Crosswalk

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If you’re anything like me, at some point during your late 20s you started pursuing the possibility of becoming an Eagles season ticket holder. If you were serious about it, your first stop most likely brought you here, where you had the privilege of getting in line behind 50,000 others, hoping that someday soon you would get that magic call. After about 8 years, reality sets in when after calling the Eagles ticket office, you learn that you’re now number 37,519 on the list!

According to the Eagles, “Each year, the number of people offered General Season tickets from the Waiting List varies and depends on the renewal rate (99.7% on average) for season tickets.” That 0.3% is rarely the “first time/long time” you hear threatening to give up his tickets if (fill in the blank) doesn’t happen. It’s usually someone who didn’t make their payment for the upcoming season on time, only to lose their investment. So other than getting screwed on Stubhub year after year, how do you become an official season ticket holder?

You purchase a Stadium Builders License (SBL)—also known as a Personal Seat License (PSL). Now here’s the part that requires some explanation. An SBL is a license you obtain that gives you the right to purchase season tickets. In so many words, you pay for the right to pay for your tickets. Seems ridiculous, right?

Well, when you’re a billion dollar business with a product that sells out no matter what, why not squeeze out a few extra million to offset initial costs. That’s actually the logic behind an SBL. The earnings are used to help pay the debt incurred during the construction of the stadium—you know, when the city doesn’t kick in their fair—80%—share!

Teams using the SBL approach do so by getting the buyer to view their seat(s) not just as a one-time purchase, but more like a commodity. It’s smart in the way that if you look at your seats as an investment, you’re more likely to hold onto them during the bad times, just like a mortgage! But in this case, think of it more like a timeshare.

And that’s what an SBL is for the most part. Every year, you’re guaranteed the right to purchase your seats for at least 10 games—yeah, you have to buy the preseason games too. The one positive in shelling out a few grand for an SBL is that if things stay the way they have for the Eagles and the NFL as a whole, you won’t lose anything on your investment. In fact, short of a complete collapse or relocation of the team, your SBL’s value should increase as demand increases—99.7% renewal rate—and ticket prices continue to rise.

So if you’re serious about becoming a season ticket holder, and have a few grand to spare—your kid doesn’t need braces—your safest bet is going with the Eagles’ official middleman who handles the transactions of SBLs, STR Marketplace. I went through them recently and grabbed an SBL for two seats in section 108.

One piece of advice though: don’t be fooled by the cheapness of SBLs for Club level seating that’s available on there. It’s not uncommon to see an SBL for Club level going for only a few hundred dollars per seat, while seating in the 200 level is going for $3,000 a seat. That’s because Club Level tickets are insanely expensive compared to tickets in the 100/200 levels.

 

[pvc_paratheme ]