Vikings bought 1,900 tickets on the Secondary Market near the Visitors' bench for $2M & then offered them to stakeholders for $200-$300 each

[Franisdaman]

The winner of today's Minnesota (14-2) at Detroit (14-2) game wins the NFC North and the #1 seed in the NFC playoffs; they also would need to win just 2 home playoff games to reach the Super Bowl.

The loser gets the #5 seed and would (likely) have to win 3 playoff games on the road to reach the Super Bowl.

Vikings buy 1,900 tickets for Lions showdown at Ford Field​

• 
  
  Kevin Seifert, ESPN Staff Writer
• Jan 4, 2025, 08:45 PM ET

The Minnesota Vikings found an effective but expensive way this week to increase their in-stadium presence during Sunday night's winner-take-all NFC North matchup with the host Detroit Lions.

The team purchased roughly 1,900 tickets near the Ford Field visitor's bench on the secondary market, ESPN confirmed Saturday, at roughly $1,000 per ticket -- or just under $2 million in total. The Vikings then offered them to team-based stakeholders at a cost that ranged from $200 to $300 per ticket, ESPN confirmed.

In a statement, the Vikings said: "Given the uniqueness of this game, we wanted to offer our stakeholders -- staff, family, season ticket members and team partners -- an opportunity to attend."

The Lions declined to comment when reached by ESPN.

The series of transactions is unusual but within NFL rules, highlighting the significance of Sunday's game to both teams. The winner will clinch the NFC North title as well as the NFC's No. 1 playoff seed with a first-round bye, while the loser will be the No. 5 seed and open the playoffs on the road in the wild-card round.

Sports Illustrated first reported news of the Vikings' ticket acquisition.

Vikes buy 1,900 tickets for Ford Field showdown

The Vikings purchased roughly 1,900 tickets for Sunday's winner-take-all NFC North matchup against the Lions, then offered them to team-based stakeholders.

www.espn.com

 

[TJ8869]

Can the Lions switch sidelines for this game? Because that would be hilarious.

 

[General Tso]

That's pretty funny right there

 

[waterboy4582]

Hasn’t Nebraska been doing the same thing but giving them away for home games. Go Vikings by the way.

 

[sober_teacher]

For a game like this - why not open up the home stadium as well to let fans watch on the jumbotron? Charge like $50/person, open up concessions, etc.

Still don't understand why Iowa didn't do this for the women's final four the last couple years.

 

[Franisdaman]

Behind the scenes at the Dan Campbell look-alike contest

 

[ICHerky]

For a game like this - why not open up the home stadium as well to let fans watch on the jumbotron? Charge like $50/person, open up concessions, etc.

Still don't understand why Iowa didn't do this for the women's final four the last couple years.

If this is your thing so be it. But that sounds awful to me and don’t understand why people would do that. Pay money, or even if it’s free, why deal with large crowds to watch a game on tv? I’d assume concessions would be their normal price, no thanks.

I’d much rather go to a bar or have a game watch at home.

 

[sober_teacher]

If this is your thing so be it. But that sounds awful to me and don’t understand why people would do that. Pay money, or even if it’s free, why deal with large crowds to watch a game on tv? I’d assume concessions would be their normal price, no thanks.

I’d much rather go to a bar or have a game watch at home.

You're willing to go to a crowded bar to watch a game but don't see why people wouldn't go to carver? Thousands of people will pack plazas and such for various sporting events, why not do this?

I forget the opponent, but they did open carver early last year when women were playing @ Nebraska 2 hours before the men played. You had a good % of the gameday attendance showup 2 hours early for that.