The Chicago Bears plan several fan events and tributes to the late Mike Ditka during Thursday’s prime-time game against the New England Patriots at Soldier Field.
The Hall of Fame tight end and the team’s only Super Bowl-winning coach died Oct. 9 at age 86. Thursday’s game is the first Bears home game since Ditka’s death after they played in Green Bay and Atlanta in Weeks 5 and 6.
The homage includes a stadium-wide Ditka mustache giveaway at the Ditka Hall of Fame display in Soldier Field’s south courtyard; a flag and commemorative logo displayed on the field; a pregame moment of silence; and a knit headband modeled on Ditka’s iconic sweater vest, available to the first 10,000 fans through the gates.
Celebrating Ditka has shown up in other ways.
According to secondary-market retailer TickPick’s analysis of its sales, the Bears-Patriots game already ranked as the second-most expensive Bears home game on record with a $590 average resale price. After the team announced the Ditka giveaways, the average price jumped to $737, an increase of nearly 25%.
The “get-in” price also rose from $419 to $695, a 66% increase, per TickPick Stats.
Bears players began wearing “89” patches on their jerseys, in honor of Ditka’s uniform number, during Sunday’s 31-23 road win over the Falcons and will wear them for the rest of the season.
A week earlier, when the Bears faced the archrival Packers at Lambeau Field, Ditka was honored with a moment of silence and remembrances from both Bears and Packers fans.