Panthers playoff tickets still available – for a price
If you don’t have tickets yet for the Carolina Panthers’ first playoff game, be prepared to spend some big bucks to go.
The Jan. 17 matchup against a team to be determined has been sold out since Dec. 22, when about 7,000 tickets made available to the general public were snapped up in three minutes. Season ticket holders had already nabbed the rest of the tickets.
Tickets, however, remain available on the secondary market at online sites such as Ticketmaster’s NFL Ticket Exchange and Stubhub.
The NFL Ticket Exchange site on Monday said it was offering 4,734 tickets at prices ranging from $195 to $5,556. Stubhub’s website said it had 5,145 tickets available for similar prices.
Other outlets to buy tickets include eBay, TicketsNow and RazorGator.
On Stubhub, the cheapest available ticket for the Panthers game was $182 and the average price sold was $404, said company spokesman Cameron Papp.
Of the four divisional round games to be played that weekend, only the game to be played at the New England Patriots’ home had a more expensive cheapest available ticket at $210. The Panthers’ average price sold was the highest of all four games, eclipsing $398 for the Patriots game.
“We’re seeing a lot of demand for the first Panthers home game so far,” Papp said.
The Panthers game has been Stubhub’s bestselling game of the divisional round so far, he said. The company does not provide specific ticket sales numbers.
Sellers are in line to make a profit on the tickets they re-sell. The price range for tickets sold to the general public was $58 to $160, with a few club-level tickets available for between $270 and $450.
The Panthers, who have a bye in the first round, won’t know their opponent until after the results of Sunday’s wild-card playoff games.
If Carolina wins Jan. 17, the team will play in the NFC Championship game – also at Bank of America Stadium – on Sunday, Jan. 24.
The team hasn’t yet sold tickets to the general public for that game. Stubhub has tickets for sale starting at $350, according to its website, noting any sales will be refunded if the Panthers don’t make the next round.
Rick Rothacker: 704-358-5170, @rickrothacker
State law says ...
▪ Street sales: It is illegal to sell Panthers tickets on the street for more than $3 over face value.
▪ Online sales: On the Internet, resellers can sell tickets for as much over face value as they wish, so long as they adhere to state and federal tax laws, as well as guidelines requiring them to provide protections to purchasers.
This story was originally published January 4, 2016 at 2:05 PM with the headline "Panthers playoff tickets still available – for a price."