With the Carolina Panthers at 6-0, a ticket to Bank of America Stadium has become a hot commodity. Too hot, in some instances.
On Thursday, the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department warned fans to be on the lookout for counterfeit tickets when buying from “non-reputable sources.”
“Despite last week’s outreach, several fans were turned away from Sunday night’s Panthers football game due to invalid tickets,” CMPD spokesman Keith Trietley said in a statement released to local media. “In some cases, tickets were duplicated and exchanged hands multiple times, making it difficult to track the source of the counterfeiting.”
In some cases, Trietley said, sellers may be unaware that a ticket is counterfeit.
Of the five home games remaining on the 2015 schedule, one contest in particular – the Nov. 8 matchup with the Green Bay Packers — is driving the resale market crazy, according to The Charlotte Observer.
If the stars align, the Observer notes, both teams would go into the matchup undefeated.
As of Thursday, the cheapest Panthers-Packers seat available on secondary marketplace StubHub was listed at $252; on average, the final sale price so far has been $258, the Observer said.
“It’s actually the highest-selling Panthers game that we’ve had in the past five years, and we’re not even the week-of yet, when we see most of our sales,” StubHub spokesperson Cameron Papp told the paper.
How to avoid being taken (CMPD):
Rule #1. Buy tickets only from a reputable vendor. Do not purchase tickets from someone you do not know or from an online source that is not validated by the Carolina Panthers or the NFL.
But if you simply MUST buy from a scalper…
Ask the seller for identification and record his or her information.
Write down where the seller is standing and any direction of travel.
Write down a clothing description.
Take a photo of the seller with your cell phone.
Call the stadium ticket office to verify the serial numbers on the tickets before purchasing them.
