Buccaneers ticket prices plummet without Tom Brady

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers likely will miss retired quarterback Tom Brady in multiple ways throughout the 2023 NFL season. 

The Athletic's Daniel Kaplan reported Tuesday that Brady's "for good" retirement on Feb. 1 that wasn't followed by a March un-retirement left "Buccaneers' prices cratering" to the point that they are down 50% at an average price of $179 for the upcoming campaign. 

Kaplan shared this information after it was previously learned that the Week 1 game between the Philadelphia Eagles and New England Patriots at Gillette Stadium was the NFL's most-expensive regular-season ticket for 2023 on the second-hand market. The Patriots plan to honor Brady, who guided the franchise to six Super Bowl championships during his two decades with the organization, before they open the campaign against the Eagles. 

"It just goes to show you the demand or the power of Tom Brady," Kyle Zorn of online marketplace TickPick said about what the Buccaneers and Patriots are experiencing this spring. "The NFL is not really star-driven like the NBA." 

Zorn added the massive drop in prices for Buccaneers games further proves how unique Brady is as a marketable NFL personality. 

Unlike after Brady's first retirement when it was hardly a secret he could either return to the Buccaneers or attempt to join a different club such as the San Francisco 49ers or Miami Dolphins, he has given no real indication this time around outside of declining to emphatically silence such talk that he'll play another meaningful NFL down. 

While Brady is taking at least one "gap year" before he possibly starts working for Fox as the company's lead NFL analyst in 2024, it was reported last week the 45-year-old is looking to become a limited partner of the Las Vegas Raiders.

Without Brady, the Buccaneers are on track to have free-agent pickup Baker Mayfield compete with 2021 second-round pick Kyle Trask for the QB1 job. Mayfield or Trask could prove to be an adequate replacement for Brady, but it's clear local fans aren't in any rush to spend money on tickets to see either play this coming September.