NFL American football fans can watch preseason games for as little as $3 a ticket according to data collected by aggregator TicketIQ.
Buffalo Bills’ home games against Detroit Lions and Minnesota Vikings have a get-in price of just $3 (£2.3/€2.5), with an average cost of $18 and $22 respectively.
At least 10 preseason games are being offered at $10 and under according to TicketIQ, with the data suggesting a lack of interest in the non-competitive matches that take place ahead of the season proper.
All NFL teams play four games ahead of the season, with the Hall of Fame game participants – Arizona Cardinals and Dallas Cowboys in 2017 – having an extra match on top.
Jason Notte, in an article published by The Street, said: “The NFL’s preseason is superfluous at best and a looming disaster at worst. Fans cross their fingers hoping that their team’s stars or their fantasy team’s cornerstones make it through unscathed.”
The biggest draw is last season’s Super Bowl runner-up Atlanta Falcons, who will play their first game at the new Mercedes-Benz Stadium against the Cardinals on August 26. The team’s two home preseason games fetching between $300 and $360.
Tickets for New England Patriots’ first home game against the Jacksonville Jaguars are already topping $250, while a rare appearance by the Green Bay Packers in Denver has Broncos fans shelling out $270 a head. The Texas match between the Dallas Cowboys and Houston Texans in Houston has an average price of $291.
While some fixtures do attract big crowds and inspire high demand, Notte describes them as ‘pseudo-games’.
“What’s worse is that the league and its team owners know these games are both trumped-up scrimmages and liabilities, but they absolutely refuse to part with them if it means taking a loss.
“A few years back, owners attempted to cut the preseason in half, but only to add two more weeks of regular-season play. Players and coaches pushed back, which leaves us where we are today: With 65 pseudo-games that few people watch and even fewer attend.”
IMAGE: Idibri (Flickr)