Bears raise ticket prices for 2019 season, go to mobile tickets exclusively

Win the NFC North, have one of the brightest young teams in the NFL, and allow Khalil Mack to reign terror in only ways he can, and you have the recipe for good business.

On Friday, the Bears announced that they are raising ticket prices for the 2019 season on an average of four percent. For season ticket holders, the prices will invariably range across nine tiers. After Chicago had frozen ticket price raises for three of the last four years (justifiably so considering an eminently poor product on the field), this was an inevitability after a division title campaign.

Of arguably more important note than the ticket price increase was that the Bears announced they’re also going to mobile tickets exclusively. Gone are the days of haphazardly folding up your printed stub and mashing it into your pocket. In is a new era of (probably) using the Bears mobile app and hoping your phone stays charged throughout the game. The easy conclusion to draw with this change is not that it protects against fraud (though that is undoubtedly a factor), but that it gives the Bears direct and accurate data about fans, like who is actually occupying the space at Soldier Field.

There’s a price to see Mitchell Trubisky rifle dime passes to Allen Robinson and Taylor Gabriel, to watch Khalil Mack sack quarterbacks with his butt (back) and Akiem Hicks bully offensive linemen with his bullrush, and to have the opportunity to see Eddie Jackson break some poor team’s heart. To do all of that in Chicago, you’re going to have to shell out a little bit more dough. That’s the price to pay for a winner, let alone a Super Bowl contender.

Robert is the Editor-in-chief of The Blitz Network (subscribe here!), the managing editor of Windy City Gridiron, and writes for a host of other fine publications. You can follow him on Twitter @RobertZeglinski.