January 12, 2015
(UPDATE - 1/12) The New England Patriots have made it to the AFC Championship Game for the past four seasons. Three of those games have been at home and this year’s game against the Indianapolis Colts will be the most expensive AFC Championship Game at Gillette Stadium since at least 2010. Currently the average price for the game is $569.17, 7% above the average price two seasons ago against the Baltimore Ravens.
While the game will be the most expensive in New England, it does not come close to last season’s game between the Patriots and Denver Broncos at Sports Authority Field at Mile High. That game had an average price of $740.13 and remains the most expensive AFC Championship Game on the secondary market to date.
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(UPDATE - 1/5) The New England Patriots will look to forget about their poor performance in loss against the Buffalo Bills on the last day of the regular season as they get ready to host an old nemesis in the Baltimore Ravens this Saturday at Gillette Stadium. New England will relish this opportunity as the Patriots suffered a bitter loss the last time these two teams played in the postseason at the 2013 AFC Championship game.
Patriots tickets for Saturday’s game are down 12% since the Patriots clinched a playoff berth. Now, the game has an average price of $332.82 on the secondary market, with a get in price of $130. The Patriots are heavily favored in this matchup on paper considering how well New England’s played during most of the season but most Patriots fans would rather have a different opponent in the Divisional round as the Ravens have caused a lot of mischief to New England the past few seasons in postseason play.
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The Patriots can also clinch their first No. 1 seed in the AFC playoffs since the 2011 season that ended with a loss in the Super Bowl. New England controls their own destiny regarding home field advantage in the playoffs as wins in Week 16 and 17 ensure the top seed while a win in Week 16 and a Denver Broncos loss would also wrap up the No. 1 seed.
If current playoff standings hold out, the Patriots are looking at two home playoff games. The first game, in the Divisional Round, would be a matchup between either the No. 6 seed (currently Baltimore) or the winner of the other Wild Card game between the No. 5 seed (currently Pittsburgh) and the No. 4 seed (currently Cincinnati). If the Patriots can win in the Divisional Round, they'd host the other Divisional Round winner in the AFC Championship game at Gillette Stadium.
It's important to note that heading into Week 16 of the NFL season, there are still three playoff spots available and a total of nine teams battling it out for those openings. The playoff picture will be set if Cincinnati, Pittsburgh and Baltimore all win in Week 16 with seedings still to be earned.
Regardless of Week 16's outcomes, New England will host at least one playoff game in the Divisional Round and Patriots fans are already buying up tickets to the playoffs. The secondary ticket market is blowing up as tickets are currently listed for $430.23, on average, according to TicketIQ with a get-in price of $135. The average ticket price is 47 percent higher than the regular season average for games at Gillette Stadium.
