Packers might see more Cowboys fans at Lambeau Field on Sunday than they like

GREEN BAY - Green Bay Packers fans might be sharing seats with more Dallas Cowboys fans Sunday than makes them comfortable.

According to secondary market company TickPick, 33% of its sales for the 3:25 p.m. game at Lambeau Field are from Texas. TickPick is but one of a plethora of secondary marketplaces, but its numbers are enough to give fans pause, nonetheless. It said 42% of purchases were from Wisconsin and 7% from California. Initially, of course, nearly all tickets were in the hands of Packers season ticket holders.

TickPick also said the average ticket price for the game could be the highest on record (its record, mind you). "Cowboy fans are driving up demand for this game as 33% of all purchases are coming from Texas and the average purchase price is a whopping $543 — 18% more expensive than the Packers-Bears Thanksgiving day matchup in 2015," TickPick said in an email.

A check of 10 secondary marketplaces on Thursday found that the average of lowest prices offered was $180, down from $235 on Monday.

Those seemingly contradictory trends could both be accurate. Well-healed Cowboys fans could be buying the more expensive seats, driving up the recorded sales price, while the offering prices for the least expensive seats continue to fall, as they normally do as game time nears. For example, TickPick said the most expensive purchase was for two tickets in Section 121, Row 1 for $1,595 a ticket, or $3,190 total. TickPick's prices are all-in, which includes fees.

Sunday's game has a lot of elements attractive to fans of both teams.

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The game is especially important to the Packers, who, at 3-6 and on a five-game losing streak, are in danger of seeing any hope of making the playoffs slip from their grasp. The Cowboys, who are 6-2, want to keep pace in their division with the Philadelphia Eagles, who, at 8-0, the the NFL's only undefeated team, and the New York Giants, who also are 6-2.

Cowboys' head coach Mike McCarthy is the second-winningest coach in Packers history and led the team to a Super Bowl victory at the end of the 2010 season. He was fired by Packers President and CEO Mark Murphy with four games remaining in the 2018 season, when the team seemed to be drifting with little sign of getting better.

McCarthy remains popular among Packers fans, although few would want to see him win on Sunday, and he continues to have a soft spot for Green Bay, where he still owns a home. McCarthy choked up when talking about Green Bay during an interview earlier this week. He was named head coach of the Cowboys in 2020 and has a 24-17 regular-season record, and lost a wild card playoff game last season.

Also, the Packers and Cowboys have a rivalry dating to when the Cowboys were founded in 1960 and Tom Landry was named head coach. Landry was the defensive coordinator and Packers coach Vince Lombardi offensive coordinator for the New York Giants teams of the late 1950s. The Packers defeated the Cowboys for the NFL championship in Dallas in 1966 and again, during the famous Ice Bowl, in Green Bay in 1967.

The Packers lead the series 20-17.

Contact Richard Ryman at rryman@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter at @RichRymanPG, on Instagram at @rrymanPG or on Facebook at www.facebook.com/RichardRymanPG/.