New England Patriots fans will need to shell out more money to watch their team at Gillette Stadium next season.
In an email Wednesday to season-ticket holders, the Patriots announced they are raising all ticket prices for 2023 home games.
It's the franchise's first stadium-wide price hike in 15 years, with the last occurring ahead of the 2008 season, and it comes after New England posted a losing record and missed the playoffs for the second time in three years. The Patriots have not won a postseason game since defeating the Los Angeles Rams in Super Bowl LIII in February 2019.
One day after the Patriots' 2022 season ended with a Week 18 loss in Buffalo, team owner Robert Kraft wrote in a message to season-ticket holders that "no one in our organization is satisfied with the results from this past season" and pledged to make "critical evaluations of all elements of our football operation as we strive to improve and return to the playoffs next year."
Days later, the Patriots issued an unprecedented statement indicating they were working on a long-term extension for well-regarded linebackers coach Jerod Mayo and initiating a search for a new offensive coordinator. Mayo subsequently turned down defensive coordinator and head-coaching interviews to stay in New England, and the Patriots hired Bill O'Brien as their OC and quarterbacks coach, replacing the much-maligned duo of Matt Patricia and Joe Judge.
Despite boasting one of the NFL's top defenses this season, New England lost three of its final four games and five of its last seven to finish with an 8-9 record.
According to a study conducted by Finance Buzz, the Patriots had the NFL's second-highest average ticket price for home games during the 2021 season, trailing only the Las Vegas Raiders. Interest in the team waned late in 2022, with tickets to a bitterly cold Christmas Eve matchup with Joe Burrow and the Cincinnati Bengals going for as little as $20 on the secondary market.
In announcing their ticket-price increase, the Patriots also detailed a new parking structure that will be implemented for the upcoming season. All team-owned parking lots on the opposite side of Route 1 now will be free of charge, and fans who choose to park in a newly designated "delayed-release lot" and agree to wait 75 minutes after the game before departing will receive a $50 Visa gift card.
ESPN's Mike Reiss shared additional parking details from the team's email:
A $225 million renovation that will overhaul Gillette Stadium's north end zone is scheduled to be complete in time for the 2023 season. The Patriots will play at Gillette eight times next season, with their ninth scheduled "home" game taking place in Germany.
