Category: Ford Field

The former QuickLane Bowl in Ford Field has a new title sponsor

The GameAbove Sports Bowl is the new name for the annual bowl game played right after Christmas in Ford Field

For years, the Detroit Lions and Ford Field have hosted a college football bowl game right after Christmas. It’s been known as the QuickLane Bowl for the past 10 years, with the automotive chain as the title sponsor.

It is no longer the QuickLane Bowl, or the Little Caesar’s Bowl as it was beforehand. The Lions revealed that a new title sponsor has taken over the game. The contest will now be known as the GameAbove Sports Bowl.

In a press release, current Lions broadcaster and former Detroit offensive lineman T.J. Lang–a brand representative for GameAbove, laid out the change,

“We are thrilled to align ourselves with such a wonderful sports event and part of the college bowl season,” said TJ Lang, former NFL player, Detroit Lions radio broadcaster, and an ambassador for GameAbove. “This partnership reflects GameAbove’s mission and dedication to sports, while showcasing and creating opportunities for the next generation of athletes. This also expands GameAbove’s presence in Detroit. As a group, we’ve been fortunate to contribute to various academic, wellness and sports initiatives across the region. We’re just as excited about the community outreach tied to this bowl game as to what will take place on the field on December 26.”

Ticket information for the newly christened GameAbove Sports Bowl will be available soon.

Lions have highest average ticket price on secondary market in 2024

Lions are hot ticket in 2024, averaging highest get-in price

Everyone wants to see the Detroit Lions this season. The team is officially in a Super Bowl window, and fans want to experience the ride with them. That experience will now come at a cost.

According to SportsCasting.com, the Lions have the highest average ticket prices on the secondary market for the 2024 season at $254. The site based its rankings on data compiled from SeatGeek.

The Lions are one of only four teams with an average ticket price of at least $200. The others are the Las Vegas Raiders ($243), Philadelphia Eagles ($224) and San Francisco 49ers ($204). On the flip side, the team with the lowest average ticket is the New Orleans Saints at $43, followed by the Jacksonville Jaguars at $48.

The cheapest single ticket for Detroit’s opener next Sunday night against the Los Angeles Rams is going for $270 on Ticketmaster. That said, if the Lions’ preseason home game against the Pittsburgh Steelers is any indication, Lions fans are going to pay whatever to fill Ford Field.

It may be costly, but it’s going to be a party all season in Detroit, starting on Sept. 8.

Dan Campbell comments on the strong Ford Field crowd for preseason finale

Dan Campbell comments on strong home crowd for preseason finale

The Detroit Lions have one of the best fanbases in the entire NFL. They even flock to a preseason game in which the quarterbacks were Hendon Hooker and Jake Fromm.

51,976 members of the Lions’ following made the trip to Ford Field for Detroit’s preseason finale against the Pittsburgh Steelers, a game won by the Lions 24-17 to finish the preseason 2-1. It was Detroit’s lone home game of the preseason. But if this was any indication, Ford Field will be rocking this season, starting in two weeks on Sunday Night Football when the Lions host the Los Angeles Rams in a rematch of last season’s NFC Wild Card Playoff.

Head coach Dan Campbell acknowledged the crowd during his postgame press conference.

“Our fans, this was crazy,” Campbell said. “We’re not even to the regular season yet. You talk about home-field advantage, you can only imagine what this is gonna be like two weeks from now on Sunday night. We just gotta keep doing our job, because they’re gonna do their part.”

The Lions open the 2024 season with back-to-back home games, both playoff rematches in fact. After the Rams in Week 1, it’s a rematch of the NFC Divisional Playoff against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The Lions also have home primetime/national games in Week 4 (Monday night vs. Seahawks), Week 13 (Thanksgiving vs. Bears) and Week 14 (Thursday night vs. Packers).

Ford Field set a new noise volume record in Lions win over the Rams

Ford Field set a new noise volume record in Lions win over the Rams

In an unprecedented event for Ford Field, the Detroit Lions nearly blew the roof off of their downtown home. The Lions playoff win over the visiting Los Angeles Rams on Sunday night marked the loudest sound ever measured in Ford Field during a game.

Per MLive’s Kyle Meinke, the crowd volume registered with a decibel level of 133.6. That shattered the old Ford Field record by over five decibels. Meinke notes the volume during the final Jared Goff kneel-down in victory formation was well over the previous decibel level, which was established in Week 2 of this season against the Seahawks.

That decibel level is louder than the Metallica concert in Ford Field, for reference.

Lions ticket resale values have skyrocketed for 2023

The Lions only increased ticket prices by an average of 4%, but the resale market has spiked up over 100% from 2022

If you’re using the secondary market to find tickets for the Detroit Lions in 2023, expect to pay a lot more than in recent years.

The data from TicketSmarter shows the Lions have had a major spike in the average cost of resale tickets. The average real market value for Lions tickets in Ford Field in 2022 was $147. That has more than doubled for 2023 to $302.

Demand drive the price increase. The average ticket price for the Lions increased just 4%, according to team president Rod Wood this offseason. However, resale markets and pricing isn’t tied to the face value of the ticket. The buzz around the Lions after their strong finish and impressive draft and free agency haul has left fans willing to pay significantly more to see the team in person.

It’s important to note the franchise itself does not profit from the resale of tickets.

The USFL’s Michigan Panthers will now play in Ford Field

The Michigan Panthers will call Ford Field home for the 2023 USFL season

The Michigan Panthers will play their home games in Michigan in 2023. The USFL announced that the team will call Ford Field home for the league’s second season.

The Panthers, like all USFL teams, played in Alabama in the first season of the reincarnated USFL. Detroit will also be the home for the Philadelphia Stars as the USFL experiments with a pod-based schedule. Along with Detroit, two teams each will play in Canton, OH, Birmingham and Memphis for the 2023 season.

The home schedule kicks off the final weekend in April. The Panthers are coached by longtime NFL head coach Jeff Fisher and finished 2-8 in the 2021 campaign.

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Ford Field is getting new turf installed very soon

Ford Field won’t host any neutral-site playoff games because the Lions are installing new turf

The NFL is mulling the possibility of a neutral site for the AFC Championship game in the wake of the cancellation of the Bills/Bengals game in Week 17. Detroit’s proven ability to accommodate teams as a neutral site venue made Ford Field a distinct possibility to host the game, but it won’t happen.

Per Ian Rapoport of the NFL Network, Ford Field will be unavailable to host the game. That’s because the Lions are replacing the field turf inside the stadium in January, a process they previously set up. Detroit cannot host any playoff games even if the Lions make the postseason, as the Lions would be the No. 7 seed and on the road for any playoff dates.

Ford Field has had the same turf since 2019, when FieldTurf was installed over the course of a month in the offseason. Details on the new playing surface are not yet public.

Additional reports indicate the NFL wants the game to be at an outdoor venue since none of the AFC playoff teams play home games in a dome.

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Ford Field will host the Browns vs. Bills on Sunday

The NFL moved Sunday’s Browns-Bills game from Buffalo to Ford Field in Detroit due to snow

There will be NFL football in Detroit in Week 11, but it won’t be the Lions playing at Ford Field. The NFL moved Sunday’s Browns-Bills game from Buffalo to Ford Field in Detroit due to expected snowfall and weather conditions in Buffalo.

It’s the second time the Bills have relocated for a week to Detroit. With the Bills on the Thanksgiving menu in Detroit four days later, Ford Field made the most sense, aside from also being a short drive from Cleveland. Up to five feet of snow is expected in the Buffalo area between now and Sunday.

Tickets for fans in Detroit will be made available. Sunday’s game will kick at 1 pm ET. The Lions will be playing the Giants in New York at that time.

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Ford Field home to the NFL’s least expensive beer

The Detroit Lions have the least expensive beer concessions in the NFL

Ford Field is the home of the Detroit Lions. It’s also the home of the least expensive beer in the NFL.

According to American Craft Beer, the Lions are one of three teams tied for the cheapest price for a beer in the NFL. Fans can get a beer for just $5 at Ford Field, as well as the home stadiums for the New York Jets and Atlanta Falcons. Note that the brand and size of beer were not specified. The Lions offer several different beer choices throughout Ford Field.

Interestingly, the Jets and Giants share the same home stadium but the beer costs more than double the price ($11) when attending a Giants game. The home of the Washington Commanders charges the most at $14 for a beer.