There was a maelstrom of complaining from Giants (and Jets) fans who had to pay a PSL - Personal Seat Licenses – before renewing their season tickets for the 2010 season, the first in MetLife Stadium.
But like other commodities such as taxi medallions or liquor licenses, it’s possible to wind up a winner in these transactions. Did anybody?
http://www.northjersey.com/story/news/2017/02/24/man-gets-five-years-prison-ny-giants-ticket-scam/98303670/
News that a Monmouth County just got five years for swindling customers out of $100,000 for Giants PSLsthat he did not possess reminded me to take another look at those PSL numbers. I went tothe official Giants PSL resale marketplace.
Let’s start at the top - $1,000 was the price for most of the upper-deck seats. The cheapest PSLs for a pair of seats I could find on the site was $850 each for seats in the upper corner of the end zone Section 305, Row 21.
For $900 apiece - $100 less than the original cost – you can get closer to behind the end zone in Section 327, but it’s Row 25. There are six other pairs behind or almost behind the end zone for under that $1,000 benchmark, but none of them are in the first 20 rows.
There are hundreds of upper level PSLs selling for up to $1,200, and for $1,250 there are two pairs of seats in the ninth row. A handful of pairs list for $1,500 to $1,900 for reasons that escape me.
The next-lowest PSLs were $4,000 for mezzanine end zone. Uh oh, I see as low as $2,050 per seat for a pair located in 228b, Row 15 – and a dozen or more other PSLs in this zone for $2,500 or less. For $3,000 – 25 percent off the original price – you get fifth row in Section 250b. You can get to Row 2 (in Section 204) for $3,925. Wait, you’re a front row kind of guy? You get can 3 PSLs in Section 206A, Row 1 for $7,500 or pay $12,500 each for three others in Section 223, Row 1.
For the first four upper deck rows on the sidelines, the original PSL price was $5,000. Whoops, you can get fourth-row seats in Section 309A – a trio or a quartet, each grouping next to each other – for $3,000. Interestingly, there are only one pair of third-row seats – in Section 333L – for $4,000. For Row 2, minimum $4,250 per pair of PSLs. For Row 1, $5,000 is the minimum (no solo seats considered in this article).
Sure, that pair of fourth row seats in 339L are on the aisle, but $13,000 apiece for the PSLs? Well, they are five seats together so there’s that. Meanwhile, 337L is around the 50-yard line so those are sweet seats. But for Seats 9-10 in Row 2, the combined PSL asking price is $100,000 (!).
Moving on to the lower level end zone, that PSL also was $5,000. These are being offered as low as $3,600 each – but the ones under $4,400 are not in the first 30 rows and it will cost you $4,750 even to get to Row 17.
Mezzanine club seat PSLs ranged from $7,500 to $12,500 – yet I found PSLs being offered at $2,400 for Row 8 (Section 235), $4,850 for Row 4 (Section 218), and $5,900 for Section 212, Row 12. Ouch.
It was $10,000 per PSL to get seats from the end zone to the 30 yard line. These go as low as $7,750 for lower-level “nosebleeds” although there is a single pair of third-row seats in Section 143 (near the end zone) for only $9,000 per PSL. Four seats in front Row 117 (ditto) have PSL bills of $18,750.
Visitors bench seats near midfield boasted $20,000 PSLs – and the lowest offering number is $19,501 for 20th row. For Row 6 on the 50-yard line, try $55,000 per PSL.
Finally, the Coaches Club on the Giants side – also $20,000 PSL, but with luxury lounges and an initial $700 per game ticket price. Maybe because of the accompanying ticket price, these are going for as low as $10,000.
Remarkably, the results turned out pretty similar to what I heard from experts at the time: fans with the better upper-deck seats can make a tidy profit if they stop buying tickets, while those with the worst seats might not break even. The mezzanine club seats PSLs were seen as the worst buys - and they were. And the hefty PSLs for the best seats bring back almost all or all of the buyer's investment - again, determined by just how good a row you have.
