For Eagles playoff tickets, the sky may be the limit

Thousands of Eagles playoff tickets flooded Internet ticket exchanges Monday morning, only hours after the team's two-point nail-biter victory over the Dallas Cowboys.

Some season-ticket holders debated whether to attend the playoff game against the New Orleans Saints at Lincoln Financial Field on Saturday night, or sell game tickets for a profit.

Fans without tickets anxiously looked over what was available on ticket-reseller StubHub Inc., the league-sanctioned NFL Ticket Exchange, and other sites. Those tickets carried marked-up prices, some much higher than face value.

By midmorning, more than 3,000 tickets had been posted on StubHub and an additional 1,900 on NFL Ticket Exchange, two of the biggest sites.

"I woke up and made it happen," said Tal Miranda Davis, 30, who calls Bermuda her home. She adopted the Eagles as a college student when the team was a perennial championship contender led by Brian Westbrook and Donovan McNabb.

Davis made travel arrangements - a flight for about $700, plus the cost of an overnight hotel stay. Then she turned to StubHub and found a lower-level end-zone seat approaching $300.

"I just want to be there," she added. "It's the atmosphere. The tickets are getting bought up. Last night, I checked and there were a lot more than there are today."

The least expensive seat on NFL Ticket Exchange at noon cost $175 in the nosebleed section behind one of the end zones. The ticket had a face value of $95, according to the Eagles.

The priciest on NFL Ticket Exchange was $1,630 on the 40-yard line, 11 rows back, with a face value of $130. Prices changed quickly and dramatically in the wee hours of the playoff euphoria.

Eagles season-ticket holders had the option in recent weeks to purchase ticket packages for a playoff run, which became reality late Sunday.

Chris DiMedio, 42, said Monday that he had not decided whether he would part with four front-row club-level seats or take his sons. Last week, a Bears fan paid him nearly $2,000 for his seats when the Eagles faced the Chicago team. DiMedio estimated that he could do much better this week.

"It's tough. Me and my three boys go to the game. What's the purpose of buying the season tickets if you're not going to use them during the playoffs?"

DiMedio said he would have a hard time refusing an offer of $1,000 per seat, but does not want to miss out on a memorable moment.

"Isn't that the reason you buy them? I was at Game Five of the World Series when the Phillies won. I'll never have that moment again," he said about the title-clinching game in 2008.

DiMedio said he got a letter from the Eagles the last week of November asking him to confirm his desire to purchase playoff tickets. No money was required until the Eagles locked in a playoff spot. On Monday, he was billed by the Eagles for Saturday's wild-card playoff game.

Eagles playoff tickets are likely to be the topic of ongoing conversations throughout the region this week. Saturday's game will be the first Eagles home playoff game since 2010, when the team lost to the Green Bay Packers.

The Eagles franchise itself will sell several thousand tickets - 2,000 to 3,000 - beginning at noon Tuesday. Interested fans can go to www.ticketmaster.com or call 1-800-745-3000. There is a limit of four tickets per household.

Those tickets will mostly be standing-room-only for $70 each and upper-level seats for $95, Eagles spokesman Brett Strohsacker said. There also will be some single tickets in the lower levels. These are the tickets typically available to single-game buyers, Strohsacker said.

Lincoln Financial Field holds 69,144 people, and there are only about 10,000 seats that are not held by season-ticket holders. Other seats are made available to the NFL and the opposing team.

Traffic congestion in South Philadelphia is a concern, so the Wells Fargo Center canceled the Disney on Ice show scheduled for 7 p.m. Saturday. Anyone with tickets to that show can exchange them for other performances, Comcast-Spectacor spokesman Ike Richman said. The arena added a performance at 7 p.m. Sunday.

Those with tickets to the 3 p.m. Disney on Ice show Saturday also can exchange them for another performance, Richman said. The show closes Sunday.

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