Falcons and Georgia Dome officials are warning fans to beware of counterfeit tickets. There were about 300 such tickets confiscated at the Falcons' Dec. 27 game against the New Orleans Saints.
With Saturday's playoff game sold out, the team expects counterfeit-ticket sellers again.
"It's a really tough problem for us because you have a customer show up that has bought tickets and has anticipated coming to the game, and then you have to tell them they don't have real tickets," Falcons president Rich McKay said.
McKay saw confiscated tickets for the Saints game and said they were very good facsimiles of the real item. Fans looking to the secondary market have one option for guaranteed legitimate tickets -- NFL Ticket Exchange, which the league created with Ticketmaster. The website is nfl.com/ticketexchange.
Fans buying from auction sites such as ebay are encouraged to buy from sellers with a record of satisfied customers. The team also suggests using a credit card or PayPal, which offer the potential for reimbursement. Fans should also check tickets closely and cross-check seat assignments with dome seating maps.
Ticket re-sale website stubhub.com protects buyers by finding replacement tickets for people sold counterfeits and then charging the seller for the sale price.
On the site, the average ticket sale price remained about $200, though only about 200 tickets were sold between Monday and Tuesday afternoon, with more than 9,300 still for sale. That's about 13 percent of the dome's capacity. The market may be in for an adjustment.
The computer speaks
According to one betting service, the Green Bay Packers should be a slight favorite Saturday over the Falcons. In its 10,000 computer simulations of the game, AccuScore said Green Bay won 52 percent of the time. Not surprisingly, turnover margin was a big factor in the simulations. The Falcons won 69 percent of the simulations in which they turned the ball over less than Green Bay.
Falcons fans can take solace in the fact that the Falcons and Packers will play 9,999 fewer times and also that AccuScore was less than "accu" in the wild-card round. It gave the edge to New Orleans, Indianapolis and Philadelphia, all of whom lost.
Ryan pitching razors
After debuting as a Gillette pitchman last season, Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan is featured in a new ad campaign that launched last weekend. Ryan is part of Gillette's "Young Guns" campaign, which also includes Baltimore running back Ray Rice, baseball players Evan Longoria and Carlos Gonzalez and NASCAR drivers Denny Hamlin and Kyle Busch.
Headed south
Delta has added a non-stop flight from Green Bay to Atlanta for Saturday to transport Packers fans.
The round-trip will leave Austin Straubel International Airport at 9 a.m. Saturday, arriving in Atlanta at 12:15 p.m., and return 11 a.m. with a 12:15 p.m. arrival. An round-trip economy ticket aboard the 76-seat CRJ900 jet cost $454 on Tuesday.
About the Author
Keep Reading
The Latest
Featured
