Brakos' NFL Tour 2009

Discussion in 'NFL General Discussion' started by brakos82, May 24, 2009.

  1. brakos82

    brakos82 30% more cats than last year!

    My brother and I are in the planning stages of taking a trip around most of the NFL stadiums this year, going all the way through the regular season. At this point, it looks like we could hit about 20 or so stadiums during the season. As far as budgeting, we're trying to keep it around $15K combined.

    All of the games east of Denver are open (except for New England... too damn expensive), and we're putting priority on Texans games and Monday Night battles.
    Must sees: New Cowboys and Colts stadiums.

    As of now we have two different plans lined out. You would be surprised how much of a pain in the butt it is to try and "city-hop" when half the teams have bye weeks or three road games in a row. There are some cities on there more than once (Jacksonville, Charlotte, Dallas, New Orleans primarily (obviously Houston)), and plenty of double-backs getting up towards AFC North territory.

    The main thing I'm wondering from those of you who go to your teams' games regularly:
    1) Are games mostly sold out before single-game tickets are for sale in July?
    2) What is the price range for tickets on the lower level?
    3) Is there a good-sized market for ticket selling/trading after games are sold out?
    4) Are there any areas of the stadium that I should avoid considering I'll be in 'enemy territory' for some of these?

    At this point, these teams are on 'the lists', even though I could be adding a few more in the future.

    Bears
    Bengals
    Bills
    Browns
    Buccs
    Chiefs
    Colts
    Cowboys
    Dolphins
    Falcons
    Jaguars
    Lions
    Packers
    Panthers
    Rams
    Ravens
    Redskins
    Saints
    Steelers
    Texans
    Titans
    Vikings

    Plan 1 - 24 games, 12300 miles, $14700 total
    [TABLE]Week # Game Date Travel Date Leave Arrive Home Away Hotels Food Mileage
    1 Sun Sep 13 Fri Sep 11 Houston Texans Jets 0 105
    2 Sun Sep 20 Fri Sep 18 Houston Tennessee Titans Texans 385 105 850
    3 Sun Sep 27 Fri Sep 25 Tennessee St. Louis Rams Packers 275 75 300
    4 Sun Oct 04 Wed Sep 30 St. Louis Chicago Bears Lions 275 75 300
    4 Mon Oct 05 MON Mon Oct 05 Chicago Minneapolis Vikings Packers 220 60 400
    5 Sun Oct 11 Fri Oct 09 Minneapolis Detroit Lions Steelers 385 105 700
    6 Sun Oct 18 Fri Oct 16 Detroit Cincinnati Bengals Texans 275 75 250
    7 Sun Oct 25 Wed Oct 21 Cincinnati Pittsburgh Steelers Vikings 275 75 300
    7 Mon Oct 26 MON Mon Oct 26 Pittsburgh Washington Redskins Eagles 220 60 250
    8 Sun Nov 01 Fri Oct 30 Washington Buffalo Bills Texans 385 105 400
    9 Sun Nov 08 Fri Nov 06 Buffalo Indianapolis Colts Texans 275 75 500
    10 Sun Nov 15 Wed Nov 11 Indianapolis Green Bay Packers Cowboys 275 75 400
    10 Mon Nov 16 MON Mon Nov 16 Green Bay Cleveland Browns Ravens 110 30 550
    11 Thu Nov 19 THU Wed Nov 18 Cleveland Charlotte Panthers Dolphins 110 30 500
    11 Sun Nov 22 Fri Nov 20 Charlotte Dallas Cowboys Redskins 165 45 1000
    11 Mon Nov 23 MON Mon Nov 23 Dallas Houston Texans Titans 0 75 250
    12 Sun Nov 29 Sat Nov 28 Houston Texans Colts 0 30 0
    12 Mon Nov 30 MON Mon Nov 30 Houston New Orleans Saints Patriots 55 15 350
    12 Tue Dec 01 New Orleans Houston 0 45 350
    13 Sun Dec 06 Fri Dec 04 Houston Jacksonville Jaguars Texans 385 105 900
    14 Sun Dec 13 Fri Dec 11 Jacksonville Tampa Buccs Jets 220 60 200
    15 Thu Dec 17 THU Tue Dec 15 Tampa Jacksonville Jaguars Colts 165 45 200
    15 Sun Dec 20 Fri Dec 18 Jacksonville Charlotte Panthers Vikings 385 105 375
    16 Sun Dec 27 Fri Dec 25 Charlotte Miami Dolphins Texans 330 90 725
    17 Sun Jan 03 Thu Dec 31 Miami Houston Texans Patriots 0 15 1200
    Fri Jan 01
    [/TABLE]

    Plan 2 - 26 games, 13100 miles, $14900 total
    [TABLE]Week # Game Date Travel Date Leave Arrive Home Away Hotels Food Mileage
    1 Sun Sep 13 Fri Sep 11 Houston New Orleans Saints Lions 385 105 350
    2 Sun Sep 20 Fri Sep 18 New Orleans Nashville Titans Texans 330 90 550
    3 Sun Sep 27 Thu Sep 24 Nashville Houston Texans Jaguars 0 60 850
    3 Mon Sep 28 MON Mon Sep 28 Houston Dallas Cowboys Panthers 55 15 250
    3 Tue Sep 29 Dallas Houston 0 45 250
    4 Sun Oct 04 Fri Oct 02 Houston Kansas City Chiefs Giants 385 105 800
    5 Sun Oct 11 Fri Oct 09 Kansas City St. Louis Rams Vikings 385 105 250
    6 Sun Oct 18 Fri Oct 16 St. Louis Cincinnati Bengals Texans 385 105 350
    7 Sun Oct 25 Fri Oct 23 Cincinnati Pittsburgh Steelers Vikings 165 45 300
    7 Mon Oct 26 MON Mon Oct 26 Pittsburgh Washington Redskins Eagles 220 60 250
    8 Sun Nov 01 Fri Oct 30 Washington Baltimore Ravens Broncos 385 105 50
    9 Sun Nov 08 Fri Nov 06 Baltimore Indianapolis Colts Texans 385 105 600
    10 Sun Nov 15 Fri Nov 13 Indianapolis Pittsburgh Steelers Bengals 165 45 350
    10 Mon Nov 16 MON Mon Nov 16 Pittsburgh Cleveland Browns Ravens 110 30 150
    11 Thu Nov 19 THU Wed Nov 18 Cleveland Charlotte Panthers Dolphins 110 30 500
    11 Mon Nov 23 MON Fri Nov 20 Charlotte Houston Texans Titans 0 90 1000
    12 Thu Nov 26 THU Thu Nov 26 Houston Dallas Cowboys Raiders 55 15 250
    12 Sun Nov 29 Fri Nov 27 Dallas Houston Texans Colts 0 45 250
    12 Mon Nov 30 MON Mon Nov 30 Houston New Orleans Saints Patriots 55 15 350
    12 Tue Dec 01 New Orleans Houston 0 30 350
    13 Sun Dec 06 Thu Dec 03 Houston Jacksonville Jaguars Texans 440 120 900
    14 Sun Dec 13 Fri Dec 11 Jacksonville Atlanta Falcons Saints 275 75 350
    15 Thu Dec 17 THU Wed Dec 16 Atlanta Jacksonville Jaguars Colts 110 30 350
    15 Sun Dec 20 Fri Dec 18 Jacksonville Charlotte Panthers Vikings 165 45 375
    15 Mon Dec 21 MON Mon Dec 21 Charlotte Washington Redskins Giants 110 30 400
    16 Fri Dec 25 FRI Wed Dec 23 Washington Nashville Titans Chargers 165 45 675
    16 Sun Dec 27 Sat Dec 26 Nashville New Orleans Saints Buccs 110 30 550
    17 Sun Jan 03 Mon Dec 28 New Orleans Houston Texans Patriots 0 15 350
    Tue Dec 29
    [/TABLE]

    If you have any extra questions/comments, don't be afraid to ask. Might even help us plan this out. :icon_cool:

    -Brakos
     
    1 person likes this.
  2. wide right

    wide right Grumpy Old Man

    I can answer your questions for the Bills/Texans game.

    1-Yes, last season 6 of the 7 home games sold out before single game tix went on sale. You may have to go through a broker like stubhub. Get Bills tix at 1-877-BB-TICKS (228-4257)
    2-We have the lowest prices in the NFL. $45 to $60 range in the lower bowl. You may be better off in the upper deck.
    3-There are always scalpers outside the stadium with face value tix 4 sale but I wouldn't rely on that. The stadium is in a residential-ish neighborhood. Walk 2-3 blocks around the stadium or down the main roads and you should easily find a 'gentleman' selling tix.
    4-The endzone and upper deck are where most non season ticket holders are, ie the drunks. It's a crap shoot whether you sit in a good section or not. Some fans are nice, some will want to fight. As long as you support your team in a respectful manner most fans won't give you much crap about wearing a Texans jersey.

    Your budget for hotels in Buffalo is a bit high. If you stay in a motel in Orchard Park, the suburb where the stadium is, you will be raped on a price. If money is no object, then there are motels within a 5 minute walk to the stadium. Rent a car and stay in downtown Buffalo and you can save some $. It's only a 10-15 minute car ride to the stadium from there.

    Tailgating is insanity. Arrive by 10am, 11am at the latest for a 1pm game. Although you'll see police evrywhere, it is a lawless land in The Ralph parking lots. Kinda like Escape From NY. Short of killing a man, you can party however you want.
     
  3. Inclulbus

    Inclulbus WE ARE! .. Marshall!

    is ticket prices included in your 15k? and i would go with plan b, 2 more games.. only 100 more a piece.
     
  4. 86WARD

    86WARD -

    The Steelers games are usually sold out...although they do offer some seats to select games, but in the past, you'd have to sign up to have the option to purchase those select games. Not sure what the deal is yet this year...I should be finding out soon...
     
  5. russian.tank

    russian.tank BruceAlmighty2010

    No Raiders? One has to come out to Oakland and party it up with the Raider fans. Those guys are crazy.
     
  6. Mike

    Mike Want some Cheetos?

    there are tons of scalpers around fed ex field selling tickets for every where in the stadium
    remind me as it gets closer and i might be able to get you lower level tickets for a decent price.
     
  7. Bulluck53

    Bulluck53 NFL-Fans

    First off, awesome plan. My friend and I have always wanted to do something like this and when we finally get some money we may have to steal your idea here.

    For the Titans:
    1) The tickets are down to singles within a half-hour every year and sold out within about an hour. There are always scalpers but if your like me and want to get them before hand, Ticketmaster is the "official" broker and there are others that have them available.

    2) Tennessee Titans | Stadium - LP Field Seating Chart ...if that helps. Those aren't single game prices but I guess you could divide the season ticket price by 10 :shrug:

    3)As I said, there are always ways to get tickets, just not from the team.

    4) Not a very hostile crowd, but you will probably get some ribbing wherever you sit. There are always opposing fans in the corners of the upper level, but you won't sit there. I guess the end zones would be a place to avoid, if that. But you'll have fun there as long as you don't continuously run your mouth or take them seriously.

    Have you figured out where you'd be staying and all that?
     
  8. brakos82

    brakos82 30% more cats than last year!

    Yes, that's included. It's actually what made that schedule a little higher in price.

    We'll be driving everywhere, so no real need for a rental. And yes, odds are we'll be staying in the downtown areas for all of these.

    :Invision-Board-Fran
     
  9. theeraser21

    theeraser21 u r a slapdick

    take lots of pictures, awesome trip your planning, be sure to pack extra underwear
     
  10. brakos82

    brakos82 30% more cats than last year!

    I don't have any of the west coast teams on here... might head that way next year depending on how it goes this year.

    Somewhere around downtown Nashville, not sure exactly yet.
     
  11. hermhater

    hermhater Guest

    Come to Arrowhead brother.

    :icon_cool:
     
  12. maw0509

    maw0509 Starter

    Buccs Game

    For your Buccs game in December, I recommend the Embassy Suites at the Tampa Airport. I stayed there last year during the Super Bowl.....it was inexpensive, covenient, and just a few miles from the stadium.
     
  13. mj1987us26

    mj1987us26 Super

    tickets to the lower bowl at Dolp... er I mean Landshark stadium is between 60-100 bucks depening on how low you are. Section 154 baby.
     
  14. brakos82

    brakos82 30% more cats than last year!

    Update 6/2/09:

    Well, we have the schedule split into three sections, each with different options.

    Section 1 (2 options):
    Code:
    Week	Game Day	Home	Away		Week	Game Date	Home	Away
    1	Sun Sep 13	HOU	NYJ		|1	Sun Sep 13	NO	DET
    2	Sun Sep 20	TEN	HOU		|2	Sun Sep 20	TEN	HOU
    3	Sun Sep 27	STL	GB		|3	Sun Sep 27	HOU	JAX
    4	Sun Oct 04	CHI	DET		|3	Mon Sep 28	DAL	CAR
    4	Mon Oct 05	MIN	GB		|4	Sun Oct 04	KC	NYG
    5	Sun Oct 11	DET	PIT		|5	Sun Oct 11	STL	MIN
    6	Sun Oct 18	CIN	HOU		|6	Sun Oct 18	CIN	HOU
    7	Sun Oct 25	PIT	MIN		|7	Sun Oct 25	PIT	MIN
    7	Mon Oct 26	WAS	PHI		|7	Mon Oct 26	WAS	PHI
    8	Sun Nov 01	BUF	HOU		|8	Sun Nov 01	BAL	DEN
    9	Sun Nov 08	IND	HOU		|9	Sun Nov 08	IND	HOU
    10	Sun Nov 15	GB	DAL		|10	Sun Nov 15	PIT	CIN
    10	Mon Nov 16	CLE	BAL		|10	Mon Nov 16	CLE	BAL
    Section 2 (1 option):
    Code:
    Week #	Game Date	Home	Away
    11	Thu Nov 19	CAR	MIA
    11	Sun Nov 22	DAL	WAS
    11	Mon Nov 23	HOU	TEN
    12	Thu Nov 26	DAL	OAK
    12	Sun Nov 29	HOU	IND
    12	Mon Nov 30	NO	NE
    
    Section 3 (3 options):
    Code:
    Week #	Game Date	Home	Away		Week #	Game Date	Home	Away		Week #	Game Date	Home	Away
    13	Sun Dec 06	JAX	HOU		|13	Sun Dec 06	JAX	HOU		|13	Sun Dec 06	CAR	MIN
    14	Sun Dec 13	ATL	NO		|14	Sun Dec 13	TB	NYJ		|14	Sun Dec 13	OAK	WAS
    15	Thu Dec 17	JAX	IND		|15	Thu Dec 17	JAX	IND		|14	Mon Dec 14	SF	ARZ
    15	Sun Dec 20	CAR	MIN		|15	Sun Dec 20	CAR	MIN		|15	Sun Dec 20	SD	CIN
    15	Mon Dec 21	WAS	NYG		|16	Sun Dec 27	MIA	HOU		|16	Sun Dec 27	ARZ	STL
    16	Fri Dec 25	TEN	SD		|17	Sun Jan 03	HOU	NE		|17	Sun Jan 03	HOU	NE
    16	Sun Dec 27	NO	TB								
    17	Sun Jan 03	HOU	NE								
    
    Also, my cousin's gonna end up moving down here from Seattle, and since he doesn't start college until spring semester at UofH, he's liable to be going with us too. :thumb:
    The good news is my brother and I can get drunk as a skunk and he can drive us back to the hotel. :D

    Although I've never seen a skunk drunk before... :think:
     
  15. brakos82

    brakos82 30% more cats than last year!

    *bump*

    Finally got everything planned out. My cousin's starting college this fall, so he'll have to stay home. Guess that leaves room for my girlfriend. :specnatz:

    [TABLE]Game Date Home Away
    Mon Aug 31 HOU MIN
    Sun Sep 13 NO DET
    Sun Sep 20 TEN HOU
    Sun Sep 27 STL GB
    Sun Oct 04 CHI DET
    Mon Oct 05 MIN GB
    Sun Oct 11 DET PIT
    Sun Oct 18 CIN HOU
    Sun Oct 25 PIT MIN
    Mon Oct 26 WAS PHI
    Sun Nov 01 BAL DEN
    Sun Nov 08 NYG SD
    Sun Nov 15 PIT CIN
    Mon Nov 16 CLE BAL
    Thu Nov 19 CAR MIA
    Sun Nov 22 DAL WAS
    Mon Nov 23 HOU TEN
    Sun Nov 29 HOU IND
    Mon Nov 30 NO NE
    Sun Dec 06 JAX HOU
    Sun Dec 13 ATL NO
    Thu Dec 17 JAX IND
    Sun Dec 20 CAR MIN
    Sun Dec 27 MIA HOU
    Sun Jan 03 HOU NE
    [/TABLE]

    Overall, averaged about $102 a ticket, and we'll rack up about 10,000 road miles. In other words, Konichiwa, Babyes! :icon_cheesygrin:

    I'll still try to get on every once in a while, but if I'm almost never on here, well... that's why.
     
  16. VikingsFan28

    VikingsFan28 Wherever Alex Morgan is

    i will be at the dec 20 vikings panthers game :)
     
  17. brakos82

    brakos82 30% more cats than last year!

    *bump*

    Considering one of the admin's hadn't noticed yet. :lol:
     
  18. phiglesphan

    phiglesphan BANNED

    SO jealous


    **********Automerged Doublepost**********

    PS... hit me up if you have any questions about the District or wish to borrow a few Eagles jerseys to root for the team thats gonna win that day : D
     
  19. brakos82

    brakos82 30% more cats than last year!

    Sure thing. I'll be between WAS and BAL though.
     
  20. DawkinsINT

    DawkinsINT Tebow free since 9/5/2015.

    That's awesome, brakos. You are going to have a blast.