Sports Tickets

In my experience outside of pennant season the baseball stadiums never fill up. You can always get some sort of seats at the last minute. The football games are a completely different story. There are far fewer games on the NFL schedule and you need to buy your seats well in advance.

Will we need to book tickets in advance or will be cheaper to buy via Stubhub or similar company , or at the gate on gameday.

Often, seats will be cheaper if you buy them from a re-seller like Stubhub a couple days before the game. Prices tend to go down as the event nears and people rush to sell their unwanted seats. However, the better seats tend to sell out before that. If you don't care where you sit, wait. If you do, you should get them sooner rather than later.
(Be aware that scalping outside some stadiums, including in NYC, is illegal.)

Official ticket sellers (go to each team website for their "Tickets" section) often have extra fees if you book with them online or over the phone. These can be substantial. Some stadiums, though none of the ones you note that I'm aware of, have Gameday fees if purchased at the stadium the day of the game. I sometimes just travel to the stadium before the event to buy my tickets, simply to avoid the extra fees.

Attendance is down this year for MLB, so getting seats (in general) shouldn't be too hard.
NFL is always popular, even if ratings are lower than usual.

The other main factor governing ticket prices, especially the re-seller market, is the teams playing. The Yankees are "the Yankees," and they know it. Even officially, teams will sell tickets at varying prices for different opponents. Divisional rivals will cost more than interleague contests (Yankees-Red Sox? That's in a whole 'nother category--I know, I've done it). Better opponents will drive demand higher, terrible opponents (cough, Marlins) will tank it. And likewise, better home teams will drive demand.

Your toughest tickets will be the Dallas Cowboys and the NY Yankees. Part of this is because they have broad fan bases, including those foreign to the sports--largely due to the name recognition. Another is that tickets are just not cheap. Yankess tickets will set you back triple digits for tickets any other stadium would sell for half that. Gotta milk the tourists somehow. The Mets, however, are generally cheaper, and as of right now, the team is better.

In the end, you can always get a ticket. The question is how much you'll pay for it.

My son is a massive Broncos fan and we will be flying to Denver for the day and out again at night to San Fran.

I highly recommend staying the night. What if your plane is late? What if the game goes to overtime? What about traffic? I have purposely missed buses home because games have gone long, but alternatives were readily available for reasonably cheap. The same cannot be said of flights.
I don't know why you're heading to Dallas, but if it's just for the game as well, I'd skip it and go to Denver instead. Spend some time in Colorado; Dallas and that area of Texas is dull.

Unless its a Baseball Playoff or a do or die game for reach Playoff's, there is no need to buy in advance IMO, other than the Chicago Cubs, which is sold out when they are in last place...

Football is on the down trend and the NFL is trying toe fill stadiums but the fans are staying home. other than some key cities with great football fans, like the NY area, Chicago and possibly Greenbay...

Air Tickets are best purchased now, or, at least 3 weeks in advance of travel. If you are in Texas in that time period, there is also F1 at COTA in Austin TX....

Have Fun!

Why Dallas? The Cowboys, btw, are reviled over most of the country. Their branding as "America's Team" makes them a joke to much of the country. The Lions were a mediocre team last year w/o much indication that they will be better.

A classic rivalry will give you a good stadium experience regardless of team quality (e.g., Chicago-Detroit, Cleveland-Pittsburgh, Chicago-Green Bay, Dallas-Washington), although those games often sellout.

Oh Come on, I don't like Dallas anymore than New England, but it is a team that is important to a huge fan base, and the Owner Jerry Jones is one guy that stood up for players to NOT kneel for the National Anthem...so there!

I think the Patriots are now Americas Team, at least Brady is fun to watch and Boston is a great sports town to, Red Sox Baseball and the Bruins Hockey...

For nuttiest football fans, consider home games for the NY Jets, NY Giants, and Oakland Raiders, shear madness.

If I could hit a game this fall, it would be Chicago/Greenbay/Detroit/Minneapolis...but I am a midwesterner..

Chicago is a beautiful city in fall, and a HUGE sports town, with Cubs, Bears, White Sox, Bulls and Blackhawks, Chicago Fire Soccer...and a Nortwestern and Notre Dame for collegiate games...not to mention Wisconsin, Michigan/Michigan State...

Thanks everyone for their comments. Will hold off on Yankees tickets till we arrive. Am keen to go to Chicago rather than Dallas ( I have been to Dallas before in 2000) and see some sort of game there and also the city. Will book Broncos tickets shortly and possibly spend a couple of days there as well. Once thanks for the advice.

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