By Alfred Branch, Jr.
The Pittsburgh Steelers and Ticketmaster continue to make news.
Following the announcement earlier this month about a new ticket exchange for season ticket holders and fans, the team will offer a limited number of tickets for all eight individual home games this season, which marks a first in Steelers’ history. In addition, the team will release individual pre-season game tickets for the two home exhibitions. The exact number of tickets that will be available was not disclosed, but they will be sold through by Ticketmaster by phone or through a dedicated page at Ticketmaster.com. . .
Ticket prices will range from $59 to $212 a piece, but the majority of the tickets will be sold at $59. They will go on sale at 10am on Saturday, June 23, but even though they are being sold through Ticketmaster website and by phone, the tickets will be mailed out from the Steelers box office some time in late July.
The Steelers, one of the National Football League’s most storied franchises and known for its no-nonsense, blue collar fan base, caught the nation’s fancy in the 1970s with four Super Bowl victories and remain one of the most sought-after tickets in the NFL. Like most NFL teams, the Steelers annually sell out its season tickets, which will make the newly available seats even more coveted.
Most of the inventory of Steelers tickets that brokers sell come from season ticket holders, so this announcement could potentially mean brokers would have an additional source.
Whether it’s selling seats in the primary or secondary market, Ticketmaster has not made it a secret that it wants as much of the NFL ticket market as possible, so this latest move could be seen as a further attempt to dominate all sales.
Fans will only be allowed to buy up to four tickets for the regular season games, but will have no restriction on the number of tickets they can purchase for the pre-season games, according to team officials.
Based on the NFL schedule, the available pre-season games will be for August 11 against the Green Bay Packers, and August 26 against intra-state rival the Philadelphia Eagles.
The regular season’s available games are against the Buffalo Bills September 16, and the San Francisco 49ers September 23. For October, the only home game is against the Seattle Seahawks on the 7th.
November boasts three home games, two of which will be national Monday night games. On Monday the 5th, the Steelers play the Baltimore Ravens, on the 11th against the Cleveland Browns and on Monday the 26th against the Miami Dolphins. In December, the Steelers will play the Cincinnati Bengals on the 2nd and the Jacksonville Jaguars on the 16th.
