Ticket demand high for Bears vs. Rams game but cold weather could bring down prices
Tickets on the secondary market for the Chicago Bears and Los Angeles Rams divisional playoff game Sunday are generating far less demand than Saturday night’s instant classic against the rival Green Bay Packers.
Still, the cheapest seat at Soldier Field will still set you back more than $500.
Despite the bigger stakes — a trip to the NFC Championship and a victory from the Super Bowl — an early forecast of frigid temperatures with potential snow flurries combined with the fair-weathered nature of Los Angeles fans are cooling the market, according to tickers brokers.
“Everyone was hoping the Eagles would win as far as the demand for this round,” Drew DeMoss, owner of Tickets First Class in Wrigleyville, said.
The Philadelphia Eagles, last year's Super Bowl winner, lost 23-19 on Sunday to the San Francisco 49ers in the wild-card round.
It’s been seven years since the Bears hosted a divisional playoff game and 15 years since they won one, which are factors helping to stabilize ticket prices in a buyer’s market overrun with Bears fans, brokers said.
Inside the numbers
The average selling price on VividSeats for a ticket Monday afternoon was $865, the highest of the four divisional round games, a company spokesperson said.
That’s nearly $200 more than the average selling price for the Packers game last Saturday, which was the most in-demand ticket of the wild-card round, according to data from the Chicago-based marketplace.
On TickPick, the average purchase price on Monday was $975, making it the most expensive Bears game and $358 more than the wild-card tilt.
The average selling price for the Bears-Packers game was $617, a short-lived record on the New York City-based online marketplace.
Meanwhile, the get-in price for the cheapest ticket to the Bears' matchup with the Rams is $535.
The priciest transaction on TickPick, so far, has been $2,660 for a seat in Section 205, Row 4 at the 5-yard line. The transaction was part of a four-pack totaling $10,640.
“Similar to the wild card game, demand is being driven by a combination of playoff momentum and a season that has dramatically reset expectations for this fan base,” TickPick Content Director Kyle Zorn said.
On Saturday, the Bears overcame a 21-6 deficit in the fourth quarter, scoring three touchdowns and a 2-point conversion on their last three possessions in the historic comeback against the Packers.
On Mega Seats, the average asking ticket price was nearly $1,200, with a get-in price of $546. The median price tag was about $985.
The only divisional round playoff game with a higher price point is the 49ers game against the Seattle Seahawks, with a get-in cost at $556.
“By any objective standard, it's a very, very high market for all of these games,” Sean Burns, spokesperson for Connecticut-based Mega Seats, said.
By comparison, tickets for the last divisional playoff game in 2019at Soldier Field, had an average selling price of $430, Burns said. That game had Bears fans witness a gut-wrenching loss to the Eagles that ended on Cody Parker’s “double-doink” missed field goal.
Record cold could chill L.A. demand
The National Weather Service is forecasting high temperatures in the teens along the lakefront and lows in the single digits, conditions that could deter Southern Californians from traveling to Chicago.
“If you're based in L.A., how strong is your motivation to fly out to Chicago and hang around in 15 degree weather, while having to pay all of the expenses of flights, hotels and a high-priced ticket,” Burns said.
If the forecast holds true, Sunday night's game will be among the coldest ever played at Soldier Field, which hosted its first football game in 1926, according to the stadium's website.
Inclement weather could also prompt late sellers, though buyers should be aware that some ticket sites, like StubHub, halt sales after a certain point in the event.
“If you're willing to roll the dice and wait until kickoff, or right after kickoff, there might be a break in the market again,” DeMoss said.
That’s what happened against the Packers, according to ticket brokers, as last-minute buyers nabbed discounts as panicked sellers unloaded tickets after the start of the game.
Unlike the wild-card game though, geographic proximity, a storied rivalry and two rabid fan bases won’t factor into this weekend's ticket prices.
“It's too bad the Rams still aren’t in St. Louis,” DeMoss half-joked.
Rams owner and real estate magnate Stan Kroenke returned the franchise to L.A. in 2016, after a 20-year stint in St. Louis.
The team’s nomadic history, which originated in Cleveland in 1937, has alienated various parts of its fan base over the years, resulting in a light following even in its hometown.
“With the Rams advancing and likely less travel from Los Angeles fans, demand is being driven primarily by local Bears fans,” Zorn said. “While that’s enough to set records early, it typically leaves more room for prices to come down closer to kickoff.”