Psst.
Need a ticket to the big game?
It’s gonna cost you.
Tickets are $7 to watch St. Vincent-St. Mary’s cross-county rival game against Walsh Jesuit Friday night.
Price too steep? You can always save a few bucks and head to Cleveland to watch the Browns take on the Chicago Bears.
The tickets for the high school game are more than double the bargain basement price to see the Browns on Thursday night at FirstEnergy Stadium.
Browns tickets are as low as $3 on VividSeats.com and as little as $6 on StubHub.
Heck, even Groupon is peddling a deal from another ticket broker for the final NFL exhibition game for as little as $7.97.
Browns spokesman Rob McBurnett points out the cheap tickets are in the secondary market.
Tickets are still available from the Browns in most sections of the stadium with exception of the Dog Pound for Thursday’s game.
A losing record so far in the preseason and the fact they haven’t posted a winning record since 2007 certainly doesn’t help inflate the aftermarket price.
The lackluster demand doesn’t come as a surprise, said Mark Klang, of Mayfield Village-based Amazing Tickets.
“This game is no different than any of the preseason games over the last 15-plus years that falls on the Thursday before Labor Day,” he said. “Prices for these games are always around 20 cents on the dollar in comparison to the regular season ticket price.”
Klang said there are several factors in play. The game falls on a school night in the middle of the work week and the fact the starters are typically sidelined are two reasons for the lack of demand.
“Preseason games for struggling football teams are always difficult,” he said.
Akron Browns Backers President Jim Iona said he believes the Browns don’t help matters by not offering creative giveaways or promotions for the preseason games in which the starters either sit on the sidelines or don’t play at all.
“You can’t sell tomatoes off an empty cart,” said Iona who is also a councilman in Munroe Falls.
Iona said he only has tickets for the regular season because the preseason games are essentially “meaningless.”
“You could play 7-year olds and generate more excitement,” he said.
On the bright side, Klang said, it looks to be a “seller’s market” during the regular season.
“This is due to the opponents and of course nothing to do with the success of the Browns,” he said. “If the Browns were expected to compete, it would be off of the charts.”
With some predictions that the Browns will win as few as one regular season game, Klang said, the opponents are driving up prices.
“Despite the low expectations, this is shaping up to be our strongest Browns season from a secondary ticket sales standpoint since 2008,” he said. “With the Patriots — this is one of our top-five strongest games [in terms of demand for tickets] since the Browns have returned — Cowboys and both New York teams [all playing in Cleveland] we are seeing a huge spike in demand and prices.”
Craig Webb, who hopes to find enough spare change in his car to attend a Browns game, can be reached at cwebb@thebeaconjournal.com or 330-996-3547.