Tickets for individual regular season Detroit Lions games went on sale at 10 a.m. this morning. Unsurprisingly, tickets flew off the shelves for the Lions' showdown with the Chicago Bears on ESPN's Monday Night Football. Tickets for the game sold out in less than an hour (including tickets for club seats), showing that it is by far the hottest ticket in town when it comes to home Lions games in 2011.
The Monday night game against the Bears isn't the only one that did well in ticket sales this morning. The Lions' Thanksgiving matchup against the Green Bay Packers is close to a sellout as well, and in general it sounds like ticket sales across the board are way, way up compared to usual. Lions president Tom Lewand said this is because fans are willing to invest in the team, and he made it clear that the Lions are aware that the investment needs to be returned.
"(Fans are) making an investment in us and that's an investment we have to honor and respect," said Lewand. "Now it's up to us to deliver a return on that investment."
Last year the Lions sold out seven of their eight home games. The expectation for this year is for all eight to be sold out, and considering one game already is a sellout and another one is close, the Lions are in great shape to have a blackout-free year of football.