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.
