The much anticipated January 1 game between the New York Giants and Dallas Cowboys is proving to be a big profit maker on the secondary market.
This weekend’s game will decide who takes the NFC East Division title, while the loser’s season comes to an abrupt end. The Giants host the game at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, NJ, but “home field advantage” has been a misnomer for the team this year: While both teams enter the game with 8-7 records, the Giants are only 3-4 at home.
Fans have been snapping up tickets to Sunday’s game. “We are seeing high demand, which is unusual for the holiday period,” said Allshows.com president Jason Berger to TicketNews.
“Companies usually account for the higher-end purchases, and they are closed [for the holidays]. But here we are seeing individuals purchase tickets across the board, from low end to high end, in large amounts,” Berger said.
With this final game of the regular season selling as hot as a postseason game, tickets are listed on StubHub.com from $194 to $2,750 as of today, December 30. The resale marketplace had more than 1,100 available tickets.
According to the New York Daily News, the surge seems dependent on team success over recent weeks. Ticket search engine SeatGeek.com has noted some softening of prices in sync with the Giants’ inconsistent play.
Following Big Blue’s lackluster 23-10 loss to the Washington Redskins in mid-December, prices for this weekend’s game began to drop and hit a $256 low on December 21, according to SeatGeek. But prices on the site have been trending upwards since the team’s Christmas Eve victory over the New York Jets, resulting in an average of $325 as of yesterday, December 29.
Ticket search engine FanSnap.com also is seeing pricing fluctuations, with a peak average ticket price of $469 on Christmas Day that dropped to $385 by December 29.
“Considering the importance of the game with the winner hosting a first-round home playoff game, tickets are surprisingly available,” Mike Janes, FanSnap’s general manager of event ticketing, told TicketNews. “Prices are becoming more affordable for New York football fans hoping to see a repeat of the Giants’ earlier win over the Cowboys.”
Prices found on FanSnap range from a low of $183 for an individual seat to a high of $17,928 for a luxury suite.
The Giants will enter the Sunday game having taken four of their last five match-ups with Dallas, including a 37-34 win when the teams last met on December 11.
But when it comes to league-wide stats, the Giants are testing the nerves of loyal fans. The team has lost five of its last seven games and is risking a third straight season out of the playoffs. Meanwhile, Dallas hopes to avoid a second year out of playoff contention.