Ticket market tightens up for Seahawks
SEATTLE - The many Seahawks fans without tickets who want to attend regular-season games in 2014 will have to try their luck on the secondary market.
The reselling of tickets at prices different from face value is legal in Washington, and there are several secondary ticket outlets, including one sanctioned by the NFL - ticketexchangebyticketmaster.com.
There’s just one problem, according to James Kimmel, the co-founder and vice president of operations for Seattle-based Epic Seats-fans who have tickets don’t want to part with them.
“It’s hard for us to get access to tickets because so many people want to use them,” Kimmel said.
Kimmel says that is sending prices of the tickets available on the secondary through the roof, adding that the Seahawks are “the most highly sought after ticket” of any NFL team on the secondary market.
“I’ve never seen this market so enthralled with a team as they are this Seahawks team,” said Kimmel, who has been in the secondary ticket market in Seattle for 11 years. “It’s really pretty amazing to watch.”
Kimmel said at this time a year ago, tickets for several Seahawks games could be bought for $65 to $70.
But Monday, Kimmel said, the cheapest ticket for any Seahawks game was $120 for late-season contests against the St. Louis Rams and Phoenix Cardinals.
A ticket for the Nov. 2 game against the Oakland Raiders is just a little bit more, he said, as is the Nov. 9 contest against the New York Giants.
But tickets for each of the other four home games – Green Bay, Denver, Dallas and San Francisco – are nearing or above the $200 range for the lowest price, Kimmel said.
Topping the list is the Sept. 4 opener against Green Bay, for which Kimmel said the lowest-priced ticket available on Monday was about $275.
That price tops the highest-priced “get in the door” ticket for any regular-season game a year ago-about $230 for the game against the 49ers.
The NFC title game against San Francisco in January was believed to be the highest-priced home ticket in Seattle sports history, at about $450 the night before and roughly $600 on the day of the game, Kimmel said.
The Green Bay game figures to top the contest last year against San Francisco as the most-sought-after regular-season ticket in Seahawks history.
“Obviously, the opener is a big deal locally,” Kimmel said. “It’s one of those once-in-a-lifetime events when they are unveiling the Super Bowl banner, and everybody wants to relive the Super Bowl moment.”
Ware DUI case dismissed
A DUI case against Seahawks running back Spencer Ware, stemming from an arrest Jan. 12, has been dismissed. Dan Donohoe, spokesman for the King County prosecutor’s office, said the case was dismissed Friday after a judge ruled the officer lacked reasonable suspicion of DUI when he initiated the traffic stop. The judge suppressed all of the evidence gathered thereafter, including the BAC test.