DENVER — An extra regular season home game at Empower Field at Mile High this year has been followed with an increase in Denver Broncos’ season ticket prices.
All AFC teams will play nine regular season games and one preseason game at home in 2021 as the NFL expands from a 16 game to 17-game regular season schedule.
Like nearly all AFC teams, the Broncos are adjusting their prices to reflect the added value in their regular season tickets.
The following year, NFC teams will get the extra 9th home game while AFC teams will return to a home schedule of 8 regular-season games and two preseason games.
> Above video: 9Sports' Mike Klis on NFL's 17-game schedule.
The Broncos notified season-ticket holders in a letter Monday that the average ticket price will jump from about $103.06 to $109.24, a 6 percent increase. It comes out to about $55 more per ticket holder over the course of the year.
Look at it this way Broncos seat occupiers: The regular-season home schedule increase from 8 to 9 games comes out to 12.5 percent.
It’s only the second time in five years the Broncos have raised ticket prices as the team is in one of its worst five-year stretches in history. The Broncos have missed the playoffs five consecutive years and is coming four consecutive losing records.
The team did not raise the prices of its contracted suite and club level tickets while also announcing a new Broncos Plus program in which season-ticket holders receive a 20 percent discount on concessions and team-store merchandise.
The ticket price increase comes a year after the COVID pandemic cancelled the Broncos’ two preseason games, and allowed only 5,700 fans to attend four of their eight regular-season games at 76,125-seat Empower Field, resulting in a heavy loss of revenue for the club.
The Broncos ranked 17th in the 32-team NFL in 2019 with an average ticket cost of $103, even though the team boasts the NFL longest home sellout streak of 411 games dating back to 1970 (not including the 2020 pandemic interruption) and has a nearly 99 percent renewal rate with a long waiting list. Current year data is not yet available but the Broncos believe they will again rank in the middle of the league in average ticket pricing.
At least four other AFC teams (Bills, Browns, Jaguars, Colts) have announced similar ticket increases with more expected to follow. The Steelers are the only AFC team to date that has announced it will not raise ticket prices despite the added home game.
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