Green Bay Packers fans have rare run of cheap tickets

GREEN BAY ‒ Green Bay Packers fans have a rare opportunity to benefit from the team's earlier poor play and its suddenly rising hopes. At least those fans who still want to buy tickets.

The Packers play the defending Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs at 7:20 p.m. Sunday at Lambeau Field, then embark on a three-game stretch against losing teams for which ticket prices are unusually cheap. An occasional game like this is not rare, but to have three in a row is.

The average get-in price for the Chiefs game, determined by averaging the lowest prices at 11 secondary marketplaces, is $165, a dollar more expensive than last week. After that, the game in New York on Dec. 11 is $39, followed by Tampa Bay at Lambeau for $87, and Green Bay at Carolina for $49.

After the Packers' showing in Detroit on Thanksgiving Day — where they looked better than they have all season after defeating the division-leading Lions 29-22 — they are back in the race for a playoff spot. It could be a short race if they stumble beyond the Chiefs game, but for now there's the whole hope-springing-eternal thing. The Giants, Buccaneers and Panthers all have losing records. The Packers are 5-6.

Prices for Sunday's game held steady for weeks for a couple of reasons. The 8-3 Chiefs, led by quarterback Patrick Mahomes, are an exciting team to watch even though they haven't played as well as last year. Their fans are not afraid to travel or afraid of cold weather, it's a nationally televised game, and — cover your ears football purists — there is the Taylor Swift factor. Maybe.

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Swift, arguably the world's most popular singer, completed the South American leg of her international tour on Sunday and doesn't resume touring again until February. Her current boyfriend is Kansas City tight end Travis Kelce, and she has faithfully attended Chiefs games when her schedule allows, which has certainly generated media attention, if not hundreds of Swifties buying tickets.

But you can't pin prices on Swift, alone. Secondary marketplace TicketSmarter said a Swift effect might have existed initially, but the Chiefs are one of the league's most popular teams and have remained among the hottest tickets of the season without her help. TicketSmarter said the overall average price was $246 Monday, compared to $260 on Nov. 6.

Ticket prices

For our look at Packers' tickets prices, we average the lowest ticket prices at 11 secondary-market websites: Event USA, Gametime, Green Bay Ticket Service, SeatGeek, StubHub, TicketIQ, Ticket King, Ticketmaster, TickPick, TicketSmarter and Vivid Seats.

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

The Packers announced they will sell standing-room-only tickets for all home games this season. The face value of SRO tickets is $93. The SRO section is on the fourth level of the south end zone.

As the standing-room-only tickets are designated as not available for resale, any tickets found on the secondary market cannot be verified, so buyers should proceed at their own risk. If fans purchase standing-room-only tickets on the secondary market and encounter issues with the tickets, their only recourse would be to contact the ticket seller.

The get-in price averages do not include standing-room-only tickets.

The following are secondary market ticket prices as of Nov. 27:

Dec. 3, 7:20 p.m., Lambeau Field, Kansas City Chiefs, NBC

Face-price range: $129-$165

Average lowest-cost seat: $165

Price on Nov. 20: $164

Range of lowest-cost seats: $130-$250

Chiefs results: Kansas City is 8-3. The Chiefs defeated the Las Vegas Raiders 31-17 on Sunday.

What matters about this game? The Packers have a two-game winning streak, and they defeated one of the NFC's best teams, the Lions, on Thanksgiving Day on the road. This will be a chance to see if that improvement trend line is a 45-degree angle or a roller coaster. Jordan Love's first start was against the Chiefs in 2021, a game the Packers lost 13-7 with Love running an offense designed for Aaron Rodgers. Everything has changed since then.

Dec. 11, 7:15 p.m., MetLife Stadium, New York Giants, ABC

Face-price range: N/A

Average lowest-cost seat: $39

Price on Nov. 20: $41

Range of lowest-cost seats: $31-$48

Giants results: New York is 4-8. The Giants defeated the New England Patriots 10-7 on Sunday.

What matters about this game? This could be the first of a three-game winning streak for the Packers — or fourth consecutive victory if you are feeling optimistic. The Giants, led by backup rookie quarterback Tommy DeVito, won their last two games and will be coming off a bye when they face the Packers. They are not as inept as they looked immediately after starting QB Daniel Jones was knocked out for the year with an ACL injury in Week 9.

Dec. 17, noon, Lambeau Field, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Fox

Face-price range: $129-$165

Average lowest-cost seat: $87

Price on Nov. 20: $73

Range of lowest-cost seats: $72-$135

Bucs results: Tampa Bay is 4-7. The Buccaneers lost to the Indianapolis Colts 27-20 on Sunday.

What matters about this game? With this game at Lambeau Field in mid-December, the Packers should not have to worry about an influx of Bucs fans. Also, it's the only cold weather game the Bucs will play this season, which should provide an edge.

Dec. 24, noon, Bank of America Stadium, Carolina Panthers, Fox

Face-price range: N/A

Average lowest-cost seat: $49

Price in August: $90

Range of lowest-cost seats: $36-$100

Panthers results: Carolina is 1-10. The Panthers lost to the Tennessee Titans 17-10 on Sunday.

What matters about this game? This division is a dumpster fire and the Panthers are it's biggest blaze. Carolina will likely finish with the worst record in football and not even get the first pick in the 2024 draft, which they traded to the Chicago Bears so they could take quarterback Bryce Young first in the 2023 draft. They gave up two 2023 picks, their first pick in 2024 and a second round pick in 2025, plus receiver D.J. Moore, one of the bright spots on the Bears' roster this season. It's worked out so well that they fired head coach Frank Reich on Monday.

There are no gimmes in the NFL, as the Houston Texans, the only team to lose to Carolina, can attest, but this should be a good Christmas Eve for the Packers. Historically, the Packers are 6-1 in Christmas Eve games.

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/.

This article originally appeared on Green Bay Press-Gazette: Secondary get-in price for Packers-Chiefs holds, but next 3 are cheap