49ers Fans Reselling Seat Licenses For Thousands Less Than They Paid A Year Ago
SANTA CLARA (CBS SF) - 49er fans are angry. With Frank Gore, Patrick Willis and Jim Harbaugh (among others) gone, many of the "Niner Faithful" are venting frustrations on Twitter or posting their concerns on Facebook and YouTube.
But will they still show up to Levi's Stadium when the 2015 regular season kicks off? If they're still interested in tickets, the silver lining is they can get a better deal than last year.
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Season ticket holders have begun putting their personal seat licenses - the price you have to pay for the right to buy season tickets - on sale on the secondary market, and many of the listings are actually below the original price paid before the 2014 season.
The 49ers call their PSLs "stadium builders' licenses" for the role they played in financing Levi's Stadium. Originally, they listed between $2,000 and $80,000, depending on the quality of the seat. Coming off of three deep playoff runs by the 49ers, the SBL's sold out nearly two months before the 2014 season started. As of Thursday morning, 1,037 offers for 2,565 seats could be found on sale via the SBL Marketplace, the 49ers-sanctioned secondary market for their seats. As of now, the cheapest seat - a single - is available for $1,250. The cheapest pair, in the upper deck, could be had for $1,413 per seat, more than $500 off the original price for each. In all, there were 36 offers for seats cheaper than anything you could buy last year.
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At the higher end, SBL's near the sideline could be purchased for $9,000 in section 111, $3,000-per seat off the 49ers list price. In the ultra-pricey club section, where SBL's cost between $20,000 and $80,000, seats in the "Red Traditional Club" section 238 could be found for $20,000 per seat, $10,000 less than a year ago, based on the stadium pricing map.
The willingness to part with seats, particularly at the higher end, should perhaps be no surprised based the volume of below face value seats that were available for games during the inaugural season at Levi's. Premiums single-game tickets to even "marquee" games like the Seahawks and Eagles could be found for $100 or more off of the face value price.
SBL Marketplace declined to comment on the volume and price of listings for seat licenses, deferring all questions to the 49ers. A call to a second seat license vendor -PSL Source - to inquire about how many listings had been posted following the roster turnover this week has not yet been returned.
Prior to the season, a survey from Chicago-based Team Marketing Report found that families will have to shell out an estimated $641.50 to attend a 49ers game on average, more than any other stadium in the league.
