Tom Brady's return to New England is already the hottest ticket in the NFL

FOXBORO -- When the Patriots announced that Tom Brady would be returning to New England to be honored by the team in Week 1 of the 2023 NFL season, everyone had an inkling that ticket prices for that game would skyrocket. That inkling has been proven correct, with Patriots-Eagles now the hottest ticket in the NFL.

That's not surprising in the least, considering tickets for Brady's non-retirement return to Gillette as a member of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 2021 went for some truly absurd prices. Add in the fact that the Patriots are hosting the defending NFC champion Philadelphia Eagles in Week 1 of the 2023 season, and tickets were already going to be an expensive investment.

But prices are already wild. Not as wild as 2021, but still pretty wild.

According to Gametime, the median ticket price for Brady's return/Patriots-Eagles is sitting at $1,165. That tops all other games on the NFL's 2023 docket, well ahead of the second-hottest ticket for Jets-Raiders in Las Vegas on Nov. 13.

The Patriots make another appearance in the Top 10, with their Oct. 15 visit to the Las Vegas Raiders ranking eighth at $723. Given how last season's Patriots-Raiders showdown in Vegas ended, that should come as no shock either.

There are actually five Raiders home games in the Top 10, including three of the top four, so people must really like to go to Vegas for football games.

We'll eventually find out what Robert Kraft and the Patriots have planned for Tom Brady's return. And if you want to be in attendance at Gillette Stadium, you better start saving now. It's going to cost you a lot more than what you find in the couch cushions.