Did you know that tickets for the first Super Bowl back in 1967 were had for as little as six bucks! And they didn't sell out. But those days are over. Today, the face value of this year's game range as high as $900 per seat. And on the resale market, the sky is the limit.
It's the Holy Grail for Giants fans: Four tickets to super bowl. The face value? $700 per seat.
But this morning on Ebay and Stub Hub, you could pay a lot more. Anywhere from eight grand for a pair to $160,000 for ten tickets in a luxury suite. Who would pay such a price? Some fans we talked to said yes, they'd pay ten, even twenty grand!
But counterfeit tickets are rampant.
Anastasia Danias of the National Football League says, "We want fans to be aware, because we have heard that some of these unauthorized auction houses have been known to either sell fraudulent or counterfeit tickets."
So how can you spot the fakes? Real ones have a multidimensional hologram, not just a silver sticker like a fake we found. The real ones also have a laser cutout, embossed printing, and special ink that disappears when heated. And that's just what the NFL will talk about.
"Since they are covert," Danias says, "We can't share them with you today. But we are working hard today to put into place the tools law enforcement needs to be able to combat the counterfeitting problem."
What about those on-line offers? They could be legitimate, but you have no way of knowing until you hold the tickets in your hands.
We answered one of the Craig's List ads offering a single game ticket. Minutes later we were instructed via email to wire hundreds to the UK. A very suspicious offer.
Where did the real tickets go? Giants, Patriots and host team Cardinal season ticket holders get most of them. The rest go to the NFL and other teams. And they are already gone. The only market left is that secondary resale market, and you are taking your chances.
If you decide to go ahead and order tickets on-line, be very suspicious of people who want payment by money order. It is safer to go through a recognized source, like Pay-Pal or a vendor you recognize like Ticketmaster or the Giants' official travel provider, Big Blue Travel. Both offer travel packages.
