It has been revealed that the Minnesota Vikings purchased 1,900 tickets for their upcoming game against the Detroit Lions for nearly $2 million and are offering them at a deep discount to Vikings season ticket holders.
The Vikings sent an email to season ticket holders saying they were offering tickets to the game at Ford Field in Detroit for the low price of $200 each. The team spent $1,000 per ticket on the secondary market.
Detroit officials were shocked by the tactic and filed a complaint with the league, according to reports. sports illustratedThe league says there are no rules for Minnesota's ticket purchasing scheme.
A large seating block is located behind the visiting team's bench. Analysts say the initiative not only puts friendly fans (or no fans at all) in the back seats for the Vikings, but could also help with communication during games. Either way, the ticket-purchase plan will avoid the inevitably many hostile Lions fans taking a backseat to the Vikings.
“Minnesota's intention, first and foremost, was to provide families of players and staff with a better experience in one of the largest regular-season games in team history, according to sources.” sports illustrated He explained.
“Given the unique nature of this game, we wanted to provide an opportunity for our stakeholders, including our staff, family members, season ticket members and team partners, to participate,” Vikings spokesman Jeff Anderson said.
Whatever the idea behind the plan, at least one ticket exchange is raising eyebrows.
A Lions fan sold a block of 1,900 seats on the secondary market for $724. However, that buyer quickly sold the seats to Advantage Tickets, one of the brokers the Vikings work with. The Vikings then sold the tickets to Vikings season ticket holders for $300. But Vikings fans took a turn and put it back on the open market with a $690 price tag.
Lions feels this is all very unfair. And it definitely seems ripe for exploitation.
It is thought that some rules will be established to control this type of behavior in the near future.
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