When the Detroit Lions raised season ticket prices for the second straight year, many fans understandably had some questions. And while the team is riding high after a pair of playoff runs and unprecedented demand, it’s clear not everyone appreciated how team president Rod Wood addressed the price hike.
In fact, one local journalist thinks Wood missed the mark — in a big way.
Rod Wood’s Confident Claim… That Raised Eyebrows
At the NFL’s Annual League Meetings, Wood told reporters that season ticket renewals were at 98%, and the team had more than 20,000 fans on the waiting list. He even claimed he hadn’t heard a single complaint about prices going up.
“Unlike prior years, I never got a single complaint this year about anybody’s ticket price going up,” Wood said.
He went on to say that any pushback he did receive came from ticket brokers who were flipping seats for profit — not from everyday fans.
“We did get some complaints from some people who we identified as really being brokers. … The biggest complaints I got were the people who had their tickets taken away from them because they now can’t resell them and make money.”
Detroit News Writer: Rod Wood is “Tone Deaf”
That didn’t sit well with Detroit News Lions beat writer Nolan Bianchi, who shared his thoughts on the latest episode of the Gritiron Gang podcast.
“I do not think it’s a very good thing to say that you didn’t get a single complaint about the ticket prices going up,” Bianchi said as quoted by Lions OnSI. “I think it’s a little bit tone deaf to the reality of the situation.”
According to Bianchi, plenty of fans are frustrated — especially long-time season ticket holders now feeling priced out of the stadium. Even though some fans are selling a few games here and there just to afford their seats, they risk having their tickets revoked under the team’s current rules.
“Now it’s kind of like a chicken or the egg situation — if you sell too many, you can get them taken away, even though you still want to have the season tickets and go to games.”
Bianchi: “You Hate to See Real Fans Get Priced Out”
Bianchi didn’t hold back. While acknowledging the demand and resale market are real factors, he took issue with Wood’s implication that genuine fans weren’t complaining.
“You hate to see real fans get priced out of their season tickets, especially the ones who have been season ticket holders for decades,” Bianchi said. “I just… I thought that was the wrong thing to say.”
And with the average resale price for Lions tickets last season reportedly hitting $404, the highest in the NFL, it’s safe to assume this conversation isn’t going away anytime soon.
“Given how I think every single year they do this, it’s probably going to come up. I thought he could have had a better response to that,” Bianchi added. “I kind of almost couldn’t believe that he said that.”
The Bottom Line
The Lions are finally winners again — but success comes with growing pains. As the buzz builds for 2025, so too does frustration from a loyal fanbase that’s being asked to dig deeper into their wallets.
And when it comes to communication, as Bianchi put it, maybe Rod Wood should have read the room.
