Are Bucs Tickets Too Expensive?
April 19th, 2024
Data shows that the Buccaneers are among the teams with the least expensive ticket prices in the NFL.
Reality shows that tickets are too expensive for too many fans’ comfort, including one guy with an eight-figure bank account.
Joe is referring to retired Bucs guard Ali Marpet, who earned about $38 million during his seven-year Buccaneers career. Joe assumes 30-year-old Marpet still has at least $10 million of that cash lying around.
Speaking during his visit to the Wam Bam podcast, Marpet talked about being retired, living in St. Petersburg and having six family members wanting to visit him last December to attend the Bucs-Panthers game in Tampa.
Marpet explained that his people wanted him to provide the game tickets. “And I’m like, ‘Well, I’m not paying for them,'” he said.
So Marpet made a deal to work for the Bucs in exchange for tickets, he explained.
“So I did like a pump-up before the team ran out of the tunnel as a way to get six free tickets for family so that they could tailgate and go to the game,” Marpet said.
Hey, good for Marpet for saving money. But the story made Joe pause and think about how a lot of folks can’t afford tickets.
That’s always been the case, but Bucs nosebleed corner seats last year for select lower-interest games typically were $70 plus tax. “Bigger” games, formally identified by the Bucs in the spring, cost a heck of a lot more. Throw in parking for $30 within a reasonable walk of the stadium and it’s a pricey day out of reach for a lot of fans.
Yeah, Joe realizes Marpet has the reputation of being a frugal dude and he probably wanted to sit in club-level seats running near $250 each, but Joe still had to take a moment to consider Marpet’s attitude.
The NFL salary cap doubled from 2013 to 2023. Bucs tickets have exploded in price at a much greater rate in that time.
Prior to the ’13 season, the Bucs were pitching upper deck seats starting at $30 per game for adults and $15 for kids.
“Nothing beats the live experience of Raymond James Stadium on Sundays, and our number one goal is to provide an affordable, enjoyable, and safe gameday experience for the entire family,” Buccaneers co-owner Ed Glazer said when the Bucs announced 2013 ticket prices.
Again, Bucs tickets cost less than those of most NFL teams, but the Bucs have strayed from Team Glazer’s stated “No. 1 goal.”
Joe thinks the Bucs could get creative and find ways to help more lower-income fans experience a game — and training camp.
April 19th, 2024 at 10:27 am
Well the US Dollar has lost around 90% of its value since going away from the Gold Standard and government spending in the trillions of dollars .. yes its all overpriced and inflated.
April 19th, 2024 at 10:28 am
yes
April 19th, 2024 at 10:32 am
Tampa Bay is a low income community and it’s been exacerbated with supply chain related inflation and now corporate profiteering. NFL games are for families with household incomes of $150k + minimum.
April 19th, 2024 at 10:40 am
Tickets were $15.00 in the SE end-zone, paring was 3.00 , at the old Sombrero. When they raised the price, I quit going. Just watch the games on TV. I work for a living!
April 19th, 2024 at 10:42 am
The thing is…You can buy a wally world 75″ TV & full season NFL streaming package for less than 1 gameday experience for a family of 4…And literally have the best seat in the house, while parting all day with family & close friends without the hassle of listening to the wife & kids complain about everything under the sun.
April 19th, 2024 at 10:50 am
Depends on your assets. For me yes. Rather watch on TV anyway.
April 19th, 2024 at 10:52 am
Obviously Bucs tickets are too expensive. All NFL game tickets are too expensive. So are concert tickets- ridiculous….
Food, Gas, housing, cars, insurance, health care, personal services, building materials…. the list is practically endless….
Almost EVERYTHING now cost 30-40% more than it did just 3-4 years ago….
Voting has consequences. Bad policy decisions have consequences. Printing Trillions of dollars out of thin air just so the top 1% can suck it up like a slurpy has serious consequences…..
Wake up America! Your “leaders” are failing you and most of it is intentional.
April 19th, 2024 at 10:53 am
Sweating like an overworked mule, I wonder if more people would be willing to go if they had shade from the sun.
April 19th, 2024 at 10:54 am
Record profits annually and no expansion in 25+ years…
Define Monopoly
April 19th, 2024 at 10:58 am
I travel down to multiple games a year and yes Bucs tickets are way too expensive. It’s a fun time, but it’s out of most people’s price range.
April 19th, 2024 at 11:01 am
Yes they are overpriced just like everything else is these days. FJB
April 19th, 2024 at 11:07 am
All professional sports tickets are way too expensive. That’s why I invested in an Outstanding home entertainment system, 80 inch screen, Surround sound..the works. Even got my own theatre and popcorn machine. Not to mention..My fully stocked bar.
April 19th, 2024 at 11:11 am
I had season tickets in the south endzone near the tunnel the last four seasons. When I got them they were around $1600 for the season for two seats. They progressively increased in price each year and this year they wanted just over $3,000 for the same two seats. A $700 increase year to year. I am a diehard and enjoyed going every week but that is a massive increase in just four years. GO BUCS!
April 19th, 2024 at 11:13 am
Who voted for wages to go to $15.00 an hour? Now you can pay the price. Along with regular inflation. And You have no problem paying $9 or $10 just for a MD hamburger now. The restraunts are packed full. So yes keep complaining While you have to have the most expensive and newest on the market items that put you in the hole. But complain about football tickets.
April 19th, 2024 at 11:19 am
Good article and I agree with many of the comments.
The costs are tremendous when you also add gas, parking, drinks, food… And the thing is that the richest including NFL owners got the biggest tax cuts in 2017 that expires at the end of 2025. What did they do with all those savings? Raised the costs on everyone else instead. And it is all venues, not just the NFL.
April 19th, 2024 at 11:30 am
I hate to break it to Ed Glazer, but after owning season tickets way back in the early 2000s (I moved to Nevada 16 years ago) I decided that setting up a projector and 110” screen in my bedroom along with surround sound was a better, less expensive option for watching Bucs games then shelling out hundreds of dollars (back then) for nose bleed tickets.
April 19th, 2024 at 11:37 am
Yeah, I’d say they’re overpriced, but what makes the prices sting a little bit more is that I don’t think RayJay is a great game experience. I’m not a season ticket holder but I go to a few games every year, and usually it’s earlier in the season. Love the big screens, love the ship, but it’s just brutal dealing with the elements hanging in the stands trying to support the team. I think overall it hurts the crowd noise as well, as many fans seek refuge either in the a/c club areas or in the tunnels/concessions. I have seen the difference in other teams stadiums, Minnesota has a great setup, it’s very comfortable and no one leaves their seats, making it uncontrollably loud for the opposing teams.
I’m over the whole hot homefield advantage thing, I don’t think it’s really ever favored our team as some would think. Miami did a nice retro fit, but we just don’t have the donors those peeps have in Miami to ever pull over that kind of structure, it would almost be worth building a new stadium vs that kind of retrofit, I did some reading on it, it was crazy expensive.
I get the fair weather fan theory, but I think Tampa with a semi-cover like Miami and/or dome, would change much of the fan support. I think fandom only goes so far, and I appreciate the diehards, but combine the late Summer conditions, heat, rain to include ticket prices, it’s just not a great experience. Worse when we walk out with a loss, that always sucks.
April 19th, 2024 at 11:43 am
I got a ticket for panthers game $50 second row behind panthers bench and then got soaked with the rain. Always wait to buy your tickets on game day for bucs games.
April 19th, 2024 at 11:46 am
How much pumping do you need to get ready to face a team sitting at 1-10?
April 19th, 2024 at 11:55 am
Inflation during the Weekend at Bernie’s Administration is up significantly. Owners will usually raise ticket prices a little bit year after year, but inflation plays a huge role. Not only with tickets but with the cost of everything.
As for Marpet and his financial worth I think he handled the situation correctly. If you start doing favors for family then you’ll have all sorts of people come out of the woodwork. It’s part of the reason why many other athletes are broke after they retire.
April 19th, 2024 at 11:56 am
Zoocomics…I concur with your whole story.
April 19th, 2024 at 11:56 am
I miss the spring training at Disney one of the coolest (and free) events they had.
Tickets are still cheaper than metlife at least. the injury causing field , devoid of any color or joy, sponsored in part by Verizon, where somehow your cell phone cant get any coverage in it. its bad enough to be in new jersey, its worse to be jealous of nicer venues in places like Camden, yearly contender for murder capital of the world.
April 19th, 2024 at 12:07 pm
Zoocomics,
I agree with you for the most part. If you look at a map of NFL teams there are only three teams south of Charlotte’s latitude that do not play in domes. The seven other teams play in domes. I like RayJay’s game experience, but I can understand why many wouldn’t. I think the Tampa Bay area will, at some point soon, start discussing a new stadium being built. I’d say within five years.
April 19th, 2024 at 12:28 pm
Yes! Too expensive! But what isn’t anymore! Thanks Sleepy Joe!!
April 19th, 2024 at 12:35 pm
ITS ALL BIDENS FAULT!!!!!!!!!
HAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHHAHHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHA
SO MANY FU#$%^& MORONS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
April 19th, 2024 at 12:43 pm
Lower income fans? Who is going to provide proof of income for a discount football ticket? Do you mean income or net worth? You want the stadium full of people around town with no “income” and massive trust funds?
Football was sold to TV execs years ago. The in-person experience suffers. Long timeouts of ads and terrible music. Replay reviews. It goes on… just not an experience worth it for most people. The stadium is a TV studio and should be priced as such.
April 19th, 2024 at 12:46 pm
I much rather watch games at home. Nice air condition, reasonably priced beer and food. I really like my clean, easily accessible restroom during commercial breaks. Additionally, my parking is free! Plus, I’m already paying the cable company to watch the games. Also, I don’t have to smell the stench of Saints fans and converse with moronic Falcons fans…hehe. As far as game experience, I rather go to a college game for that, on occasion. Being sensible on game day has nothing to do with being a die hard fan. The NFL still has a lot of learning to do and it would be great if all fans united to make a statement that we do not appreciate the latest nonsense. For example, I refuse to purchase any special programming services for Thursday night etc. I love football, but can’t stand the way the NFL continues to want more for less. Anyway, I’m off my soapbox now. Go Bucs!
April 19th, 2024 at 1:04 pm
There is nothing that compares to sitting in that stadium and feeling the emotion of the game.
TV is cool if it’s raining….
My seats are 100% in the shade and have been for 15 seasons now
Loyalty means you don’t pay rack rate 😃
April 19th, 2024 at 1:06 pm
yes they are
April 19th, 2024 at 1:48 pm
You could find $15 tickets easily, for most of last season. I mean, you could get $25-$35 endzone and corner, 10-25 yardline, in the first few rows too, if you just wait about 15-30 minutes before kickoff, through Ticketmaster, SeatGeek, etc. I found them there just like that for almost every game during the second half of last season. No problem. I was really kind of shocked with the price of several of the seats. People start getting desperate and will SLASH their opening price, once it gets within about 45 minutes of opening kick!
April 19th, 2024 at 1:50 pm
View 132 – what does networth have to do with anything. You could have decent net worth with low disposable income. At the end of the day, how much you make matters more. I take umbrage with a previous posts comment about Tampa being low income, it isn’t per se – it’s also exponentially cheaper to live in a city thats one of the fastest growing in the US and there’s other factors at play. However, if you look at median HOUSEHOLD income, its astoundingly low. How are so many mfers supporting a wife and family off only 60k a yr. Look I wanna walk the line here because i highly respect anyone putting in an honest days work, but not making at or over 6 figures as an individual based on my lifestyle/goals, hell..personal ego, would be highly unacceptable. People – know your self worth, aim higher, negotiate better or pursue a new skill set that will enable to make over 6 figures. Find a wife that also has a reputable career, two people should be 200k plus easy.
April 19th, 2024 at 2:26 pm
Funny how all the usual idiots seem to forget that 25% of all US dollars were printed in 2020, when your orange idiot was still in charge, and not in 2021… (though the printing continued in 2021 too)
But placing blame where it actually belongs (on both “sides”) is something that partisan morons are incapable of.
April 19th, 2024 at 2:28 pm
Thanks Joe Biden
April 19th, 2024 at 2:55 pm
lol the idiots on this site
April 19th, 2024 at 3:03 pm
That’s why I don’t go to games. I don’t like gambling with my hard earned money. I would be beyond angry if I bought season tickets for a two win season. I’d also be very angry if I shelled out a couple hundred to see a piss poor effort game. So I’ll continue watching with my Dad.
April 19th, 2024 at 3:11 pm
I’ve had my two season tickets continually since 1997. Back then, you had to pay a seat deposit for seats in the new stadium. Took me ten years to get that money back. Prices actually dropped significantly after the great depression of 2009, and only slowly started inching their way back up during the Lost Decade, but exploded once we signed Brady. I have been back and forth about giving up my tickets. I still love the game day experience, but the drive from Orlando to Tampa is an absolute nightmare. What used to take an hour and a half, takes 2 to 2 1/2 hours. To make matters worse, you used to be able to buy a 32 oz Big Buc Brew for $5, but now its $14 for a 21 oz craft beer. Because of beer prices, I can’t even afford to cry in my beer about the drive from Orlando.
April 19th, 2024 at 4:00 pm
Add to that parking, ridiculously expensive drinks and crap food, sitting in the sun or rain under no cover, to watch terrible coaching in a stadium packed with opposing team fans.
April 19th, 2024 at 4:38 pm
For the price of season tix for two, I can set up an amazing Man Cave to watch the games.
April 19th, 2024 at 5:19 pm
Look at these panty waste Biden fans with pronouns in their linkedin profile acting as if the econonomy, the border, trade, crime hasn’t been a complete disaster. On top of all that, quite possibly the biggest bunch of pee babies that is offended over every little thing. Cant do standup comedy or make moves like Hangover anymore without you little small fry candy asses getting menstrual cramps over it. Remember when the left used to be considered the “cool” party. Yeah not so much anymore. Just filled with white guilt, pandering and self loathing. My criteria for voting goes beyond identity poilitics and ” oRaNgE mAn BAd.”
April 19th, 2024 at 6:38 pm
When I turned 16 and could drive to the games myself it cost $4 at the box office, which was right outside the gates. That’s If Wayne Haddix or Ricky Reynolds didn’t leave a couple on their windshields that I scooped up. With 35000 people.there those turned into 50 yd line seats every week. Times have changed. Once the waiting list started because of the bandwagoners it was downhill from there. Absolutely too expensive to go to a game. Even for people who can afford it. I recommend it to anyone who’s never been to an NFL game tho. Especially kids. Exciting
April 19th, 2024 at 7:06 pm
@unbelievable: those $$$ were printed because your boy hero, that midget Fauci guy, paid for gain-of-function research and then unleashed it on the world for political reasons, destroying people and businesses unnecessarily with lockdowns.
Bad Orange Man did NOT just print that cheese for no reason at all, and your boy Plugs continues the printing presses. “Inflation Reduction Act”, my pink butt.
April 19th, 2024 at 7:07 pm
I will say that the game day experience can not be duplicated even in the best of Man Caves.
Or in unbelievable’s world, Her/Zir/They Caves
April 19th, 2024 at 7:21 pm
^ triggered and butthurt, huh cobraboy?
And nowhere did I say it was printed “for no reason”. (Though the Rs demanding there be zero oversight over corporate bailouts or PPP loans was for no reason, other than them wanting to pilfer that free money for themselves and their buddies)
Better luck next time on your reading comprehension.
April 19th, 2024 at 7:58 pm
It’s sad that people are too lazy to think any more. They just blame their favorite political enemy for everything. Inflation was guaranteed to happen after Covid. Take the time to study economics, look up Deferred Gratification. Most high school graduates are capable of learning what that is and how it works. Do the Bucs sell 95% of their tickets at the current prices? Yes? Then they are behaving the way all participants in the free enterprise system do. So are the players. So are the high school kids who refuse to work for the minimum wage. So are my plumber, dentist. HVAC technician and barber. Charge what the matket will pay. Everyone would like to own a million dollar home or a Lamborghini like this season’s University of Georgia QB just bought with NIL money. Club seats at RJ are a similar luxury item. The home theater option is a great alternative.
April 19th, 2024 at 9:05 pm
I just wish they were at least a little bit handicapped friendly.
Capt Tim is terminally iIll, and now confined to a wheelchair.
I have not found a Handicapped seat available on ticketmaster in years.
This forces the now retired me to either pay for VERY expensive seats, or stop going to see the Bucs.
Ive been going to Buc games since year one, until the last few seasons.
Come Bucs. Help a long time fan out, and have a few more handicap accessible seats!
ADA Fellas, help a crippled brother out. Im not asking for freebees. Just a seat I can roll to, without going up or down stairs( not advisable in a wheelchair)
April 19th, 2024 at 9:05 pm
Has anyone looked at the price of ANY event? Bucs Tickets are fairly reasonable, Lighting have 41 games at a similar price range, season tickets are a Crazy amount for them. And the bottom rung of concerts are 50+ dollars. WAKE UP BOOMERS, it isn’t 1998 anymore, stuff is more expensive now.
April 19th, 2024 at 10:08 pm
Mike C.,
Buc tickets are a little more expensive than the Lightning, Magic, or Rays.
But I go to see allof those teams. All have Wheelchair seats available( which means there isnt a seat! Lol)
Only the Bucs never have handicapped seats
Only 2 answers
Bucs are HUGE with us crippled folk
Or
The Bucs dont like us crippled folk, and dont provide aquate seating.
Dont know why they would dislike us. We dont start trouble(cant run away)
Tend to eat more( long walk to concessions is just another roll for us), and you can prevent us from going anywhere with just a curb, or and 6” barrier.
( wheelchairs cant “step over” or “jump”)
April 20th, 2024 at 7:00 am
EasyEd, all excellent points you made, but way too many facts and logic for the orange guy tribe to comprehend.
April 20th, 2024 at 9:20 am
Bucs games are no longer priced for the ‘Average Joe’.
April 20th, 2024 at 12:41 pm
I have had the same tickets for 20 years. 13 rows off the field on home side. over the last 4 years my ticket prices have increase 300% and after this year I will have to move to a less expensive section. This and requiring bucs fans to pay monthly payments starting in august for the following year. Think about that.. having to pay for 2025 games before even seeing the 2024 version. The 1st increase they said tom brady and superbowl, then when brady left they increase 56% and they said it wasn’t all about brady. Fans have to resell the best games to be able to afford the cheaper games
April 20th, 2024 at 2:59 pm
I can’t believe someone mentioned the gold standard. Theres more gold in the nearest asteroid than has ever been mined in human history in just one of them. There are more than 1 million asteroids in the solar system.
Figure it out.
April 20th, 2024 at 9:54 pm
Of course they’re too expensive, all the teams are. The salaries keep going up, so the prices keep going up.
To take a family of four- in the cheap seats! – is insane.
By the time you pay for tickets, Parking, some refreshments, you’re not walking out of the stadium without dropping $550 minimum.
It is why I no longer have season tickets and only go to one game a year with some friends.
April 20th, 2024 at 9:57 pm
As for all the idiots, on both sides of the aisle, trying to blame presidents for ticket prices, get real. It has nothing to do with politics.
All the sporting events have seen their ticket prices skyrocket over the past 15 years. It is because the salaries have been skyrocketing for the players so the owners jack up prices
The cost of refreshments is insane. Paying $12-$16 for a beer.
The answer are simple, watch on TV and don’t go.
April 21st, 2024 at 11:03 am
Duh, the ticket doesn’t factor in the expense of everything else. Food cost 3 to 4 times that of ANYWHERE ELSE! Gas is insane, and yes Dopey David, politics plays a roll. When getting there costs more, food costs more, EVERYTHING COSTS MORE! The expense is out of control and all PARTIES are to blame, including the Glazers.