The Ravens yesterday outlined their "first ticket-price increase" for games at M&T Bank Stadium since the team won Super Bowl XLVII four seasons ago, according to Jeff Zrebiec of the Baltimore SUN. Ticket prices in '17 will go up from 4.7-10.3% for "certain prime sections." The increases will bring an additional 8% in "growth to the Ravens’ ticket revenues." Ravens Senior VP/Ticket Sales & Operations Baker Koppelman: "We try our best to tie our pricing decisions to our business. People want to tie wins or losses to pricing, but the reality is, there’s no good time to raise prices." The price increase comes a day after the Ravens announced $120M in enhancements for M&T Bank Stadium. Koppelman: "The money that we’re generating, we’re running our business with this money.” Zrebiec notes the Ravens also are in the process of a $45M renovation of their Under Armour Performance Center in Owings Mills. From '01-09, the Ravens "raised the price of season tickets every other year." However, they "broke that trend" in '11 when the "uncertainty of an extended NFL lockout and a sluggish economy prompted team officials to keep prices the same." After they won the Super Bowl, they "raised ticket prices" an average of 10% per ticket in the lower seating bowl. The Ravens have "sold out every home game" since moving to Baltimore in '96. However, many home crowds during the '16 season "lacked the fervor of what the team had grown accustomed to in previous years" (Baltimore SUN, 2/2).
THE MARIOTA FACTOR: In Nashville, Jason Wolf reports the Titans "are raising ticket prices next season." Cost is "going up between $2 to $8 per ticket ... depending on the section in Nissan Stadium." It is the team's "first ticket increase" since '14 and first for some sections since '13 (Nashville TENNESSEAN, 2/2).
STANDING PAT: In Denver, Nicki Jhabvala reports the Broncos for the first time since '11 "will not increase their ticket prices." The team will "maintain an average ticket price of about $101," putting it "outside the league’s 10 most expensive tickets." The Broncos, who "own the NFL’s longest home sellout streak at 47 years (nearly 400 games) and whose attendance is composed mostly of season-ticket holders [97%], have had variable increases to specific areas each of the last five years" (DENVER POST, 2/2).
