Detroit Lions Are The 3rd-Cheapest Team to Root For In The NFL

There are three facts to life these days: Death, Taxes and any event that requires a ticket is unreasonably expensive. If you've ever been to an NFL game, you know that it's an expensive experience, even after you secure a ticket to the game.

You gotta park the car, you gotta eat, and you may just want a souvenir because after this bank-breaking experience, who knows when you'll be back. Hope you don't put too much stock into your team actually winning the game, or this could really be one expensive letdown of a day.

Unless you're a Detroit Lions fan.

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Sure, seeing the Lions in person at Ford Field is not a particularly cheap experience, just like any NFL game, but there is a silver lining in the playbook. The Detroit Lions are the third-cheapest team to root for in-stadium throughout the NFL.

According to USBettingReport, taking a family of four to Ford Field to see the Lions play costs just under $500 and only the Arizona Cardinals and Cincinnati Bengals are cheaper across the league. The 'Fan Cost' index (USBettingReport's calculation of the prices of four average-price tickets, two small draft beers, four small soft drinks, four regular-size hot dogs, parking for one hour, two game programs, and the two least-expensive, adult-size adjustable caps) for Lions fans comes out to just $496.98.

The average NFL fan can expect to spend about $600 to attend a game, so Lions fans are really catching a bargain.

Of course, it could've been easy to joke in the past that seeing the Lions should be cheap because the team is usually terrible. Who wants to drop $600 to watch their team lose once, let alone eight times? Fortunately for the 2023 season, that doesn't appear to be the case. The team is the betting favorite to win the division and Dan Campbell is the favorite to win coach of the year on several sportsbooks.

Still, 10 years ago, when the Lions were still pretty bad, it cost a bit over $400 to see the team at home. With just a 23.2% increase over the decade, the Lions had one of the softest increases across the league as the average increase over that time is 37%.

That might have something to do with Ford Field being a bit more settled in as a home stadium. The most expensive team to see on their home turf? The Las Vegas Raiders with a Fan Cost index of $738.36, fans of the Silver and Black saw a 93.3% increase when the team moved to the desert and built the 'Death Star' that is Allegiant Stadium.

Curious about the rest of the NFC North? The rest of the division are some of the most expensive experiences in the league. The Minnesota Vikings are the next cheapest to the Lions, $606.38, the 12-most expensive in the NFL and a 45.8% over the decade. The Chicago Bears are next, $677.43 is the 6th-most expensive in the league with a 11.3% increase over the decade. Finally, the Green Bay Packers are the NFL's fourth-most expensive team to see at home. Lambeau Field runs those cheeseheads $691.42 to watch the Packers, and that's a 54.3% increase over the past 10 years, also the most in the division.