Tampa Pay! Patriots-Bucs tickets listed for $5,000

Tom Brady fans who want a front row seat to Sunday night’s sold out Patriots-Buccaneers game will have to empty their checking accounts to glimpse the GOAT’s return to Foxboro.

Tickets to sit behind the visitor’s bench at Gillette Stadium are listed as high as $5,064 a piece on third-party broker sites.

“This is the only time in the history of sports that you can sell one regular season game and pay for your entire season,” said John Higgins, owner of Boston-based broker Higs Tickets.

Higgins was skeptical about whether anyone would be willing to dish out that much cash for Sunday’s game, and said he’s actually seen the price of entry drop since the NFL first released the 2021-22 schedule.

In the weeks first following the release, the “worst seat in the building was well over $1,300,” Higgins told the Herald.

It’s impossible to buy a ticket to Sunday’s game through the Patriots at this point, but desperate fans can go through resale sites like HigsTickets.com to try to snag seats. This week the cheapest tickets start at $425 each — before taxes. Those seats are located in the uppermost corner in Foxboro — as far as a fan can get from Brady without being in the parking lot.

Higgins told the Herald he believes two factors have driven down third-party ticket prices: ongoing concerns around coronavirus, and both teams’ records. Brady’s Bucs are 2-1 after losing to the Rams Sunday, and the Patriots sit at 1-2 after suffering through the Saints.

“I don’t think anyone expected Mac Jones to have more interceptions than touchdowns this season,” he said.

And while sellers are asking for several thousand bucks to sit behind Brady’s bench, the cost to watch the game behind the Patriots bench is $1,500 — a bargain in comparison.

Higgins said he sold front row club seats for Brady’s return at $3,500 apiece in the weeks immediately following the NFL schedule release, but he doesn’t expect the current prices to climb in the days leading up to the game.

But New England fans will have to dig even deeper in their pockets to tailgate or travel to the game. Buyers should expect to pay more than $50 to park off-site, and significantly more if they want to buy a pass for Gillette parking ahead of time. The biggest price tag might be to stay next to the stadium over Brady weekend: the Renaissance by Marriott Hotel at Patriot Place has the rate for a classic room listed at $2,937 a night before taxes.

With prices so high, it may be tempting to turn to one-off ticket sellers on Craigslist and social media, but Higgins warns fans against any transaction that doesn’t involve a credit card — especially now that all ticketing is electronic at Gillette Stadium.

“Events like this typically bring out all the fraudsters,” he said.

And ticket transactions must go through the Patriots ticketing app, Higgins said, so buyer beware of any screenshots.

from Boston Herald https://ift.tt/39ILc32