Victory has a price for Lions season ticket holders — but they're willing to pay

After the Lions first playoff win in more than 30 years, Natalie Garrett posted to Facebook a photo of herself in front of Ford field, grinning, in a fuzzy, Honolulu blue coat and cap with a pouncing predatory cat.

She noted that, as a first-time season ticket holder, she had no regrets, adding: "Let’s go Lions!" if it wasn’t clear enough from what she was wearing which team she hoped to beat the Tampa Bay Bucs on Sunday and end up going to, and winning, the Super Bowl.

Detroit is roaring with pride, excitement and optimism.

And yet, victory has a price. In this case, it’s what fans will be paying for tickets.

Last month, the Free Press reported that one fan, for instance, felt the sting of season ticket sticker shock. Jeff Paxton got his renewal invoice for the next season and the bill for tickets that have been in his family since the 1950s went up, from $5,536 to $13,616.

Not every season ticket holder got walloped with such a steep increase.

In the report, Paxton said he usually sells some of the game tickets at a profit to help offset the price of the season, and now, perhaps, when he does, he will be able to charge more for them.

To make games more affordable, many season ticket holders also form what are essentially small co-ops, groups of close-knit family and friends, to split up and share the cost and tickets. Better digital technology has made it even easier for people to buy and sell tickets electronically.

Season ticket holders have found that sitting in the same section year after year has allowed them to develop friendships with others near them, enhancing the game experience all that much more.

There also are online virtual communities of ticket holders.

One private Facebook group, "Detroit Lions Season Ticket holders," has 1,200 members. Folks in it share photos and videos of themselves at games and offer brag posts. One guy declared: "I am the world’s BIGGEST Lions Fan!!!!!" In another post, he announced his young son has "been to EVERY Lions home game since he was born!!"

And members let each other know if they need to sell or want to buy game tickets.

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In the past decade, the Lions also have spent millions to enhance the game day experience, adding improved Wi-Fi, brighter lighting, crisper sound, faster entrances, special seating and cheerleaders.

The upgrades, fans say, have created a vibe they just can’t get from the comfort of home.

That was what, the Lions — and the entire league, really — was after. A decade ago, the NFL began to worry ticket sales were at risk, with an at-home viewing experience that included giant screen TVs, favorite foods, cold beers and, of course, no-line bathrooms.

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In 2014, for instance, a year when the Lions went to the playoffs, Lions games had an average attendance of 63,024. In 2015, the year before the Lions began pushing to improve the stadium experience, attendance dropped to 61,347.

This season, attendance is back up, averaging 65,081.

A Corewell Health nurse and lifelong fan, Garrett said she finally became a season ticket holder after years of watching the Lions at her suburban home on TV and taking her two kids, Grace and Colin, to Thanksgiving Day games, because of some math.

For not too much more than the price of three tickets to one game, the single mom in her 50s said, she could buy two season tickets to all of them.

Besides, she said she figured, it would be a fitting way to spend time with her son, who is in his senior year of high school, and next year will be going off to college. And now, she said, despite the recent 30% jump in prices for next season, she’s hooked.

Of course, there is a price at which season tickets, if they keep going up, will become unaffordable. But, they aren’t there yet, she said, and she’s already purchased her tickets for next season.

She also requested to move her seats a section or two section over, from 121 to 122 or 123, to be a little closer to the 50-yard line for an even better view of all the action on the field.

But the change that has made the biggest difference to fans is, as the fight song puts it, "a Lion victory!" — several of them.

The evidence: Even with the ticket price hike, next year’s season tickets already are sold out with an ever-growing waitlist. And many places, including where Garrett works, encouraged employees on Friday to wear their Lions gear.

And Garrett said she loves waking up on Mondays after a Lions win.

Despite the cold weather this week, it feels as if the entire state — if not the nation ― is filled with warmth, as America's most resilient football fans stand and cheer the brave, singing "Rah, Rah, Rah. Go hard, win the game."

Contact Frank Witsil: 313-222-5022 or fwitsil@freepress.com.

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Detroit Lions fans agree to pay higher season ticket prices after wins