The Seahawks, fresh off their Super Bowl XLVIII victory, "are striking the financial iron while it's hot," meaning these "are salad days in the NFL’s Pacific Northwest outpost," according to Ken Belson of the N.Y. TIMES. The team’s revenue "has grown by double digits in every category, including tickets, merchandise and sponsorships." The Seahawks this offseason set a team record with 99.6% of season-ticket holders renewing their plans "even though ticket prices increased" by an average of 12%. An additional 1,200 seats previously sold as single-game tickets "were converted to season tickets and scooped up." The Seahawks for the first time also "have sold all 113 suites in CenturyLink Field for the entire season." Revenue from suites is up 15%, and "just a few suites were sold for single games." Stadium tours "have nearly tripled, to 12,000, in the first eight months this year." Every open practice during training camp "filled to capacity." Seahawks President Peter McLoughlin said, "There are things we can always do better, but things are very good right now." Belson reports the Seahawks opened a third team store and "plan to open a fourth, doubling the number of shops they operated last season." Revenue from these outlets "is kept by the Seahawks, not shared with the league." Meanwhile, the Super Bowl win "helped the team attract or expand sponsorships with companies like Verizon, Starbucks and Skittles." All this season, Seattle-based Alaska Airlines "will offer early boarding at Sea-Tac Airport to passengers wearing the No. 3 jersey of quarterback Russell Wilson, who was named the airline’s 'chief football officer'" (N.Y. TIMES, 9/4).
NOT SECOND FIDDLE: In Seattle, Bob Condotta reports secondary-market prices for tonight's Packers-Seahawks game "remain as expensive as any in Seahawks history." Still, prices "have also come down markedly in the last week or so as sellers try to unload their tickets." SeatGeek data shows that the average price of a ticket for the game on the secondary market "had dropped from $410 last Thursday to $317 on Wednesday." Nonetheless, SeatGeek data showed that the game "is 'the most expensive regular-season ticket of the last five years' with fans having paid 'an average of $433 on the secondary market'" (SEATTLE TIMES, 9/4).
