Low temps = low ticket prices? Bills-Pats cheapest of any Wild Card game

ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. (WHEC) — The forecast for the Buffalo Bills home playoff game against the New England Patriots is calling for some very chilly temperatures.

For most of the game, which starts at 8:20 p.m. and well after sundown, wind chills are expected to be below zero degrees. While Bills Mafia always shows out, perhaps the freezing cold air is driving some fans away.

At 6:30 a.m. on Friday, StubHub lists the cheapest ticket for the Buffalo and New England game at $40 without fees. You can get sideline tickets on the lower level for as cheap as $100 without fees. Typically, tickets lower in price as they become more difficult to sell. The higher the price, the higher the demand.

Comparing that to the other five Wild Card Weekend games and you can likely blame to frigid cold as the reason why.

GAME	CHEAPEST TICKET OVERALL (NO FEES)	CHEAPEST LOWER LEVEL SIDELINE (NO FEES)
RAIDERS – BENGALS	$160	$259
BILLS – PATRIOTS	$40	$100
EAGLES – BUCCANEERS	$168	$299
49ERS – COWBOYS	$152 (STANDING ROOM ONLY)	$735
STEELERS – CHIEFS	$95	$253
CARDINALS – RAMS	$79	$300

Part of that has to do with market size – Buffalo is the smallest market in the playoffs and in the NFL as a whole. However, it is a rivalry and divisonal game, which usually drives ticket prices up.

To put it in context, the cheapest ticket to the home Buffalo Sabres game against the Philadelphia Flyers on January 22 is $38 before fees. That means it’s just $2 cheaper to see two non-playoff teams on the ice than it is to see the Buffalo Bills host the New England Patriots in a win-or-go-home playoff football game.

There’s been recent speculation and a cry from Bills fans for the new stadium to be a dome. At least for this game, that won’t be the case and the cost of tickets is cheap because of it.