Packers play four of last six games at Lambeau Field, Rams, Bears, Vikings games stay pricey

The Green Bay Packers will play four of their final six regular-season games at Lambeau Field, which will be good for their playoff prospects, but not necessarily good for fans' pocketbooks.

Three of those games, against the Los Angeles Rams, Chicago Bears and Minnesota Vikings, are selling for well above face value of the cheapest tickets. The average for the fourth game, against the Cleveland Browns on Christmas Day, is slightly above face value, but there also are tickets priced less.

The average lowest price for Rams tickets Monday was $177, down $18 from last week, but nearly $60 more than $118 end zone seats, the cheapest in Lambeau Field. Secondary market seller TickPick put the average price of all tickets it sold at $258. The average get-in price is the cost of the least-expensive available tickets based on 10 secondary market sites.

It is an important game for both teams. Green Bay's quest to be the top seed in the NFC playoffs, and thus secure home-field advantage throughout, took a hit Sunday when the Packers lost 34-31 to the Vikings and dropped to 8-3 on the season. Meanwhile, the 9-2 Arizona Cardinals defeated the Seattle Seahawks, which put them one game ahead of the Packers. If the teams finish the season tied, the Packers would prevail because they defeated Arizona in October. 

Also contending for the top spot are the Rams and Dallas Cowboys, both 7-3. The Cardinals play both teams in the coming weeks.

The Rams are the second team coming off a bye week the Packers will have played this year. The other was Seattle, which the Packers defeated 17-0 at Lambeau Field. The Packers defeated the Rams 32-18 at Lambeau Field in January in the divisional round of the NFC playoffs. 

Ticket prices normally fall as games near, but the Chicago Bears game at Lambeau Field continues to defy the norm on a couple levels. The average lowest price for the Dec. 12 Sunday Night Football game is $245, up $4 from last week. It is the most expensive game remaining on the Packers' schedule by $47 per ticket.

It also is unusual because night games before a work day often don't sell as well, but because this is the Packers and Bears, the norms don't apply, even with Chicago sporting a 3-7 record.

The next most-expensive game is the following week in Baltimore. The average get-in price is $198. The Ravens are 7-3 and lead a tight AFC North division, with only a game and a-half between Baltimore and the last place Cleveland Browns. Prices in that instance might be driven as much by Ravens fans as traveling Packers fans.

Then comes Christmas Day and the Cleveland Browns. The average lowest price of $122 is slightly higher than the lowest face value ticket in Lambeau Field, but at least six of the 10 secondary sellers list prices between $110 and $115.

Dennis Garrity, president and CEO of Event USA, a tickets and travel-package agency in Ashwaubenon, said games on holidays often include a higher percentage of local fans than do other games, which tends to depress the price. More than 80% of fans at Packers games travel 50 miles or more for a non-holiday game.

TickPick said the average price of all tickets it sold for the Browns game was $209, driven, no doubt, by the fact that 20% of buyers were from Ohio. Overall, 45% of TickPick purchases were from fans outside of Wisconsin.

The Jan. 2 rematch with the Vikings is about $40 cheaper at Lambeau Field than it was last week in Minneapolis. The average get-in price was $154. That game, too, is a Sunday Night Football game and is on New Year's weekend. TickPick pegged the average price at $243, with 25% of purchases made by Minnesota residents, although not necessarily all Vikings fans.

The Lions game, at $58 average lowest price, isn't to the level of the game at Cleveland in 2017, when the get-in price averaged $13, but there's still time. The Lions are 0-9-1 and their remaining schedule includes the Bears, Vikings, Broncos, Cardinals, Falcons, Seahawks and Packers.

Last week's recap

Minnesota Vikings 34, Green Bay Packers 31

Stadium: U.S. Bank Stadium, Minneapolis, Minnesota

Attendance: 66,959

Records: Packers 8-3, Vikings 5-5

Los Angeles Rams were on a bye.

Ticket prices 

The following are secondary market ticket prices as of Monday. 

For our look at Packers' tickets prices, we averaged the lowest ticket prices at 10  secondary market websites: Event USA, Gametime, Green Bay Ticket Service, SeatGeek, StubHub, TicketIQ, Ticketmaster, TickPick, Ticket King and Vivid Seats. 

Note that ticket marketplaces can add fees on top of listed prices, so actual costs might be higher. 

Nov. 28, 3:25 p.m., Los Angeles Rams, Lambeau Field, Fox

Face-price range: $118-$149

Average lowest-cost seat: $177 

Range of lowest-cost seat: $150-$209 

COVID-19 protocols: Masks recommended indoors for everyone and for unvaccinated fans in crowded outdoor settings.

Dec. 12, 7:20 p.m., Chicago Bears, Lambeau Field, NBC, Sunday Night Football

Face-price range: $118-$149

Average lowest-cost seat: $245 

Range of lowest-cost seat: $199-$300 

COVID-19 protocols: Masks recommended indoors for everyone and for unvaccinated fans in crowded outdoor settings.

Dec. 19, noon, Baltimore Ravens, M&T Bank Stadium,  noon, Fox

Face-price range: N/A

Average lowest-cost seat: $198 

Range of lowest-cost seat: $161-$230 

COVID-19 protocols: Masks required for all fans indoors, including in suites and club seating concourse. 

Christmas Day, Dec. 25, 3:30 pm., Cleveland Browns, Lambeau Field, Fox

Face-price range: $118-$149

Average lowest-cost seat: $122

Range of lowest-cost seat: $110-$145 

COVID-19 protocols: Masks recommended indoors for everyone and for unvaccinated fans in crowded outdoor settings.

Jan. 2, 7:20 p.m., Minnesota Vikings, Lambeau Field, Sunday Night Football, NBC

Face-price range: $118-$149

Average lowest-cost seat: $154

Range of lowest-cost seat: $122-$204 

COVID-19 protocols: Masks recommended indoors for everyone and for unvaccinated fans in crowded outdoor settings.

Jan. 9, noon, Detroit Lions, Ford Field, Fox 

Face-price range: N/A

Average lowest-cost seat: $58 

Range of lowest-cost seat: $43-$72

COVID-19 protocols: Ford Field recommends masks for all guests, including those who are fully vaccinated, for all indoor locations, as recommended by the City of Detroit Health Department. 

Contact Richard Ryman at (920) 431-8342 or rryman@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter at @RichRymanPG, on Instagram at @rrymanPG or on Facebook at www.facebook.com/RichardRymanPG/.