DENVER — If the AFC Championship Game comes to Denver, a ticket to see the Broncos in person could cost as much as $17,143, at least according to the highest-priced ticket listed Wednesday on ticket reseller StubHub.
The lowest-priced ticket was listed at more than $1,000 — and that’s for a nosebleed seat in Section 530 at Empower Field at Mile High in Denver.
Denver Broncos playoff tickets are commanding obscene prices as the team hosts its first home postseason game in a decade after clinching home-field advantage throughout the AFC playoffs this week.
The possibility of the Broncos returning to the Super Bowl for the first time since 2016 has fans across the region waving fistfuls of dollars online for a chance to witness the journey live.
Long-suffering season ticket holders face a dilemma: Given the opportunity to buy tickets at face value, they now can resell them for double, triple or quadruple what they paid for them.
Some fans say they must consider the payout, but for others, no amount of money can make up for missing what could be another Broncos run to the Super Bowl.
“The experience is rare enough and tenuous enough that you want to go,” said David Pope, a Cheyenne resident who has owned Broncos season tickets since 1996.
Pope also sits on the Wyoming Stable Token Commission helping oversee the state’s effort at launching its own cryptocurrency.
Climbing Ticket Prices
Tickets for the Broncos’ divisional round game at Empower Field at Mile High during the Jan. 17 weekend start around $555 in upper sections, according to Ticketmaster, and climb to nearly $2,000 for premium seats on SeatGeek listings.
That compares to regular-season resale averages in the $100s this season, including last week’s finale against the Los Angeles Chargers, which averaged about $136 on SeatGeek.
Playoff tickets are in high demand this year, sports analysts say, driven by the fan bases of several franchises making their first trips in years to the postseason, including the New England Patriots, Jacksonville Jaguars and Chicago Bears.
NFL divisional round tickets averaged around $993 for top matchups like the Washington Commanders vs. the Detroit Lions last year, according to CBS Sports.
Conference championship tickets in 2024, meanwhile, sold for as much as $2,431, according to TicketiQ.
When To Sell
For fans who want to cash in, waiting until the last minute may not be in your best interest, according to a study of ticket resales.
Unlike airline fares, sporting event tickets peak more than a week before an event and then tumble as the event nears amid a glut of tickets on the secondary market.
On average, fans bought tickets three weeks in advance, according to a Baylor University research study.
About two-thirds of resold tickets are bought within about 15 days of the event. Ticket prices begin dropping within 10 days of the sporting event. Accommodations and travel, after all, need to be arranged in advance and are more difficult to do as time narrows, researchers said.
Putting Costs In Perspective
While many might cringe at the money being thrown around for a sporting event, Bryan Pedersen, a former state legislator from Cheyenne who attends at least one Broncos game a year, pointed out that the prices are high because there’s demand.
That demand, he said, is driven by people who value the opportunity to witness a part of history that’s special to them — a rare playoff game involving their beloved team.
“We pay for perceived value,” he said.
Fans want to experience something that might happen just once in a lifetime in the case of some franchises such as the Bears, and that desire transcends sports.
It explains why weddings are so pricey, he said.
“You spend a whole lot of money on your wedding because you think you’re going to do it once,” Pedersen said.
Paying For An Experience
For longtime Broncos fans such as Pope, who owns six season tickets at Empower Field with his son, selling those tickets isn’t an option he’s seriously considering.
He bought season tickets with the hope that he could be there as the team succeeds and makes a deep championship run.
Pope is fortunate.
He acquired his season tickets just before the Broncos won back-to-back Super Bowls in 1997 and 1998, and he was in the stands when the team went on another historic run in 2015, winning it all again a decade ago.
Between those periods were some dreary seasons, which make the good times even sweeter, he said.
But memorable wins aren’t even what Pope cherishes most about being a season ticket holder.
When he first received the tickets, his son had just become a teenager — a time when most kids start to distance themselves from their parents.
Going to Broncos games gave Pope an entire day — including the three hours of round-trip driving to and from Wyoming — of quality father-and-son time. It’s something he said he will never forget.
Now a grandfather, Pope has plenty of family to fill his six seats, but if he can't, then he may cash in and sell them.
“Yes, I’d consider it if I have trouble placing people in them,” Pope said. “But money is not going to replace the memories.”
Justin George can be reached at justin@cowboystatedaily.com.
