Patriots announce stadium-wide ticket price increase for 2023 season

Watching the New England Patriots at Gillette Stadium will be more expensive moving forward. As the team announced in a letter to season-ticket holders on Wednesday, an arena-wide price increase will be implemented in 2023.

The move is the first of its kind since 2008. While individual sections have seen up to two price spikes over the last 15 years, an analysis by the Boston Globe found that 15 percent of seats did not experience any changes at all over that span.

Now, prices will go up across the board. The announcement comes roughly a year after sweeping renovation work began at Gillette Stadium.

The north end zone will be completely rebuilt, adding 75,000-square feet of a glass-enclosed hospitality and function space as well as a high-definition video board that will be largest of its kind in the country.

The lighthouse — a defining feature of the stadium ever since its opening in 2002 — will be modified as well: a 360-degree observation deck will be added to the present structure, and it will then stand at 218 feet tall.

The cost of the modernization has been estimated at $225 million. For comparison, the stadium was built for $325 million back in the early 2000s, the inflation-adjusted equivalent of roughly $546 million today.

Work is set to complete ahead of the 2023 regular season.

New England is scheduled to host a total of nine games at is new-look stadium this year. The team will play one preseason contest on its home turf, plus eight more during the regular season. In addition, the Patriots will “sacrifice” one home game in order to serve as host club for the NFL International Series in Germany.

Despite ticket prices going up, parking will in fact get cheaper in 2023. The team’s email outlined three different parking options, seemingly aimed at easing congestion from Gillette Stadium after games:

1. Free general parking: To improve the efficiency of arriving traffic, parking will be free in all stadium-owned general parking lots (across Route 1 from the stadium).

2. Be paid to park: Those who choose to park in our 75-minute delayed release lot will earn a $50 Visa gift card when entering the lot.

3. Stadium-side prepaid parking: Season Ticket Members have the option to purchase an electronic and transferable season parking pass for $225 ($25 per game).

The Patriots’ home games are notorious for creating postgame traffic jams on Route 1. This new parking system is aimed at spreading departure times out a bit.

Wednesday’s announcement is not the first time this offseason the team got in touch with its season-ticket holders. After the club’s 8-9 season came to an end in January, owner Robert Kraft reached out to promise a “critical evaluation” of the Patriots’ football operations.