NFL.com and TicketMaster.com will push the start button today on the new “NFL Ticket Exchange,” the league’s first official online ticket exchange.
Starting today, fans will be able to buy and sell tickets to all games for the 2008 season, NFL executive vice president Eric Grubman says. They’ll range from the preseason contests many season ticketholders don’t want to more valuable regular-season, playoff and Super Bowl tickets.
Fans and season ticketholders will be able to set their own prices. While conforming to various state laws, the league and its 32 teams won’t limit how much fans can resell their tickets for over face value. Fans will still be free to resell their tickets through sites such as StubHub and RazorGator without running the risk of losing their season tickets.
Last season, the NFL sold more than 22million tickets to its preseason, regular-season and playoff games, plus the Super Bowl. While the league doesn’t have hard numbers, senior vice president Neil Glat estimates 5-10% of those tickets moved on the secondary ticket resale market.
“Over the last 5-10 years, the secondary ticket market has gotten to the point where this is an important amenity for our fans,” Grubman says. “It’s really become an essential way a fair number of fans choose to buy tickets or sell excess tickets.”
The NFL boasts the highest average ticket prices of the major pro sports. Last season’s average ticket price rose 6.9% to $67.11, according to the Team Marketing Report (TMR) newsletter. The AFC champion New England Patriots had the highest average price at $90.89; the Buffalo Bills had the lowest at $46.26.
The NFL’s entrance into this market could be bad news for scalpers and online brokers. The league will push its official exchange as a safer alternative to these sellers. “We can authenticate the tickets and guarantee delivery,” Glat…