Green Bay Packers-Minnesota Vikings ticket prices fall, while Packers-Lions prices change little
Richard Ryman
GREEN BAY - There wasn't much chance the Green Bay Packers would host an unmotivated Minnesota Vikings team to start the new year.
Either the Vikings were going to come into the game fighting for a playoff birth or they were going to be severely ticked off and want to take it out on the Packers, with the added benefit of imperiling Green Bay's run for No. 1 seed in the NFC.
As it happens, it likely will be both.
The average lowest get-in price for the Sunday Night Football game was $155 on Monday, $18 less than last week. Prices are determined by averaging the lowest prices at 10 secondary market websites.
Ticket prices normally drop in the week before a game, and this drop also might be influenced by the fact that most people who wanted to attend the game had already made their purchases.
Last-minute purchases might also be restrained by the weather forecast, which calls for the most Frozen Tundra conditions of the season: clear skies and temperatures for the day ranging from zero to 15 degrees. By the 7:20 p.m. start time, it will be on the colder end of that range.
The 12-3 Packers are one game ahead of the Dallas Cowboys, Los Angeles Rams and Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the battle for No. 1 seed, which means a first-week bye and home field advantage for the remaining games.
The Vikings are 7-8 and are one of four teams that still have a shot at one of two wild card berths. The Vikings lost to Los Angeles 30-23 on Sunday, the 14th time this season one of their games was decided by eight points or less.
The Vikings defeated the Packers 34-31 in Minneapolis on Nov. 21, the second consecutive time Green Bay lost to Minnesota, which is responsible for two of coach Matt LaFleur's nine regular season losses in three years.
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That makes Sunday night's game a must-win for the Vikings and a life-would-be-better-all-around-with-a-win game for the Packers.
Mostly, the Packers must stay ahead of the surging Dallas Cowboys and former Green Bay coach Mike McCarthy. The Cowboys pummeled Washington 56-14 on Sunday but finish the season with fading but presumably still dangerous Arizona (10-4) and Philadelphia (8-7), which has a three-game winning streak and a playoff shot.
The Packers wrap up their regular season against the Lions in Detroit. The Packers will have finished the season playing Detroit five times in the last six years, four times at Ford Field. The Packers are 2-2 in the four end-of-year games that have been played.
The average lowest price for the game is $61, the highest in the last few months. Granted, it's only $1 higher than at the beginning of December, but the incremental improvement tracks with the Lions' on-field performance.
Detroit is a woeful 2-12-1, but as the season winds down, the Lions have shown signs that first-year coach Dan Campbell might be making progress on what is an ongoing turnaround project. The Lions are 2-4-1 over their last seven games and three of the losses were by four points or less.
And for those who are wondering, the lowest average get-in price for a divisional round game at Lambeau Field was a highly speculative $195 on Monday, given that playoff matchups are not set. Green Bay Packers season ticket holders claimed all the playoff tickets, so the only source of tickets for non-season ticket holders will be the secondary market.
Last week's recap
Green Bay Packers 24, Cleveland Browns 22
Stadium: Lambeau Field
Attendance: 77,901
Records: Packers 12-3, Browns 7-8
Los Angeles Rams 30, Minnesota Vikings 23
Stadium: U.S. Bank Stadium, Minneapolis
Attendance: 66,708
Records: Rams 11-4, Vikings 7-8
Ticket prices
The following are secondary market ticket prices as of Monday.
For our look at Packers' tickets prices, we averaged the lowest ticket prices at 10 secondary market websites: Event USA, Gametime, Green Bay Ticket Service, SeatGeek, StubHub, TicketIQ, Ticketmaster, TickPick, Ticket King and Vivid Seats.
Note that ticket marketplaces can add fees on top of listed prices, so actual costs might be higher.
Jan. 2, 7:20 p.m., Minnesota Vikings, Lambeau Field, Sunday Night Football, NBC
Face-price range: $118-$149
Average lowest-cost seat: $155
Range of lowest-cost seat: $120-$181
COVID-19 protocols: Masks recommended indoors for everyone and for unvaccinated fans in crowded outdoor settings.
Jan. 9, noon, Detroit Lions, Ford Field, Fox
Face-price range: N/A
Average lowest-cost seat: $61
Range of lowest-cost seat: $49-$79
COVID-19 protocols: Ford Field recommends masks for all guests, including those who are fully vaccinated, for all indoor locations, as recommended by the City of Detroit Health Department.
Contact Richard Ryman at (920) 431-8342 or rryman@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter at @RichRymanPG, on Instagram at @rrymanPG or on Facebook at www.facebook.com/RichardRymanPG/.