Fans stand for the national anthem before the Indianapolis Colts and Buffalo Bills preseason NFL game in Toronto in 2010.Mike Groll/The Associated Press
Rogers Communications has dropped the price of a National Football League ticket for a December game between the Buffalo Bills and Seattle Seahawks in Toronto, slashing the cost by as much as 50 per cent for some seats in an attempt to draw more fans to the Rogers Centre.
The game is the last in a five-year deal between the league and the communications company that saw the Bills travel north for one pre-season and one regular season game a year. The pre-season game was cancelled for 2012, because of a lack of availability at the Rogers Centre.
The company said it is in negotiations to extend the partnership with the team, but said "there is no further update at this time."
The regular season games have attracted just over 50,000 fans each. Rogers said Wednesday that it felt it needed to adjust prices this year to get fans to the game. The company has adjusted prices lower every season, and called the new pricing "right for today's environment."
"These ticket prices are now more in line with the average NFL ticket price and are the right price point for this market," said senior vice-president of sales and marketing Dale Hooper. "After four seasons of Bills in Toronto, we were able to establish some key learnings."
While the cheap seats in the 500 level are only 4 per cent cheaper at $48, field level seats have dropped by 49 per cent to the $85 range. Overall, the price of tickets are 35 per cent lower than last year. Anyone who bought tickets as part of a package will receive a discount.
Bills executive vice-president of strategic planning Mary Owen called the price cuts "a significant step in the right direction to help us re-engage with our fans … the new fan-friendly pricing structure gives us a better opportunity to have our most passionate fans from the region support the Bills in Toronto."
The game is December 16.