As talks of inflation, stagnation, and even an outright recession continue to plague the U.S. economy, folks are doing whatever they can to make an extra dollar nowadays, and that includes NFL employees. More than 100 NFL employees, including nearly 100 players and 24 team employees, were allegedly caught reselling their tickets to Super Bowl LIX for more than face value in an attempt to net themselves a few extra bucks.
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That’s a direct violation of the league’s policy, and as a result, they are now being forced to cough up those earnings and then some. According to the Associated Press and their anonymous source, players who were caught reselling their tickets will face a fine of 1.5 times the value of the initial price that they paid for them, and they will also be restricted from purchasing Super Bowl tickets for the next two calendar years unless their team is competing in the event.
When it comes to the standard employees who were caught doing the same, their fines will be twice the amount of the initial price that they paid. Take the average price of a Super Bowl LIX ticket, which was $6,645 according to TickPick, multiply it by 1.5, and that implies that those involved will be shelling out more than half a million dollars in fines for the infraction.
According to an internal memo from the league’s head of compliance, Sabrina Perel, the investigation is still ongoing, and there will be an increase in force moving forward.
“We are in the process of completing our investigation into this matter, but the investigation has revealed that club employees and players sold their tickets to a small number of ‘bundlers’ who were working with a ticket reseller to sell the Super Bowl tickets above face value… In advance of Super Bowl LX, we will be enhancing the mandatory compliance training regarding the Policy for all League personnel.”
Unfortunately, this isn’t the first time this has happened, and it likely won’t be the last either. The former head coach of the Minnesota Vikings, Mike Tice, infamously admitted to scalping Super Bowl tickets in 2005.
Considering that the median base salary of an NFL player is $860,000, it seems rather egregious that players feel the need to participate in such underhanded tactics, especially when you consider the fact that Super Bowl tickets already carry some of the most inflated values of any ticket in all of professional sports. The average fan has already been priced out of the event, and such matters only worsen the experience for those who are lucky enough to afford it.
Suffice to say, it’s a bad look for the NFL and its employees, hence why the league is actively trying to make an example out of those who were involved in the scandal. Nevertheless, it likely won’t have an impact on the prices of future events, as public buyers have already ensured that you’ll be paying at a premium to see your favorite team win it all.
