NFL Playoff Ticket Prices Plummet Hours Before Game Time - History in the Making
It was the opportunity of a lifetime: The chance to sit in sub-zero temperatures for several hours — with a wind chill well below that. And all for $30 or even less.
That was the situation Jan. 13 prior to the AFC wild-card playoff game between the Kansas City Chiefs and the Miami Dolphins.
The temperature was minus-4 degrees Fahrenheit with gusts of up to 27 mph, creating a wind chill of 27 degrees below zero, according to The Associated Press.
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As the forecast predicted temperatures that went lower and lower, so did the prices of tickets from fans who decided that risking frostbitten feet was not worth the trip to the stadium, where the Chiefs beat the Dolphins 26-7.
The Kansas City Star found that several offers of tickets below $30 were being made on game day amid dire weather predictions. The Star noted that some ticket prices were less than it would cost to park at the stadium.
The game was streamed on Peacock and not nationally televised.
However, it was broadcast in the Miami and Kansas City markets.
The game came on a weekend when fears of a blizzard in Buffalo forced authorities to move the scheduled Jan. 14 game between the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Buffalo Bills to Jan. 15.
The Bills won 31-17 and play the Chiefs in a divisional-round contest on Sunday night.
Deadline offered some context, noting that the cheapest seats for the Jan. 14 game between the Los Angeles Rams and Detroit Lions, which was played in Detroit, were about $518.
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For those who did attend the Chiefs-Dolphins matchup, it was a chance to be part of history. The AP noted that it was the coldest game ever played at Arrowhead and the fourth-coldest in NFL records.
The record is held by the 1967 “Ice Bowl” game between the Green Bay Packers and Dallas Cowboys at Lambeau Field, which was played at a temperature of 13 degrees below zero and a wind chill of 48 degrees below zero. (The Packers won with seconds to play on a Bart Starr quarterback sneak.)
KSN-TV noted that pre-game tailgaters said they would not be deterred.
“Layers upon layers upon layers, hot drinks, Vaseline on the face is a good tip too. Keep the skin moist,” the station quoted members of one family as saying.
A Dolphins fan from Orlando, Florida, who wasn’t named said the game “was probably the coldest I’ve been in.”
“We saw some post yesterday … saying it’s too cold and none of the Dolphins fans were going to be here. So we were like, we got to go,” the fan said.
A Chiefs fan said being there was an important memory to have.
“You’ve got to enjoy it while you have it. This is the golden era. I’m not going to miss it because it’s a little cold,” the fan said.
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