Home Cooking: The Hottest NFL Home Openers Of 2009

September 10, 2009: The 2009 NFL season begins Sept. 10 with the defending Super Bowl champion Pittsburgh Steelers playing host to the Tennessee Titans. While fans in the Steel City have been anticipating the game since February, it ranks only 4th among most anticipated home openers, according to online ticket broker StubHub, which has compiled its list from ticket sales as of Sept. 8, based on transaction volume per contest as sold on StubHub.com (with a minimum of 1,000 tickets sold per game to qualify).

Given those parameters, StubHub says that the most anticipated home opener for 2009 belongs to the Dallas Cowboys, which will officially unveil their new $1 billion stadium with a game against the New York Giants on Sept. 20. The next most anticipated home opener belongs to the Chicago Bears, which host the Steelers on Sept. 20, due in large part to the arrival of quarterback Jay Cutler. The Bears did come in first in one key category: The game at Soldier Field home is the most expensive home-opener ticket at StubHub.com, averaging $353 per ticket.

Brett Favre, who unretired during the off-season to sign with the Minnesota Vikings, landed the Vikings on the hottest home opener list twice, at No. 7 with their own home game on Sept. 27 against the San Francisco 49ers, and at No. 9 when they visit Cleveland on Sept. 13 for the Browns' home opener. Another significant player who changed teams during the off-season, Terrell Owens, helped put his new team, the Buffalo Bills, at No. 5 on the list with their home opener on Sept. 20 against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

Ironically, the home openers featuring Favre and Owens are the least expensive among the home openers on the list, with tickets costing around $87 a piece at StubHub.com, according to the company.

StubHub's Top 10 Hottest NFL Home Openers Of 2009

1. 9/20 New York Giants @ Dallas Cowboys
2. 9/20 Pittsburgh Steelers @ Chicago Bears
3. 9/13 Dallas Cowboys @ Tampa Bay Buccaneers
4. 9/10 Tennessee Titans @ Pittsburgh Steelers
5. 9/13 Tampa Bay Buccaneers @ Buffalo Bills
6. 9/20 St. Louis Rams @ Washington Redskins 
7. 9/27 San Francisco 49ers @ Minnesota Vikings
8. 9/13 Washington Redskins @ New York Giants
9. 9/13 Minnesota Vikings @ Cleveland Browns
10. 9/13 San Francisco 49ers @ Arizona Cardinals
Source: StubHub

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