Coming off another trip to the Super Bowl, the New England Patriots will raise ticket prices for the first time since 2008. The only affected areas, however, will be midfield seats in the upper and lower levels of Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, MA.
Season ticket prices for lower-level midfield seats will increase from $169 to $185, and upper-level midfield seats will go from $89 to $99. Individual game tickets will see a similar price increase, with lower midfield seats now $211 (up from $185), and upper midfield set to $109 (up from $99).
Those sections account for 16 percent of the seating at Gillette. The $185 seats are the most expensive non-luxury box tickets at the stadium; the lowest are $65 seats in the upper-level corners.
Season ticket holders will be sent renewals in February that are due by March 30. Those on the season ticket waiting list get the first opportunity at tickets that aren’t renewed. That waiting list numbers more than 60,000.
Also, a limited number of tickets are reserved for individual-game sale later in the year.
After going 13-3 in the regular season, New England is seeking its fourth NFL championship at Super Bowl XLVI in Indianapolis, IN. The February 5 game marks the team’s fifth appearance in the game in the past 10 years. It’s also the Pats’ seventh Super Bowl trip in franchise history.
The Patriots had the second-highest average home ticket price in the NFL this past season at $117.84. Only the New York Jets were higher ($120.85).
On the secondary market, the Pats traditionally have some of the highest-priced tickets. According to search site SeatGeek.com, the three most expensive tickets in the NFL’s 2011 regular season were all Patriots games: October 9 vs. the New York Jets ($381 average), October 16 vs. the Dallas Cowboys ($352), and November 6 vs. the New York Giants ($329).
The Patriots’ home opponents for the 2012 regular reason have already been determined, although dates won’t be announced until the full NFL schedule is released in April.
The Pats will host their AFC East rivals the Jets, Miami Dolphins, and Buffalo Bills. New England also will host three division champions: The Houston Texans (AFC South), the Denver Broncos (AFC West), and the San Francisco 49ers (NFC West). Other home games are against the Indianapolis Colts and Arizona Cardinals.
The NFL announced January 20 that the Patriots would play the St. Louis Rams at Wembley Stadium on October 28 in the first of three “home” games for St. Louis in London in the next three years. It will be New England’s second trip to Wembley since 2009. In that year’s match-up, the Patriots beat the Tampa Bay Buccaneers 35-7.
