:format(webp)/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/45524638/457507490.0.jpg)
It's unfortunate the Ravens won't be hoisting the Vince Lombardi Trophy this season, but the franchise did give fans something to cheer about the week prior to the Super Bowl.
It'll still cost you an arm and a leg to get inside M&T Bank Stadium, but the Ravens won't be raising season ticket prices according to the Baltimore Business Journal.
The price of success and a premium product is one that has bitten Ravens fans hard over the years, even though the franchise only raised season ticket prices starting in 2013, a season following their Super Bowl victory. The hike was a hefty one though, averaging roughly a 10 percent increase in seats. Prior to that, the Ravens increased ticket prices every other year between 2001 and 2009.
According to Team Marketing, the Ravens entered the season with the 8th-highest ticket price in the NFL, averaging $100.19 each. In comparison, the New England Patriots (insert joke here) were the league's most expensive at $122.00 followed by the San Francisco 49ers at $117.00, a whopping 40.1% increase to help pay for the new Levi's Stadium versus their old Candlestick Park prices.
In case you were wondering, the NFL average for 2014 was $84.43 per ticket, with an average increase of 3.5% league-wide.
This is a nice gesture for the Ravens, especially after all of the negative ill-will directed at the franchise from what was one of the worst PR-friendly seasons a professional sports franchise could have ever imagined.
In the end, the Ravens are still around $15-20 higher per ticket than other successful Super Bowl winning franchises like the Pittsburgh Steelers ($83.97), New Orleans Saints ($84.87), Green Bay Packers ($85.61), Denver Broncos ($87.96), Indianapolis Colts ($86.32) and the possible back-to-back World Champion Seattle Seahawks ($80.77).
All I know is that I used to sit in section 113 (lower level end zone) and my tickets in 2006 were only $46.00. Now, those seats are $100. By those standards, I guess I should be thanking my lucky stars that beers are similarly priced around $10 a piece versus $20.
How else are we supposed to forget about how much we're spending for a product better enjoyed from the comfort of our own couch?
For more Ravens news and information, follow me on Twitter @RavenManiac.