StubHub Ranks the Hottest NFL Home Openers
SAN FRANCISCO-(Business Wire)-September 10, 2009 - The 2009 National Football League season kicks off tonight when the reigning Super Bowl Champion Pittsburgh Steelers take on their division rivals, the Tennessee Titans. The game, hosted at Heinz Field, ends a long summer of anticipation for NFL fans who have been eagerly awaiting NFL action since it ended in February.
While the contest between the Steelers and Titans is in demand, it didn’t take the top spot in the StubHub 2009 rankings of NFL Season Openers. That honor falls to the Dallas Cowboys, whose fans made their match-up with the New York Giants a landslide winner, mostly thanks to the opening of the new Cowboys Stadium.
Cowboys fans unable to score tickets to the inaugural game have been turning to online marketplace StubHub in droves, with 9 percent of fans at Cowboy Stadium finding their ticket on StubHub. And despite the difficulty in buying a ticket on the primary market for the opener, there are still thousands of Cowboys tickets for sale on StubHub.com, starting at around $50.
StubHub, the world's largest ticket marketplace, has ranked the contests based on number of transactions on StubHub.com, a reliable indicator of fan demand. The rankings are a great example of how teams’ off-season moves can have a dramatic effect on the turnstiles for the first few weeks:
- The Favre Effect: Two games Brett Favre is playing in are in the top ten, including the home opener for the Browns, which is the Vikings’ first road game.
- Note – Last year, the Vikings, despite playing host to Peyton Manning in their home opener, didn’t make the top ten. This year they grabbed the #7 spot on the strength of Brett Favre’s home debut.
- Cutler Mania: The Bears are #2 this year – checking in ahead of the Super Bowl champs' home opener, a full 3 spots higher than their ranking last year.
- Note – The Soldier Field home opener is the most expensive opener, averaging $353 per ticket
- The T.O. Show: The Buffalo Bills are #5 on the list, most likely due to the arrival of Terrell Owens.
- Note – The contests featuring Favre and Owens are the cheapest on the list, both costing less than 1/4th the price of a Bears ticket, around $87 a piece.
Below is StubHub's unique Top 10 list of NFL Season Openers, ranked in descending order by number of transactions sold to date on StubHub:
| 2009 Ranking | Matchup/Date | |
| 1 | Dallas Cowboys (vs Giants 9/20) | |
| 2 | Chicago Bears (vs. Steelers 9/20) | |
| 3 | TB Buccaneers (vs. Cowboys 9/13) | |
| 4 | Pittsburgh Steelers (vs. Titans 9/10) | |
| 5 | Buffalo Bills (vs. Buccaneers 9/20) | |
| 6 | Washington Redskins (vs Rams 9/20) | |
| 7 | Minnesota Vikings (vs. 49ers 9/27) | |
| 8 | NY Giants (vs. Redskins 9/13) | |
| 9 | Cleveland Browns (vs. Vikings 9/13) | |
| 10 | Arizona Cardinals (vs. 49ers 9/13) | |
Source: Sales ranking (as of 9/08/09) based on transaction volume per contest as sold on StubHub.com, with a minimum of 1000 tickets sold per game to qualify.
About StubHub
StubHub is the world's largest ticket marketplace, enabling fans to buy and sell tickets to tens of thousands of sports, concert, theater and other live entertainment events. StubHub reinvented the ticket resale market in 2000 and continues to lead it through innovation. The company's unique online marketplace, dedicated solely to tickets, provides all fans the choice to buy or sell their tickets in a safe, convenient and highly reliable environment. All transactions are processed and delivered by StubHub and backed by the company’s FanProtect Guarantee™. Company partners include the New York Yankees, Chicago Bears and the University of Southern California along with nearly 60 teams in the NFL, MLB, NBA, NHL and NCAA, complemented with Broadway musicals like Jersey Boys and companies such as ESPN and AOL.
StubHub is an eBay company (NASDAQ:EBAY). For more information on StubHub, visit www.stubhub.com.
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