RENTON — The many Seahawks fans without tickets who want to attend regular-season games in 2014 will have to try their luck on the secondary market.
The Seahawks had announced on Monday they had sold all available 63,000 season tickets for 2014, achieving a franchise-record 99 percent renewal rate.
The reselling of tickets at prices different from face value is legal in Washington, and there are several secondary ticket outlets, including one sanctioned by the NFL — ticketexchangebytickemtaster.com.
There’s just one problem, according to James Kimmel, the co-founder and vice president of operations for Seattle-based Epic Seats — fans who have tickets don’t want to part with them.
“It’s hard for us to get access to tickets because so many people want to use them,” Kimmel said.
Kimmel says that is sending prices of the tickets available on the secondary through the roof, adding that the Seahawks are “the most highly sought after ticket” of any NFL team on the secondary market.
“I’ve never seen this market so enthralled with a team as they are this Seahawks team,” said Kimmel, who has been in the secondary ticket market in Seattle for 11 years. “It’s really pretty amazing to watch.”
Kimmel said at this time a year ago, tickets for several Seahawks games could be bought for $65 to $70.
But Monday, Kimmel said, the cheapest ticket for any Seahawks game was $120 for late-season contests against the St. Louis Rams and Phoenix Cardinals. A ticket for the Nov. 2 game against the Oakland Raiders is just a little bit more, he said, as is the Nov. 9 contest against the New York Giants.
But tickets for each of the other four home games — Green Bay, Denver, Dallas and San Francisco — are nearing or above the $200 range for the lowest price, Kimmel said.
Topping the list is the Sept. 4 opener against Green Bay, for which Kimmel said the lowest-priced ticket available Monday is about $275.
That price tops the highest-priced “get in the door” ticket for any regular-season game a year ago against the 49ers — about $230.
The NFC title game against the 49ers in January was believed to be the highest-priced home ticket in Seattle sports history, at about $450 the night before and roughly $600 on the day of the game, Kimmel said.
On Monday, the tickets that were left were put on sale, available online and at the CenturyLink Field box office.
The team said it also sold a limited number of tickets to fans on its Blue Pride season-ticket waiting list, which numbers 12,000.
The Seahawks reported that a few fans began camping out early Sunday morning for the 1,000 upper-level tickets for each game that were available at the box office.
By early afternoon Monday, all remaining tickets were gone, assuring that the team’s streak of 95 consecutive sellouts, including playoff games, won’t end this season.
The team has also sold each of the roughly 2,800 tickets available for 12 open training-camp practices at the Virginia Mason Athletic Center, the team’s training facility in Renton.
The Green Bay game figures to top the contest last year against San Francisco as the most-sought-after regular-season ticket in Seahawks history.
“Obviously the opener is a big deal locally,” Kimmel said. “It’s one of those once-in-a-lifetime events when they are unveiling the Super Bowl banner, and everybody wants to relive the Super Bowl moment.”
And while a few tickets remain available at face value through the team for exhibition games, Kimmel says even those are hot on the secondary market. Typically, Kimmel says, those can be had for less than face value. But not this year.
“Preseason games are showing signs of selling for right around face value,” he said. “That’s unheard of.”
Ware case dismissed
A DUI case against Seahawks running back Spencer Ware, stemming from an arrest on Jan.12, has been dismissed. Dan Donohoe, spokesman for the King County prosecutor’s office, said Monday that the case was dismissed Friday after a judge ruled that the officer lacked reasonable suspicion of DUI at the time he initiated the traffic stop. The judge suppressed all of the evidence gathered thereafter, including the BAC test, and dismissed the case.
Ware was arrested early in the morning the day after the Seahawks beat New Orleans in the NFC Divisional playoffs. Training camp opens Friday, and Ware will compete for a spot on the roster as a fullback who can also play some tailback.
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