Patriots-Rams "Almost the Worst Possible Combination of Teams" For Ticket Resellers

The Patriots and Rams will meet in Super Bowl LIII, which has led to reasonable ticket prices, as far as Super Bowls go.

The combination of the Los Angeles Rams and the New England Patriots has had a sobering effect on secondary market ticket prices, according to three industry sources.

Michael Lipman, a well-known reseller who has bought and re-sold tickets at the Super Bowl for more than 30 years, says the combination of one team without a large, traveling fan base (the Rams) and a team that's played in eight of the last 17 Super Bowls (the Patriots) has translated to middling demand and reasonable prices, as far as Super Bowls go.

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"This is almost the worst possible combination of teams," says Lipman, who will use an Atlanta hotel as headquarters next week. "There's no fan base in L.A. Though there is a 'Tom Brady's last hurrah' situation that is attracting a number of people. But other than that, there's no draw."

Super Bowl LIII is being played at Mercedes-Benz Stadium, home of the Falcons. This is the first time Atlanta has hosted the game since the Rams and Titans met in the Georgia Dome in January 2000.

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Lipman says tickets for upper level seats are hovering around $3,500 in resale value, while lower level seats and premium seats can range from $4,500 to $15,000 in extreme cases. According to two industry sources, Anheuser-Busch Companies, the brewing company headquartered in St. Louis, was poised to purchase large quantities of tickets from resellers for employees and guests including clients and vendors if the Kansas City Chiefs had reached their first Super Bowl in 49 years. But the Chiefs fell 37-31 to the Patriots in the AFC Championship.

The dream scenario for resellers would have come with Super Bowl appearances for the Dallas Cowboys and Chiefs, Lipman says. And the worst-case scenario? Rams-Colts.

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