Scalping tickets is a good deal
At this time in 1996 the Steelers were headed for Super Bowl XXX in Phoenix and $200 end zone seats were going for $1,000 in the Three Rivers parking lot. Good seats cost much more in Arizona.
Jan. 20, 1996
Sales were hot in Arizona too — and perfectly legal
Who ended up sitting in those scalped end-zone tickets that were sold in Pittsburgh for $1,300 each?
![THE TICKETS The obligatory supply-and-demand tussle between those needing tickets and those selling them played itself out as the clock ticked closer to the kickoff. There seemed to be many more looking to buy than the other way around, and most sellers wanted at least $500 two hours before the game. Many wearing black and gold hoped to see the price fall to face value of $200 to $350 by kickoff. "Even if I miss the first quarter [to wait for a cheap ticket], it's OK," said Rob Meister, 30, a former West View resident who moved to California in September and who flew in yesterday morning to seek a ticket for the game. "I'm not going to pay more than face value -I've got mouths to feed back home.' Inside Sun Devil Stadium, in Row 25 of section 003, two other Steeler fans dearly. Janet, 48, of West Mifflin, and Louise, 30, of South Park, paid $1,300 each for their end zone seats. The tickets they bought from an Ohio ticket broker were sold by a Steelers season ticket holder 10 days ago in Pittsburgh. Including air fare, hotel rooms and spending money, the two women (who don't want their friends to know how much they spent), shelled out about $3,500 for their trip. "It's worth it," said Janet. "It's our one and only Super Bowl and I wanted it to be good. We've waited 16 years.'](https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!2_Go!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F86665313-142d-48ad-9a5f-d23524159be8_859x666.jpeg "THE TICKETS The obligatory supply-and-demand tussle between those needing tickets and those selling them played itself out as the clock ticked closer to the kickoff. There seemed to be many more looking to buy than the other way around, and most sellers wanted at least $500 two hours before the game. Many wearing black and gold hoped to see the price fall to face value of $200 to $350 by kickoff. \"Even if I miss the first quarter [to wait for a cheap ticket], it's OK,\" said Rob Meister, 30, a former West View resident who moved to California in September and who flew in yesterday morning to seek a ticket for the game. \"I'm not going to pay more than face value -I've got mouths to feed back home.' Inside Sun Devil Stadium, in Row 25 of section 003, two other Steeler fans dearly. Janet, 48, of West Mifflin, and Louise, 30, of South Park, paid $1,300 each for their end zone seats. The tickets they bought from an Ohio ticket broker were sold by a Steelers season ticket holder 10 days ago in Pittsburgh. Including air fare, hotel rooms and spending money, the two women (who don't want their friends to know how much they spent), shelled out about $3,500 for their trip. \"It's worth it,\" said Janet. \"It's our one and only Super Bowl and I wanted it to be good. We've waited 16 years.'")