The NFL is cracking down on roughly 100 players and two dozen club employees for breaking league policy by selling their tickets to Super Bowl LIX above face value, according to reporting done by the Associated Press' Rob Maaddi.
An anonymous source familiar with the league's investigation told Maaddi players will be penalized by having to pay 1.5 times the face value of their tickets in fines. Team staff members will have to pay double the face value of their tickets.
Additionally, the violators will be barred from purchasing tickets to the next two Super Bowls (LX and LXI) unless they are participating in the actual game.
NFL punishes 100 players for scalping their Super Bowl LIX tickets
The league typically allots a fixed amount of Super Bowl tickets for both teams to distribute amongst players and staff so they can bring a limited number of family, friends or acquaintances to the big game. It's rare but not unusual for some players or employees to have leftover tickets but it's very frowned upon for those to be used to make a profit.
“Our initial investigation has determined that a number of NFL players and coaches, employed by several NFL Clubs, sold Super Bowl tickets for more than the ticket’s face value in violation of the Policy," as memo circulated within the league and acquired by the AP read. "This long-standing League Policy, which is specifically incorporated into the Collective Bargaining Agreement, prohibits League or Club employees, including players, from selling NFL game tickets acquired from their employer for more than the ticket’s face value or for an amount greater than the employee originally paid for the ticket, whichever is less. 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.”
No specific players have been named as of yet and it's unlikely the public will find out until the investigation is complete (if at all). But if you're really curious, you can take a look at the 106-man combined rosters of the Philadelphia Eagles and Kansas City Chiefs and make your guesses.
The "bundlers," per the memo, will face additional punishment for involving a third-party reseller as part of their infractions.
The median ticket price for this year's Super Bowl was $6,304 exactly one week out from the game. That's more than double what they started at. Some nose bleed seats at Caesar's Superdome were as "low" as $2,800 when they first went on sale.
For the guys who make multi-millions playing football, they really should be ashamed of themselves for trying to make an extra buck of the backs of hard-working fans who already spend small fortunes to see their favorite teams take a 50-50 chance on winning a championship.