With the 49ers "one win away from the Super Bowl and in the midst of a season that has jolted the proud franchise from its mid-decade doldrums," tickets to Sunday's NFC Championship game against the Giants "are the hottest in town," according to Matt Kawahara of the SACRAMENTO BEE. Ticket holders selling their seats through resale websites such as the NFL Ticket Exchange or StubHub are "often listing them for several times the face value -- hundreds or, in some cases, thousands of dollars." On Thursday, SeatGeek, which "aggregates ticket prices from various online sellers, placed the average price of a ticket to Sunday's game at $658." On StubHub, tickets "started at $375, while one listing advertised a pair of lower box seats near midfield for $8,500 apiece." StubHub PR Manager Joellen Ferrer said that in the 48 hours "after it was determined last Sunday that the 49ers would play the Giants in San Francisco, about 7,500 tickets were bought through StubHub." Ferrer said that for last weekend's Saints-49ers Divisional playoff game, ticket prices on StubHub "fell 20 percent to 25 percent by Friday -- the day before the game -- probably because sellers realized they were running out of time to move them." Ferrer: "I wouldn't be surprised if we saw a pretty similar trend this week" (SACRAMENTO BEE, 1/20). CSN Bay Area's "Chronicle Live" on Wednesday night looked at the trend of increasing ticket prices leading up to Sunday's Giants-49ers game. S.F.-area KGMZ-FM's Brandon Tierney said, "There's no doubt it's going to go up because you have a competitive market. If the residents here don't grab them quick, the New Yorkers will" ("Chronicle Live," Comcast SportsNet Bay Area, 1/18).
BEEFING UP SECURITY: In California, Matthias Gafni writes the 49ers "find themselves -- again -- answering questions about Candlestick fan behavior as they prepare for another home game Sunday." At last weekend's game against the Saints, S.F. police "made 23 arrests." The issue has "drawn the attention of the NFL's chief of security, who vowed there will be a 'robust' security presence and zero tolerance" for Sunday's game. NFL Senior VP/Government Affairs Jeff Miller said, "There were a lot of fan conduct situations that were not acceptable that we will address." Miller said that security will "target troublemakers early," and added that he "hopes fans will text, call or find security or police to report bad fan behavior." S.F. Police has "increased staffing by 25 percent for the playoffs" (CONTRA COSTA TIMES, 1/20).
