Buccaneers vs. Patriots 2021: Record Ticket Prices For Tom Brady’s Return To New England

Sunday’s matchup between the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and New England Patriots is in the running for the most highly anticipated regular-season game in NFL history. Tickets are being sold at record prices for fans to witness Tom Brady’s return to Foxborough.

A sold-out crowd of nearly 66,000 people will be at Gillette Stadium to welcome back the quarterback who won six championships with the Patriots. Many of those fans are purchasing their seats on the secondary ticket market, where tickets are being re-sold for thousands of dollars.

“It’s definitely the highest price,” April Martin of Ace Ticket, a Boston-based ticket agency, told CBS Boston. “I've been with Ace for 20 years. I’ve never seen a regular-season football game sell for as high as this one.”

“We knew the Bucs were coming here, we just didn’t know the date. As soon as the date was set it’s been full speed ahead ever since.”

According to StubHub, Sunday’s game in New England is the most sought-after ticket of the 2021 season, out-selling Tampa Bay’s opener against the Dallas Cowboys by 20%. The cheapest available ticket can be had for $285, while the average listed price is $1,222.

Earlier in the week, TickPick said the average purchase price was $1,236 per ticket, making it 79% more expensive than the next most expensive home game on record. It dwarfs the average purchase price of $312 for other Patriots’ games this season.

The NFL officially released its 2021 schedule for every team on May 12. Shortly after the date for Brady’s return was announced, Ticketmaster listed ticket prices ranging from $1,200 to $5,100 for Sunday’s matchup, making it immediately the most expensive regular-season game in history.

Brady’s last game in New England was Jan. 4, 2020. The Tennessee Titans upset the Patriots 20-13 in the wild-card round of the playoffs.

In his first season away from the Patriots, Brady led Tampa Bay to a Super Bowl championship, winning his record seventh title and fifth Super Bowl MVP award. New England missed the playoffs for the first time since the 2008 season.

The Bucs are 2-1 to start the season. The Patriots, now led by rookie quarterback Mac Jones, who was 2 when Brady made his NFL debut, have lost two of their first three games.