Sports
Chaos Ensues As Eagles NFC Championship Tickets Sell Out Instantly
Resale tickets were suggested to fans within 15 minutes of waiting in the Ticketmaster queue. Some tickets were over $48,000.
PHILADELPHIA, PA — Another Eagles playoff game, another chaotic rush to Ticketmaster that left many fans frustrated and alienated.
Tickets sold out almost instantly to the NFC Championship Game next weekend against the San Francisco 49ers. They went on sale at 10 a.m. Tuesday, inviting fans to wait in queues. Some saw a screen that read "2000+ people are ahead of you" for hours.
Within 15 minutes, fans were shown a pop-up explaining that the event was "extremely popular" and that there was low ticket availability. Ticketmaster then suggested purchasing resale tickets, which are tickets bought by fans and then usually resold at a much higher price.
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The cheapest tickets available on Ticketmaster by around 11:30 a.m. were over $600 for standing room only. Resale tickets soared into the thousands on average, with tickets on Stubhub going for over $48,000.
By the time a Patch reporter sat through the queue and was brought to the screen to purchase tickets, only resale tickets were available.
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Online, fans once again expressed frustration with not only the price, but the process. Only a limited number of tickets were available through Ticketmaster Tuesday morning, as many were already reserved for season ticket holders and others.
"Sitting in the Eagles ticket line for an hour only to see exclusively $800+ resale tickets," one fan wrote on Twitter.
"After 40 minutes of waiting, I got in and it was entirely sold out with only resale tickets available," another wrote. "Standing room only was $600+."
The Eagles sale began at the exact time that U.S. Congress was slated to hold a hearing on Ticketmaster and Live Nation addressing recent issues with the platform and concerns from millions of sports and music fans nationwide.
Kickoff for the NFC Championship game is at 3 p.m. on Sunday, Jan. 29. If the Birds win, they'll return to the Super Bowl for the second time in five years to face off against the winner of the Kansas City Chiefs and the Cincinnati Bengals.
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