The new – though mostly unaltered – look of the Baltimore Ravens was released Tuesday by Nike, which has taken over from Reebok as the official manufacturer of gear for all 32 NFL teams. The most visible change for Baltimore’s team is a purple ribbon along the jersey’s previously all-black collar.

At a New York City event on Tuesday, Nike presented the “Elite 51“  uniforms, which, among other things, the company says are lighter than their predecessors.

The new gear will be available for pre-order online starting April 15. The Ravens Nike jerseys will be available at the Sports Legends Museum on West Camden Street in Baltimore  starting April 26, and at other authorized retailers starting April 27, said Patrick Gleason, media relations manager for the team.

The jerseys available at the Ravens’ online store are $92, $125 and $325, depending on if the jersey is a “replica,” “premium,” or “authentic” model. If Nike’s online store is any indication, jersey prices are changing: both the lower and middle end jerseys will see a bump in price, to $100 and $135, respectively, while the highest end jersey, Nike’s “Elite” model, is $250.

But, those won’t necessarily be the costs across the board, Gleason said.

“As of right now, there will be an adjustment in price,” he said, adding that “prices can/will vary depending on the retailer, and that includes buying from Nike.com, our team stores or any official NFL-apparel retailer.”

Only the Seattle Seahawks uniform underwent a makeover.

Photos from Nikeinc.com

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When Baltimore Ravens President Dick Cass looks into the stands at M&T Bank Stadium,  he sees “a sea of screaming purple.”

His goal is to grow that sea, Cass said in a speech at the Downtown Partnership’s 2012 State of Downtown Breakfast on Thursday.

“We don’t take anything for granted,” Cass said. “We are the second youngest franchise in the NFL. We don’t know what will happen to us and to our fans if we suffer through three years straight of 5-11 football. We don’t want to find out, either.”

If that were to ever happen, Cass said he knows fans would be “angry” and “disgusted.” The hope, however, is that they won’t turn their backs on the team, regardless of what’s on the scoreboard.

“When you think about teams like the Steelers, the Eagles and the Giants, they’ve reached that status. We’re not there yet,” he said. “That’s our goal, that’s why we’re working hard to grow our fan base in any way we can.”

But that’s not to say the Ravens’ fan base is struggling: In the team’s 2000 season, an average of 18 percent of households in the Baltimore metropolitan area – the city and its five surrounding counties -  tuned into TV broadcasts of the team’s regular season games. In the 2007 season, that number jumped to25 percent, and the 2011 season saw 37.3 percent of households tuning in, Cass said.

Cass also highlighted improvements at the team’s stadium, including the completion of a 4G wireless network in December and ongoing capital upgrades.

“We’ve got 15 years left on our lease, and we always want to be the very highest and best stadium in the league,” he said.

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Sold-out, New England-bound buses carrying the Purple Nation are set to roll out of Baltimore early Saturday, tour promoters said.

The groups are heading north for Sunday’s AFC championship game between the Ravens and the Patriots – with a little partying along the way.

“We have sold 80 seats,” said Marc Komins, owner of Superior Tours in Pikesville, which will take two full buses to the Boston area leaving at 8 a.m. Saturday. “People can’t wait.”

The website for Canton-based Ravens Tours said the 60 packages offered on Monday that include a downtown Boston hotel room, game ticket and bar credits, but no transportation, were also sold out.

Nestor Aparicio, owner of the website WNST.net and WNST-AM, is also taking two buses to Providence, R.I., leaving Baltimore at 7 a.m. Saturday. His game packages, that include a hotel room, “purple pep rally,” upper deck game ticket at Gillette Stadium and liquid refreshments, sold briskly, he said.

Dubbed the “Miller Lite Festivus Roadtrip,” Aparicio said his total count is 100 fans. All are optimistic as they prepare to launch from Charm City.

“There’s a positive vibe about winning the game,” he said Friday afternoon.

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Call it the “old hat” syndrome.

That’s the likeliest explanation for why prices for AFC Championship game tickets on StubHub, an online ticket market place, are lower than those for the NFC Championship game.

As of 2:45 p.m. Tuesday, for $180 on StubHub, fans could see the Baltimore Ravens take on the New England Patriots for the AFC title at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Mass. The most expensive seats were going for $2,895.

Tickets for the NFC title game, which has the New York Giants taking on the San Francisco 49ers at Candlestick Park in San Francisco started at $309 on StubHub, with two tickets topping out at $20,000.

“Fans haven’t been waiting as long for an AFC Champ[ionship] in Foxborough as they have in San Francisco,” said Joellen Ferrer, spokeswoman for StubHub.

The last NFC Championship game at Candlestick Park was in 1998, when the 49ers took on the Green Bay Packers. The Patriots played for the AFC title at home in 2008 and 2004.

But Ravens fans will be holding their ground in Foxborough this Sunday. More than 2,000 AFC Championship tickets have been purchased through StubHub, with Marylanders counting for 29 percent of the purchases, Ferrer said. Bay Staters came in at 26 percent. Buyers from Connecticut, New York and Ontario are also scooping up tickets, at 7, 5 and 3 percent, respectively.

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Ravens-Texans playoff ticket prices on StubHub, an online ticket marketplace, have come down 25 to 30 percent since the start of the week, company spokesperson Joellen Ferrer said Friday afternoon.

“The reason for the price drop is not a lack of demand, but it’s more a function of the marketplace in that tickets are a perishable commodity,” she said.

As of 1 p.m., the lowest price for an upper deck seat on StubHub was $139. If you want to be on the lower sideline for the sold-out game, prepare to dish out between $249 and $1,200 for seats. (By 1:20, the $1,200 tickets were gone.)

Lower sideline seats through TiqIQ, another online ticket marketplace, beat out those of StubHub by $50. Three lucky guests can sit in section 146, row 6 for the price of $1,250.

Ferrer said the top five markets for StubHub tickets are Maryland, Texas, Virginia, Pennsylvania and New York. Fifty-five percent of buyers are from Maryland, while 15 percent are from Texas. VA, PA, and NY come in at eight, five and four percent, respectively.

“People that have actually waited out until the last minute – it may have actually favored in their benefit,” Ferrer said.

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Want to get an early start on playoff weekend? Head over to Alonso’s on West Cold Spring Lane  on Friday morning between 6 and 10 a.m. for “Bacon & Beer: The Playoff Edition!”

The restaurant will be home to the annual 98 Rock event, hosted by Mickey, Amelia and Spiegel. The event was held last year at Padonia Station in Timonium and included an appearance by Joe Flacco.

Erin Kane, manager of Alonso’s, said the restaurant is expecting a big crowd; about 300 people showed up to last year’s event, she said.

“As a business that’s been around since the Colts were here, we’re honored to be a part of this exciting time for the Ravens and the tradition of Baltimore football,” Kane said.

Though the food will be free, the drinks you’ll have to pay for.

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Have a computer virus and an itching for a new Baltimore Ravens hoodie? There’s a business in town that can fix both.

Raven Zone, owned by Ken Breeden, specializes in Ravens merchandise and has two locations in Maryland. A computer guy for two decades, Breeden has a Computer Repair of Baltimore shop in each of his retail stores.

While many people come in just for retail, those who bring in computers often get lost in the aisles, said store manager Sonny P., pictured at right.

“Next thing you know, we’re looking for them because their computer is ready to go,” he said.

Other businesses around town are also packing in the purple alongside their other products.

Shoppers at Poor Boys Garden & Hearth in Dundalk can come in for both a T-shirt and a bag of soil. (Poor Boys’ other location on Old Harford Road is sticking strictly to Ravens gear for now.)

And on Belair Road, customers can stop into DePalo & Sons Inc. for pots, pans and an “Angry Raven” hooded sweatshirt.

The reason for the cross-promotion is simple, according to Tony DePalo, owner of DePalo & Sons: as the Ravens first home playoff game in five years approaches, “everybody’s getting excited,” he said.

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As if Baltimoreans needed a reminder to support their Ravens as they head into the playoffs, Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake issued a statement Wednesday urging residents to “Light the city purple.”

On Tuesday, members of the Ravens own painting crew sprayed giant images of the team logo on Federal Hill and at War Memorial Plaza in front of City Hall. (The mayor was not able to make it to the logo painting events Tuesday, as she was last year.)

“I want to first congratulate Coach Harbaugh, the players, and the entire Ravens organization for their fourth consecutive trip to the postseason,” the mayor said in a statement. “A home playoff game is going to be great for Baltimore.”

Purple light fixtures are being installed on city buildings by the Department of General Services, according to the statement. (Baltimore County Executive Kevin Kamenetz announced later Wednesday the dome of the Old Courthouse in Towson will be turned purple Friday.)

The painting crew will also do its midnight stenciling next week, said Heather Harness, advertising and marketing manager for the Ravens.

“Hotels, bars, and restaurants in the city will benefit from the thousands of fans coming out to watch the game together,” said Rawlings-Blake.  “I look forward to joining thousands of fellow Ravens fans as we light this great city purple. Go Ravens!”

The Ravens have not had a home playoff game since after the 2006 season.

Watch the video from Tuesday’s giant logo stenciling at city hall

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Rise and Conquer, the two Baltimore Ravens mascots, will soon be joining visitors at the Maryland Zoo in Baltimore for breakfast.

The event will be held for members of the Ravens Rookies Kids Club on July 16 from 8 to 11:30 a.m. Members and their families will get a buffet-style breakfast, football activities and interactions with Ravens cheerleaders, Poe the mascot and zoo staff.

Participants will also get a pass to the zoo for the day. The event is free for all Ultimate Ravens Rookies members, and discounted tickets for Official Ravens Rookies members are $15. Additionaly child and adult tickets go for $25 and $35, respectively, and are on sale here.

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The e-mail came last Wednesday: Because the Ravens were once again playing “meaningful” games in December, as a PSL owner I had the opportunity to send the team nearly $900 for four tickets to two potential home playoff games.

I had to decide before 5 p.m. Tuesday.

If the Ravens had beaten Pittsburgh last Sunday night, it would have been an easy decision. They would have had what amounted to a two-game lead in the AFC North with four games to play. They would have had a very good chance of playing at least one playoff game at M&T Bank Stadium. But they lost to the Steelers.

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