Ready for a teal trip? Jaguars fans plan to head to Pittsburgh

Jacksonville takes on Steelers in AFC Divisional game Sunday

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The River City is still rejoicing from Sunday's big playoff victory after the Jaguars beat the Bills 10-3 at EverBank Field to advance to Sunday's AFC Divisional round.

Jacksonville will head to Pittsburgh to take on the Steelers at 1 p.m. Sunday.

The game has Jags fans flocking north.

With just a week’s notice, diehard fans like Jeff Sweeney and John Owen are making the trip to Pittsburgh. They bought flights and tickets Monday morning.

“It is a long time coming, and hopefully we are going to make some noise,” Sweeney said.
“This is definitely an exciting time. The defense is unbelievable,” Owen added.

Fan Jason Sablon had a sign at Sunday's game (pictured below) asking his mother to send money for the trip to Pennsylvania.

And rightfully so, because it won’t be cheap.

Loyal fans will be shelling out big bucks to get to Pittsburgh for what many call a priceless experience.

Fans who choose to drive are in for about 13 hours in the car -- through some snow -- to make it to Heinz Field.

Those who want to fly will be shelling out some money. 

Flights were listed for about $550 round-trip on Monday. And then there's the game tickets. 
On Ticketmaster, the cheap seats in the nosebleeds were starting at $112 before taxes and fees.

Stubhub, though, had tickets as low as $110 apiece, and vividseats.com had the cheapest tickets Monday -- as low as $105 to get fans in the door.

“It’s not going to cost you that much to get into the game. You’re going to be paying more for your travel cost at this point,” Travel expert Jeanenne Tornatore said.

Tornatore said 15 percent of the tickets sold on VividSeats.com are for Floridians. Hotels for out of towners are around $220, but travelers can save some money by staying closer to the airport.

“People want to be a part of the experience, and there’s nothing better than being at the game,” Tornatore said.

Fans who are going need to be sure to bundle up.

“There’s going to be plenty of snow, but on Sunday the wind chills are going to make it feel like around 12 (degrees) there in the stadium,” The Weather Authority meteorologist Mark Collins said.

It could be the coldest Jags game ever played, but that's still not enough to keep Sweeney and Owen from cheering on the teal and black.

A Jaguars spokesperson said the team does not have any plans to sell tickets, nor have they announced any travel packages, like the organization has done for London games.


About the Author:

Lifetime Jacksonville resident anchors the 8 and 9 a.m. weekday newscasts and is part of the News4Jax I-Team.