For many Steelers fans, there is nothing like watching their favorite team perform in person at Acrisure Stadium in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Some fans have the blessing of catching many games each season while others make the trek to the Steel City only once or twice in a lifetime.

For those Steelers fans were looking to take in a game in Pittsburgh in 2024, expect an increase in ticket prices compared to the 2023 season.

Although ticket sales are months away as the NFL must first released the 2024 schedule which, in recent years, has come following the NFL draft, prices for the various tiers of tickets are available for season ticket holders. As recently as 10 years ago, the Steelers used to charge the same amount per ticket regardless of the opponent or if the game was regular season or preseason. Now the Steelers have a tiered system which consists of Preseason, Gold, Black, and Premier.

The logic behind the tiered system is quite advantageous for season ticket holders as the average cost per game remains fairly steady with preseason tickets being less expensive. In the past when preseason games were the same price as regular season games, there was little incentive for fans to buy tickets from the Steelers at full price while many season ticket holders were looking to unload their seats for a reduced value just to recoup something. In the current system, preseason games are greatly reduced while the price of certain high-profile matchups are higher than other games.

When it comes to how much ticket sales have increased for 2024, it is not a blanket increase across all tiers or even necessarily across payment categories. The Steelers have 24 different payment categories when it comes to tickets throughout the stadium based on where the seas are located. Just because a price is increased a given percentage in one area, it is not certain at this time that the same increase is seen for every seat.

Looking at one particular payment category (level C), ticket prices for 2024 have increased in the three regular season tiers anywhere from 11% to 15%. The price of the Preseason tier for this payment category have not increased, but other tiers have gone up with the percent increase getting larger for the more desired games. For example, a Premier game ticket for a seat in payment category C for 2024 is an increase of $24 per ticket which is close to 15% more than 2023.

To give an idea of what games fall into which tier, there were four Gold tier games in 2023 (Cleveland, Tennessee, Arizona, and New England), three Black tier games (Baltimore, Jacksonville, and Cincinnati), and two Premier games (San Francisco and Green Bay). For 2024, matchups such as the Dallas Cowboys and Kansas City Chiefs are most likely to land in the Premier tier if not the Black tier. Based on total season ticket prices and individual prices from the tiers, the most likely break down for the eight home games in 2024 will be three Gold tier, three Black tier, and two Premier tier.

While the Pittsburgh Steelers have done an adequate job recently of not increasing their ticket prices each season, eventually a jump in prices was likely to occur. The Steelers did a great thing for their season ticket holders by not increasing prices in a season where the Steelers had an additional home game and one less preseason game where the prices were already somewhat higher. By making the increase this season, there will be less sticker shock based on the number of games at home during the regular season last year versus this year. While the increase is not an unreasonable percentage, for those fans who save up to see their favorite team in person in a home matchup will now have to save a little bit more.