On September 26th, Tampa Bay Buccaneers made the announcement that fans would be able to attend games at Raymond James stadium with a limited capacity due to the continued efforts to slow down the spread of Covid-19.

After months of speculation on just who would be allowed to attend, the decision to have a soft opening against the Chargers with the majority of the tickets being made available to the longest tenured season ticket holders, 1998 and before, that opted to keep their 2020 season ticket status rather than taking a refund.

The first home game, a 38-31 come from behind victory, drew a crowd of 6,383.

The remaining home games on the schedule were open to season ticket holders to purchase tickets prior to the public getting a shot. Members had gotten assigned a window of time specific to their tenure as repeat customers for consecutive years. My window was started on Monday, October 5th. I’ve been a member since 2006.

Members got the option to purchase tickets to 2 games.

The games are split into two tiers: “Marquee Games” and “Prime Games”

The Marquee Games included the highly anticipated matchups against the Packers(4-0), the sAints(2-2) and the Chiefs(2-2).

The Prime Games consist of the lower demand games versus Carolina(2-2), the Rams(3-1), Vikings(1-3) and the currently 0-4 Failcons.

Some of the issues I brought up prior to the BUCS’ announcement of ticket availability was the issue of reselling and scalpers. One of the bigger questions I had was whether or not resale would be an option. The BUCS and/or the NFL have allowed the reselling of ticket with a caveat.

Tickets listed for resale must be sold in groups. Meaning, tickets of 2 or more can only be sold a group to one party. The option to split seats between to multiple groups is off the table.

PAY UP…..PAY OUT

Well, tickets have hit the resale market and, like you would expect, the prices are through the roof for Marquees games.

While the issue of fans selling their seats to the opposing team’s faithful for a profit is a valid gripe, I find it hard to fault anyone during these trying times. A few seasons ago, the BUCS organization went as far as to suspend the accounts of season pass members that sold their seats at notable rates. That’s probably one of the reasons they’ve limited members to the purchase of just 2 games during this time.

I, too, loathe the thought of giving away home field advantage due to scalpers buying tickets en masse just to turn a profit. But that’s in “normal times”. And we’re far, far away from those times.

There are those who are both willing and able to pay up for the opportunity to see these limited affairs.

Getting your hands on a couple tickets to this season’s games is quite the accomplishment for the diehard fan. It’s damn near Super Bowl level.

After all, there are only a few teams even allowing fans at stadiums this year.

As of today, tickets for the the Chiefs game range from $400 to as high as $4K all the way up in Section 339 on Ticketmaster.

When checking where the current prices were in resale as an owner, lower bowl seats recently sold for $775.

That’s almost 7x the individual seat cost at season pass member prices.

The spectacle of seeing Tom Brady, the face of the NFL for the last 20 years, going up against Patrick Mahomes, the face of the League for, possibly, the next decade or two may be too rare of a moment for some fans to pass up. Like ships passing in the night.

I’m actually quite curious just who’s more likely to pay the high cost. The casual fans or the diehard BUCS fans.

There’s a $200+ difference between the cost of of the game versus the Rams which is being played a week earlier.

As of the today, here are the lowest ticket prices for the remaining home games sorted by lower bowl(100s/ 200s) and upper level(300s) before seats get released to the public:

As you can see by the pricing of the Atlanta game, the scalpers and the drunk are hard at work.

By all means, fellow BUCS fans, if you decide to go the games, be careful in searching/paying for tickets. There’s gonna be some gouging going on. But, it’s a choice to pay those prices.

And, once again, there are plenty that will pay it voluntarily. Nothing and no one is being held hostage.

Buy responsibly.

And if you decide to go to the games, be safe and follow all the social distancing guidelines in place. I’d like to make my way back to Raymond James Stadium and not feel like I need to wear a hazmat suit by this time next year.