The Jets denied a report that 12,000 tickets were unsold for last night’s matchup with the Texans, but it’s clear that good seats — a lot of them — are still available for the rest of the season.
According to executives in the ticket industry, the Jets’ uninspired start has prompted a fire sale on the secondary market by brokers and season-ticket holders desperate to get rid of their seats for the final four home games, starting Sunday against Andrew Luck and the rebuilding Colts.
More than 18,000 tickets in 82,500-seat MetLife Stadium are currently for resale at rock-bottom prices for each of the Jets’ last three home dates, including a Thanksgiving night showdown against the rival Patriots that normally is the most expensive on Gang Green’s schedule, said Chris Matcovich, data director for online ticket aggregator TiqIQ.
Upper-deck tickets that normally go for $50 face value are currently up for resale for just $60 each for the New England game.
“Unless the Jets turn it around and start playing better, you’re going to be able to get in for under season-ticket holder face value for the Patriots game,” Matcovich said. “That would be really amazing, considering how good that rivalry’s been in the past.”
In excess of 10,000 seats are for resale for the game this weekend against Indianapolis, and their asking price has continued to plummet since the Jets’ embarrassing 34-0 home rout at the hands of the 49ers on Sept. 30 — a game that already featured a noticeably huge contingent of red-clad San Francisco fans.
Matcovich said tickets for the Colts game are available from secondary sources for as little as $14 each — an unheard of price for a recent NFL game in the New York market.
And that’s just the resale market. Sources in the ticket industry said yesterday it was their understanding the Jets have more than 10,000 tickets available for each game that they weren’t able to sell to brokers or in season-ticket packages to fans.
The Jets have regularly refused to divulge how many unsold tickets they have, saying only that every home game will be shown on local TV and fans won’t have to worry about blackouts.
But that’s not the same as being sold out, and broadcasting the games locally without a full house is only possible under NFL rules if owner Woody Johnson writes a check to the league for 34 percent of the unsold tickets to cover the opponent’s share.
The Jets also could be taking advantage of a new NFL rule designed to ease the number of blackouts — and calm growing fan outrage — in cities where selling tickets has been a problem.
Team owners recently passed a resolution allowing clubs the option of allowing local broadcasts even if as few as 85 percent of the non-premium tickets are sold. But teams must set what is known as the blackout percentage before the season, and that percentage is known only if the respective franchise agrees to make it public.