National Football League

Lions fans expected to have solid presence at NFC title game vs. 49ers

Published Jan. 24, 2024 4:28 p.m. ET

The Lions are hitting the road for the first time this postseason, and it appears many of their rabid fans are following them.

Lions fans are expected to make up 22% of those in attendance for Sunday's NFC title game against the 49ers in Santa Clara (6:30 p.m. ET on FOX and the FOX Sports app), according to Vivid Seats' "Fan Forecast" as of Wednesday afternoon. That number is a notable increase from what it was on Tuesday, when it was at 18%. Vivid Seats, a ticket resale and exchange website, uses an algorithm with its proprietary data to determine the percentage of fans for each team will be in the venue.

That number is a dramatic increase for the number of Packers fans who attended last week's Divisional Round game against the 49ers in San Francisco. Only 3% of the ticketed attendance at Levi Stadium was made up of Packers fans, according to Vivid Seats' "Fan Forecast."

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With Lions fans expected to arrive in Santa Clara in droves, the ticket prices for Sunday's game are, naturally, high. The average sold ticket price for Sunday's game is $941 on Vivid Seats, making it the second-hottest ticket for an NFC title game since 2011. It only trails last year's 49ers-Eagles NFC title game by just $33 ($974) for the highest average sold ticket.

Additionally, the average sold ticket price for Sunday's NFC Championship Game is notably higher than the one for its AFC counterpart. The average sold ticket price for the Chiefs-Ravens game in Baltimore is $658 as of Wednesday, making the average sold ticket price for the NFC Championship Game 43% more expensive. The current get-in price for Sunday's game in Santa Clara is $448.

Lions fans have grown accustomed to shelling out major cash in order to attend their team's games so far this postseason. The average ticket price for the NFC wild-card game against the Rams was approximately $675 while the average ticket price for the NFC Divisional Round win against the Buccaneers was approximately $1,180, according to FOX Sports Research.

As ticket prices to attend Lions games have grown, they've become the most expensive team to watch in person among the four teams remaining in the postseason. The average sold ticket price this season for Lions games is $291, which is $12 higher than the highest average sold ticket price for Chiefs games this season, according to Vivid Seats.

The story of Lions fans has added an extra element to the NFL postseason this year. Their 24-23 win over the Rams was the first playoff game the Lions have hosted since 1991. It also marked the first time the Lions have hosted two games in the same postseason in franchise history.

Lions fans have seized the opportunity to use the home-field advantage for their team's benefit. They recorded a 134.3-decibel record at Ford Field during Sunday's win against the Buccaneers, reaching that crowd noise after Baker Mayfield threw the game-sealing interception, MLive.com reported. Ford Field's new decibel record only trails the Chiefs' Arrowhead Stadium (142.2), the Seahawks' Lumen Field (137.6) and the Saints' Superdome (136.6) for the loudest in the NFL.

The Lions depicted the moment the fans set the decibel record at Ford Field in a social media post shortly after their win.

Several other media members also shared how the moment sounded from the press box and stands at Ford Field, including FOX Sports' Jenny Taft, who attended the game as a fan.

It'll obviously be tough for Lions fans to replicate that crowd noise away from home, but isn't unreasonable to expect those who made the cross-country trip to be loud in Santa Clara come Sunday night.