Dumping ground
Giants fans trying to unload tickets
Giants fans are frantically attempting to unload their tickets to the remaining four home games.
As of Wednesday afternoon, there were 8,095 tickets available for the Giants game Sunday versus the Chiefs, according to TicketIQ.com, a search engine that tracks and sells tickets on the secondary market. As late as Oct. 27, just 1,000 tickets were available for that game, signaling most made their decision to sell after the Giants’ 51-17 home loss to the Rams on Nov. 5 or their 31-21 road defeat at the hands of the 49ers this past Sunday.
The inventory for the Chiefs game is a 91 percent increase over last season’s game on a similar weekend, when 4,251 were tickets available on the secondary market for the Nov. 20, 2016, home game against the Bears. The Giants were 6-3 at the time and on a four- game winning streak. On Nov. 15, 2015, there were 2,254 tickets available for Giants-Patriots. That Giants team was 4-5 and coming off a victory. And on Nov. 16, 2014, there were 3,226 tickets up for grabs for Giants49ers. That season was similar to this one, as the Giants entered the game at 3-7 with a four-game losing streak.
In addition, the glut of seats available for GiantsChiefs is 61 percent higher than the average inventory of 5,021 for all NFL games this weekend. For the 2017 season, the Giants’ average inventory per game is 6,064, compared to 3,885 in 2016, 4,585 in 2015, 6,401 in 2014 and 5,767 in 2013.
Even if fans succeed in selling their tickets for Sunday’s game, they will not be making bank in comparison to recent seasons. The average asking price for a Giants-Chiefs ticket is $196, as opposed to $343 for the Bears game last season, $600 for the Patriots in 2015 and $425 for the 49ers in 2014.
And the remaining schedule looks every bit as bleak. Already, there are 7,960 tickets available for the Cowboys game on Dec. 10 (average asking price $327), 9,421 for the Eagles on Dec. 17 (average of $257) and whopping 12,274 for the Redskins on New Year’s Eve day (average of $213).
Those final three games against division opponents are sure to include a significant amount of fans rooting for the visitors. The Cowboys boast big support in the New York area, and Eagles fans likely will be quick to snap up available seats.
“The Dallas game, the Philly game, the Washington game, it’s going to be unbelievable. People are just selling their tickets,” said Pat Savage, 54, of Staten Island, a retired NYPD detective who owns two season tickets in Section 124 and cohosts The Blu Bus tailgate in parking lot J-4.
TicketIQ.com reports 21 percent of the visits to its site for Giants-Eagles are coming from “Eagles towns.” The past three seasons, Eagles fans accounted for 14, 9 and 10 percent of the visits for the annual matchup at MetLife Stadium.
“There haven’t been a lot of Eagles fans here because the tickets are expensive and the Eagles haven’t been that good,” Savage said. “Now the prices are low and the Eagles are good, so I’d expect it would be a popular game for them.”