Bears Raise Ticket Prices After Second-Worst Season Ever
By Emma G. Gallegos in Arts & Entertainment on Feb 8, 2017 9:50PM
The north end zone of Soldier Field showing empty seats as the Chicago Bears took on the Tennessee Titans on November 27, 2016 in Chicago, Illinois. The Titans defeated the Bears 27-21. (Photo by Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images)
Last year, the Bears had one of their most dismal seasons ever, going 3-13. Attendance at the games decreased dramatically, and nearly half-empty stadiums became more common as the season wore on. And so it seems awfully bold that the team plans to hike up its ticket prices for next season.
The team sent out a letter to its season ticket holders acknowledging that last year was pretty rough and vowing that they would do better. "It was a challenging and disappointing season. One we will not repeat," Team President and CEO Ted Phillips wrote.
Phillips is banking on the team finding new talent during the draft. "We are positioned for an exciting offseason with the third overall pick in the draft and one of best salary-cap situations in the NFL heading into free agency."
Here's a letter to season ticket holders today from Bears CEO Ted Phillips. Calls 2016 "a challenging and disappointing season." pic.twitter.com/qQVLvroghM
— Danny Ecker (@DannyEcker) February 8, 2017
Overall prices for tickets have remained flat for the past three seasons—though some sections saw increases while others saw decreases, according to the Chicago Tribune. This season the prices for seats will go up 2.6% overall. Most seats will go up in price somewhere between 1% and 4%, though some sections will see reduced prices. Club seats will go up an average of 2%, while nonclub seats will go up 2.9%. Single-game tickets, which will go on sale when the NFL schedule is announced, will also see price increases, though the team didn't say by how much.
Crain's notes that this was the second-worst season in the Bears' 97 years. Attendance was bad, too. One of the worst showings was a game against on the Redskins on Christmas Eve There were 21,663 empty seats, meaning slightly more than a third of the stadium was empty.