Angeles Rams at New Orleans, has a current average asking price of $634, which is 120% higher than the $288 average asking price during the regular season.
Both games will be played Sunday, with the winner headed to the February 3 Super Bowl at Atlanta’s Mercedes-Benz Stadium. Tickets for that game on the secondary market are currently the most expensive of the decade, at $9,185, with a get-in price of $3,325. The second most expensive Super Bowl since 2010 was last year’s, when fans paid $7,277 to see the Philadelphia Eagles beat the Patriots.
Shoowin.com has face-value tickets for many big sporting events, including the Super Bowl. While the market is closed for the AFC and NFC Championship, fans can place a reservation for face-value Super Bowl LIII. The site promises an average savings of 22% over secondary market ticket vendors. Fans can reserve tickets for $3,500, while the reservation fee under the Patriots tab is currently $2,500. To make a reservation, fans simply select the team and game they are interested in, and Shoowin will show the reservation price. Fans can then select their seat(s), and pay the reservation price.
Of the four teams in the conference championships, only the Patriots are a familiar face in recent years. The host Chiefs last played in an AFC Championship in 1994. In the NFC, the Ram’s last appearance in the conference championship was in 2002, and the Saints’ was in 2010.
Below is a look at how the conference championships are shaping up:
NFC Championship
Los Angeles Rams at New Orleans Saints
- When: Sunday, 3:05 p.m.
- Average asking price: $634
- Get-in price: $274
The average asking price for the NFC Championship is currently the fourth least expensive NFC championship of the decade, according to TicketIQ.com. The most expensive cost fans $1,280 for last year’s NFC Conference championship, in which the Philadelphia Eagles beat the Minnesota Vikings.
It’s been 10 years since the Saints got to the NFC Championship, and the last time they did, they went on to win the only Super Bowl in franchise history. This time around, New Orleans knocked off the defending Super Bowl champion Philadelphia Eagles in a Divisional game.
Ticket prices for this year’s NFC Championship are 15% lower than the $744 fans paid in 2010. The get-in price for Sunday’s game is $274, is also 15% lower than the get-in price in 2010. Sunday’s game will likely be the second most expensive postseason game at New Orleans of the decade behind only that 2010 game.
The Rams hold a 41-34 all-time series advantage over the Saints, but the Saints won the teams’ regular-season meeting, 45-35, on November 4, 2018. Los Angeles will be trying for its first NFC Championship since it beat the Patriots in Super Bowl XXXVI. The Rams are making their second straight playoff appearance after snapping a 12-year drought last year.
AFC Championship
New England Patriots at Kansas City Chiefs
- When: Sunday, 6:40 p.m.
- Average asking price: $497
- Get-in price: $257
The Patriots will be playing in their eighth consecutive AFC Championship on Sunday, when they visit the Kansas City Chiefs. And while the average asking price is the highest for a postseason game in Kansas City this decade, it is the cheapest for an AFC Championship with New England as the visitor. Fans drove the price of of the 2014 AFC Championship to $740, and the price of the 2016 AFC Championship to $692. Both games were at Denver.
For comparison, the priciest AFC Championship of the decade was last year, when the price settled at $1,014 for the Jacksonville Jaguars at New England game.
Sunday’s game will be the first conference championship in Kansas City since 1994, when the Chiefs lost to Buffalo.
The average asking price is almost double the previous priciest playoff game at Arrowhead Stadium this decade. In 2017, fans paid an average of $271 to see the Chiefs play the Pittsburgh Steelers in the Divisional Round. The cheapest playoff game cost fans $150 to see Kansas City host Tennessee in a Wild-Card game in 2018.
The Chiefs and Patriots have played 36 times, and the Chiefs hold an 18-15-3 all-time series advantage. The teams have met in the playoffs only once, when New England beat Kansas City in an AFC Divisional Game in 2016.