The Lions are one of the hottest tickets in the NFL, and their longtime fans are paying for it.
The Lions sent their season-ticket holders renewal forms Thursday, with an average price hike for next season of 24 percent. It's the second year in a row that fans have seen a substantial spike in ticket costs, as the 12-1 Lions eye their second straight NFC North title.
Many season-ticket holders have reported a price increase of well over 100 percent during that span, as prices soar on the secondary market. The Lions raised prices last by an average of about 30 percent.
Many longtime ticket-holders were aghast, some sickened upon learning of their renewal prices Thursday.
Megan Stefanski, who was recently named the Lions' 2024 Fan of the Year, wrote on X, "Omg. I almost just puked at season ticket renewal prices. It's insane."
A ticket-holder in Section 317 reported a price hike of about 65 percent, from $1,800 to $2,900. One in Section 106 reported a 100 percent increase over the last two years, from $8,700 to $17,400.
Another in Section 235 reported a two-year increase of 175 percent, from $3,200 to $8,800. Another in 244 reported a two-year spike of 120 percent, from about $1,500 to $3,400.
"Lions have to be careful with this ticket pricing," one fan wrote on X. "The people who don’t sit down all game and make it to where we have a home-field advantage are going to be priced out. That's how other teams can take over stadiums."
"They’re slowly but surely pricing out the die-hard fans who stuck around through thick and thin only to replace them by the big-pocket fans who will be on their phones 80% of the game," wrote another.
The Lions set their season ticket prices based on part by data from the secondary market, where single-game tickets are being resold at higher and higher prices as the team continues to win. The most dramatic resale spikes tend to occur in the upper bowl, which is where season-ticket holders are seeing some of the most significant hikes for 2025.
Per the Lions, the cost of every season ticket still comes in lower than its current resale value. The cheapest ticket on StubHub in Section 317 for Sunday's Lions-Bills game, for example, was $516 as of Friday morning, while most season tickets in that section cost about $225 per game this year.
The Lions, per the Free Press, have accounted for three of the NFL's five most expensive games this season on the secondary ticket market: Sunday against the Bills (first), last Thursday night against the Packers (third) and Thanksgiving against the Bears (fifth).
The Lions expect to rank around the NFL average in season ticket costs once prices for next year are finalized across the league. Their waitlist for season tickets is about 23,000 people deep.
After the Lions imposed significant increases to lower-bowl tickets for this year, team president Rod Wood said in the spring, "I think if people went back and looked at what they could have paid for those seats on the secondary market, and what our playoff games were going for, it’s really where the market is."
"And we’ve had a 96 percent renewal rate, so nobody’s really abandoned their tickets," Wood added.
After the latest round of increases, we'll see if the renewal rate takes a dip.