Seattle Seahawks ticket demand is higher than ever, but thanks to the redistribution of tickets that were previously sold to ticket brokers, 20 percent of fans on the Blue Pride season-ticket waiting list were able to purchase season tickets this offseason.
And when Seahawks single-game tickets go on sale next month, more tickets will be also be available purchase after the team took 4,000 seats from longtime ticket brokers in order to distribute them directly to fans. The newly added 1,000-seat Toyota Fan Deck also increases ticket availability at CenturyLink Field.
Of the 4,000 tickets taken back from brokers, 2,000 went to fans on the Blue Pride wait list. The team will sell an additional 2,000 seats as single game tickets using dynamic pricing beginning July 13 at 10 a.m. The price for those tickets will fluctuate based on market demand and will be sold on Ticketmaster.com. This is the first year NFL teams are using dynamic pricing, something that has been done by other professional sports leagues in the past.
The decision to take tickets back from brokers meant that fans like Denise Hinkey from Gig Harbor were able to get off the Blue Pride wait list and purchase season tickets for the first time. Hinkey, who grew up in eastern Washington and used to attend training camp practices at Eastern Washington University, said she had to pull over on the side of Highway 16 because she was so excited to receive the email telling her she could buy season tickets.
"I had just seen 'Seahawks' come up on my phone," said Hinkey, who signed up for the Blue Pride wait list during the 2012 season. "I pulled over and read it, and I just freaked out. It's hard to put into words. There was a little dance and a little scream… I was pleasantly surprised."
More tickets didn't just mean new season tickets becoming available, but also that longtime season ticket holders had the chance to upgrade. For five or six years, Ziad Salloum, a season-ticket holder since 2000, had tried to upgrade from his tickets in the Hawks Nest but had come up empty. When he looked this year, Salloum was surprised to see numerous options—many of them seats that had previously belonged to brokers—and he was able to move from the Hawks Nest to seats in the north end zone just five rows above the field.
"I thought that was a really nice move by the organization to think about the fans first and make it so people in the community would have tickets in their names instead of having to a La carte from ticket brokers," Salloum said.
With season tickets capped at 61,500, an additional 3,400 single-game tickets will be available, priced at $62. That price represents the average lowest ticket price of all 32 NFL teams. Half of those 3,400 tickets will go to the Blue Pride Wait list via an email offer, while the other 1,700 will be available at the CenturyLink Field NW Box Office on July 20 at 10 a.m.
"With 105 consecutive sellouts and a renewal rate of 99.6 percent the last two seasons, we are pleased to reward our Blue Pride waitlist members and increase the availability of Seahawks tickets," Seahawks president Peter McLoughlin said. "Twenty-percent of the Blue Pride wait list were able to purchase 2015 season tickets in part through the addition of new seats in the Toyota Fan Deck south end zone section. Additionally, we will make more than 3,400 tickets per game available at the league average low ticket price of $62."
Beginning at 8 a.m. on July 20 at the CenturyLink Field box office, fans waiting to purchase tickets can enjoy a live DJ and fan activities with Blitz and the Sea gals on-site. There will also be a merchandise kiosk for an on-site sidewalk sale.
Since CenturyLink Field opened, the Seahawks have priced 10 percent of the building at or below the lowest average NFL ticket price through a combination of single-game and season tickets. In addition to season tickets being sold out, the Blue Pride wait list is also sold out with 12,000 memberships, and this year's season-ticket renewal rate of 99.6 percent matches last year's as the highest in franchise history.
