Thought it Was Only Colleges That Can't Sell "Bowl" Tickets?

[Iceland12]

Cincinnati, Green Bay and Indianapolis all reportedly have thousands of tickets still available for Saturday’s and Sunday’s action, leaving all three spots in danger of falling shy of a sellout. Teams generally must have all tickets sold out 72 hours prior to a home game or risk that game being blacked out within a 75-mile radius of the stadium..

Perhaps most surprisingly of all, the Packers were furthest of all from a wild-card weekend sellout. The team announced on Monday that 15,000 tickets still remained, following a period of sales to season-ticket holders and then release to the general public. Unlike Cincinnati and Indianapolis, Green Bay did not clinch its playoff bid until this past Sunday, leaving the franchise with less of a headstart.

Green Bay still has the most time left to clear its surplus — 4:40 p.m. ET Thursday is its current cutoff, 48 hours before the Packers play the 49ers.

Must be because of how far fans have to travel huh?


http://nfl.si.com/2013/12/31/wild-card-weekend-tickets-bengals-colts-packers/?eref=sihp

 

[GophersInIowa]

I'm really not surprised. For a long time, the prices kept going up because people people were willing to pay. It was only a matter of time before the demand wouldn't be as strong.

 

[Ogee Ogilthorpe]

Wow. On the one hand, that doesn't surprise but it's still a little surprising. At the Cardinals-49ers game on Sunday, the demand was absolutely unbelievable. I had two friends trying to get tix from the scalpers outside and the demand was high, and actually went UP after kickoff!! They were asking for nearly double face value for virtually the entire time, and never really got close to face value.

Much like the bowl games, it has a LOT to do with the destination. Let's face it, Green Bay, Cincinnati, Indianapolis.... not exactly premium destinations in January. Phoenix? Absolutely.

 

[SickAndTiredOfLosingToWI]

I'd hold off on the gloating for a few days. GB has sold out every home game since 1960. Tickets only went on sale yesterday and they sold 25,000.

GB is in a weird situation where their tickets went on sale around the low point of their season (Thanksgiving at Detroit) when the playoffs looked impossible. Season ticket holders didn't feel like forking over $700+ for the possibility of the playoff tickets and no refund. (The $700+ if they didn’t make the playoffs would be used towards next year's total).

Also, they have more seats to fill due to their stadium expansion.

But, it will be sold out before Thursday.

I'd say for a city of 100,000 to sell 40,000 tickets in less than a week is not too shabby at all.

 

[Iceland12]

I'd hold off on the gloating for a few days. GB has sold out every home game since 1960. Tickets only went on sale yesterday and they sold 25,000.

GB is in a weird situation where their tickets went on sale around the low point of their season (Thanksgiving at Detroit) when the playoffs looked impossible. Season ticket holders didn't feel like forking over $700+ for the possibility of the playoff tickets and no refund. (The $700+ if they didn’t make the playoffs would be used towards next year's total).

Also, they have more seats to fill due to their stadium expansion.

But, it will be sold out before Thursday.

I'd say for a city of 100,000 to sell 40,000 tickets in less than a week is not too shabby at all.

1. Nobody's "gloating".
2. When did they start limiting ticket sales to people in the City of Green Bay?

 

[GophersInIowa]

I'd hold off on the gloating for a few days. GB has sold out every home game since 1960. Tickets only went on sale yesterday and they sold 25,000.

GB is in a weird situation where their tickets went on sale around the low point of their season (Thanksgiving at Detroit) when the playoffs looked impossible. Season ticket holders didn't feel like forking over $700+ for the possibility of the playoff tickets and no refund. (The $700+ if they didn’t make the playoffs would be used towards next year's total).

Also, they have more seats to fill due to their stadium expansion.

But, it will be sold out before Thursday.

I'd say for a city of 100,000 to sell 40,000 tickets in less than a week is not too shabby at all.

Not sure who is gloating here.

Do you really believe only people from Green Bay purchase tickets? There are three metro areas with 400K people or more within about two hours of Green Bay (Fox Cities 400K, Madison 630K, and Milwaukee 1.7 million). It's still fairly impressive, but it's not like half the city of GB is purchasing those tickets.

 

[SickAndTiredOfLosingToWI]

Not sure who is gloating here.

Must be because of how far fans have to travel huh?

Do you really believe only people from Green Bay purchase tickets? There are three metro areas with 400K people or more within about two hours of Green Bay (Fox Cities 400K, Madison 630K, and Milwaukee 1.7 million). It's still fairly impressive, but it's not like half the city of GB is purchasing those tickets.

Read again closely:

for a city of 100,000 to sell 40,000 tickets

 

[Ogee Ogilthorpe]

Glendale, AZ is barely 230,000 people and on Sunday they could have sold 100,000 tix to a REGULAR SEASON game between the Cards and 49ers. So what's your point?

GB is in a weird situation? Playoff tix go on sale every year at the same time for season ticket holders if your team is remotely in the mix. If you buy and they don't make it, the money goes towards your tix for next year. What on earth is remotely odd about GBs situation?

I learned this lesson once, the hard way. You don't pass up a chance at playoff tickets if hour team has a chance at the postseason. Period. If Packer fans were too stupid to not buy playoff tickets when they had the chance, it's hard to feel sorry for them now.

 

[Iceland12]

"Oh, my god, oh my god, somebody posted something that could possibly be construed as saying Packer Fans aren't the greatest fans ever put on Planet Earth!! Warning, warning, danger, danger, must respond again and again!!!"

Gees, Happy New Year...

 

[mnsportsgeek]

Hopefully NFL tickets fall back down to reasonable prices someday. I doubt it though. Paying $120 bucks to sit in the lower bowl of the new Vikes stadium is something I will not do. My TV looks better.

 

[SickAndTiredOfLosingToWI]

Glendale, AZ is barely 230,000 people and on Sunday they could have sold 100,000 tix to a REGULAR SEASON game between the Cards and 49ers. So what's your point?

Glendale is metro Phoenix, pop. 4m

GB is in a weird situation? Playoff tix go on sale every year at the same time for season ticket holders if your team is remotely in the mix. If you buy and they don't make it, the money goes towards your tix for next year. What on earth is remotely odd about GBs situation?

That they became playoff-eligible in week 17. Usually they are in (or out) earlier. They looked like dog crap through most of the 2nd half of their season. For the stars to align for them the way they did was unusual.

I learned this lesson once, the hard way. You don't pass up a chance at playoff tickets if hour team has a chance at the postseason. Period. If Packer fans were too stupid to not buy playoff tickets when they had the chance, it's hard to feel sorry for them now.

No one is asking anyone to feel sorry for them. The stadium will be full.

 

[Iceland12]

Glendale is metro Phoenix, pop. 4m

Milwaukee Metro - 2 million people- 2 hours away

Madison Metro - 568,593- 2 hours 20 minutes.

No one is asking anyone to feel sorry for them. The stadium will be full. This thread is retarded

Green Bay should sell out. The link/O.P also included Cincy, Indianapolis and Philadelphia and yes, it's an interesting story, with Green Bay the most surprising. Don't know about the thread, but the reaction, yeah, that was pretty, uh, surprising.

 

[GophersInIowa]

Read again closely:

I honestly don't even know what you're trying to say or why it is even relevant where the tickets are being sold from.

The Vikings could build their stadium in Cosmos, MN (population of 473) and they would probably sell out for a playoff game.

My point is that the it's not like Green Bay is all by itself in the middle of no where. There are several large markets pretty close. It's not like 50,000 fans are traveling 8 hours to get to each game or that half the city of Green Bay is buying the tickets.

 

[disco]

They'll sell out, but I can understand why it's tougher this year. The team isn't very good (it's a travesty that GB gets into the playoffs at 8-7-1 and Arizona has to stay home at 10-6) so people weren't as excited. Plus it's been so brutally cold - I know the Packers sell out in bad winter weather, but this team isn't as good as some of the recent ones - couple that with the larger capacity they have to fill, and I can understand it.

Seattle sold out in 30 minutes...

 

[station19]

Hopefully NFL tickets fall back down to reasonable prices someday. I doubt it though. Paying $120 bucks to sit in the lower bowl of the new Vikes stadium is something I will not do. My TV looks better.

Don't forget the PSL cost.

 

[Ski U Mah Gopher]

With a lot on non season ticket holders at the game, I would expect an even more raucous crowd than a usual Packer game.

 

[maxwellsmart]

They'll sell out, but I can understand why it's tougher this year. The team isn't very good (it's a travesty that GB gets into the playoffs at 8-7-1 and Arizona has to stay home at 10-6) so people weren't as excited. Plus it's been so brutally cold - I know the Packers sell out in bad winter weather, but this team isn't as good as some of the recent ones - couple that with the larger capacity they have to fill, and I can understand it.

Seattle sold out in 30 minutes...

Travesty? Funny maybe, but definitely not a bad thing.

 

[station19]

Join Date
Nov 2008
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[Iceland12]

Looks like 5,500 tickets left in Green Bay. There certainly should be some deep-pocketed businesses in the Green Bay Metro (300,000 plus!), or within 120 miles (another 2 million plus),who will be willing to spend the money and harvest a P.R. bonanza. Cincy and Indy? Could still be a problem there.

The Green Bay Packers are facing a 3:40 p.m. deadline today to avoid an NFL-imposed TV blackout of Sunday's wild-card playoff game against the San Francisco 49ers.

The team had about 7,500 tickets left to sell as of Wednesday night, and after aggressively marketing them on social media and email, the remaining tickets were down to 5,500 by 10 a.m. Thursday, the team said. A cursory check of Ticketmaster.com, the official ticket agent for the team, shows good seats are still available as of mid-morning Thursday.

But the Packers have some wiggle room here. Here are some options the Packers have in the waning hours of what has been a strange week for the Packers' front office.

The NFL, lord of all playoff games, could simply give the Packers more time to unload those seats. The league has done it before and it will act if it has to.The league gave the Indianapolis Colts more time to sell tickets for Saturday's playoff game against the Kansas City Chiefs.

One of the franchise's title sponsors - perhaps the Oneida Nation or Associated Bank - could step up and buy the remaining tickets for their customers. The PR value would more than outweigh the cost of tickets. And the sponsor's name would be repeated endlessly for days to come.

The Packers could conceivably buy back the tickets and redistribute to fans who have never seen a game at Lambeau Field. Of course, those fans will have the little inconvenience of attending a game in frigid weather. But who would pass on the chance to attend a playoff game? And while such a gesture might upset the paying customers, it would reinforce the franchise's status as a publicly owned team.

The team said it would address whether it would seek a blackout rule extension this afternoon.

The betting is there will not be a TV blackout. But the fact it's even a possibility seems unreal for a franchise used to capacity crowds and a worldwide fan base."



Read more from Journal Sentinel: http://www.jsonline.com/newswatch/topstories/238445761.html#ixzz2pGhzDVYn
Follow us: @JournalSentinel on Twitter


From the Strib last night at 11:45:

Normally the only blackout Packers fans have to worry about during a home game is flask-related. But a perfect storm of circumstances led to legitimate concern that the game Sunday at Lambeau Field vs. the 49ers might not sell out before Thursday’s TV deadline.

As of Wednesday afternoon, about 7,500 tickets remained unsold for the game. The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel laid out the reasons nicely, ranging from a new policy relating to season tickets, a Lambeau expansion that created thousands of additional seats, forecast cold weather and the fact that the 8-7-1 Packers didn’t win the rotten NFC North until the final day of the season, giving the organization less time to sell the playoff game.

Another factor noted — one which could be influencing slow ticket sales for the Bengals and Colts, also in danger of blackouts — is how comfortable it is these days, regardless of weather, to watch games on TV. For the price of four tickets to Sunday’s game (roughly $125 apiece), a fan could buy a perfectly nice HD television, with money left over for snacks and beverages that are a fraction of the price of concessions.





http://www.startribune.com/sports/vikings/nfl/238392921.html

 

[Ski U Mah Gopher]

The last few times in Minnesota, it was the network affiliate (KMSP or WCCO) that bought the last few tickets.

I am surprised that the FOX affiliate in Milwaukee hasn't stepped up to the plate.

 

[Iceland12]

The last few times in Minnesota, it was the network affiliate (KMSP or WCCO) that bought the last few tickets.

I am surprised that the FOX affiliate in Milwaukee hasn't stepped up to the plate.

Been wondering that myself. When Channel 9 bought them here, the Vikings acknowledged that the tickets were "discounted". Still expect someone to step in but at $125 per, 5,000 tickets would be $625,000. Fox Station or "Angel", they're probably waiting as long as they can.

 

[station19]

The deadline will be extended.

 

[HopHead]

The last few times in Minnesota, it was the network affiliate (KMSP or WCCO) that bought the last few tickets.

I am surprised that the FOX affiliate in Milwaukee hasn't stepped up to the plate.

Isn't Milwaukee outside the 75 mile blackout radius? I think they get to show the game to a bulk of their audience regardless if it is blacked out.

Edited to add: After digging a little further, I see that Milwaukee is considered part of the Green Bay market regardless of distance. Never mind.

 

[RailBaronYarr]

Also keep in mind that Chicago (2.7m, 9m+ metro) is 200 miles away, just over 3 hours by car. Tuscaloosa, AL is only 93k in population yet they fill a 100k+ capacity stadium. How? 1.1m metro Birmingham (1 hour drive), 377k metro Montgomery (2 hour drive), 415k metro Mobile (3+ hour drive), and everything in between all feed the gameday attendance.

Obviously, it's surprising when a metro area of 3m (most of which are within a 30 minute drive), to say nothing of outlying areas or population centers (St Cloud, Mankato, Duluth, Rochester, etc) struggle to fill a stadium (the Dome and TCF Bank Stadium both count). But Green Bay isn't hurting for people within a convenient drive (like, could make the trip on Sunday morning for a noon game and be home for a late dinner) of the stadium.

 

[station19]

Predicted temp at kickoff.....-6.........High...-5

 

[mnsportsgeek]

The last few times in Minnesota, it was the network affiliate (KMSP or WCCO) that bought the last few tickets.

I am surprised that the FOX affiliate in Milwaukee hasn't stepped up to the plate.

The game against Dallas (the last home playoff game) sold out very quickly. The Vikings have only had one scare for a playoff game and that was the Eagles game back in the T-Jack era.

 

[DarrenTheGreek]

The game against Dallas (the last home playoff game) sold out very quickly. The Vikings have only had one scare for a playoff game and that was the Eagles game back in the T-Jack era.

Also remember that in 2008 the DOW went from 12800 to 8000 in the previous 12 months (and was on its way to bottoming out at 6600). The economy for this season is not nearly as unstable.

 

[disco]

There's more to it apparently.

In addition to the team sending out the ticket info at a time when it didn't look like the team would have a chance, they require you to buy tickets for EVERY possible playoff game, up through the NFC title game. The article I read said that for a mid-priced ticket holder, it would be about $1400 for a holder of four seats. (right before Christmas too).

Here's the kicker. You can't get a refund when the team loses or has to go on the road.
The only option the team is giving is to have the extra go towards next years ticket deposit. This is a first - they've always offered a direct refund in the past, and apparently this rubbed a lot of people the wrong way. Combined with a bad team and bad weather, this was the final straw for a lot of people.

 

[DarrenTheGreek]

Boo-hoo. When I was a Vikings season ticket holder they never offered a refund. It was the same deal. Yet all I ever heard is how fickle Viking fans were and how great Packer fans are. I don't fault anyone for not wanting to spend that much money, to each their own. But I grow tired of the "Packer fans are the best ever" mantra.

 

[Ogee Ogilthorpe]

There's more to it apparently.

In addition to the team sending out the ticket info at a time when it didn't look like the team would have a chance, they require you to buy tickets for EVERY possible playoff game, up through the NFC title game. The article I read said that for a mid-priced ticket holder, it would be about $1400 for a holder of four seats. (right before Christmas too).

Here's the kicker. You can't get a refund when the team loses or has to go on the road.
The only option the team is giving is to have the extra go towards next years ticket deposit. This is a first - they've always offered a direct refund in the past, and apparently this rubbed a lot of people the wrong way. Combined with a bad team and bad weather, this was the final straw for a lot of people.

????? What a ridiculous take.

I have never heard it anything OTHER than just how you described. If there's a chance at the playoffs, you pay for the max possible home games and if it doesn't happen, that money goes towards next season's Season Ticket purchase. That's how it works. Period.