Orchard Park, N.Y. (WBEN) - Get your tickets ready, "Bills Mafia"!
The Buffalo Bills will play the Pittsburgh Steelers at Highmark Stadium this upcoming Sunday, Jan. 14 at 1 p.m.
VIPTix.com President and CEO Nick Giammusso says tickets are in high demand and Steelers fans will definitely be making the drive to Orchard Park for this Wild Card Weekend.
"Pittsburgh travels really, really well," said Giammusso in an interview with WBEN. "They're one of the top fan bases in the NFL, as far as supporting the team and traveling to support their team. The Buffalo Bills are probably up there too, in recent years. But yes, it definitely will affect ticket prices going forward here, especially given that Steelers fans are just three-and-a-half hours away [from Highmark Stadium]."
Giammusso reports seeing tickets in the nosebleeds coming in at about $229 a ticket as of Monday, and about $400 a ticket for the premium sideline seats. The Steelers are looking to potentially buy from ticket holders.
Something that could be a serious factor in selling and buying tickets will be the weather next Sunday. Some weather forecasters are paying attention to a potential lake effect snow event leading up to Sunday, which could lead to a snow game in Orchard Park.
"There's a lot of season ticket holders that decided they're not going to brave the cold, and they're [going to] enter the market and re-sell their seats," Giammusso said. "You're [going to] see some black and gold jerseys in attendance, but a lot of fans are waiting to see what that weather forecast is. That's certainly a factor in this playoff match on Sunday, when it comes to ticket prices."
Giammusso also notes that the strategy of some Bills season ticket holders is to sell the tickets for this game now to buy playoff tickets for the future.
"Let's sell our seats now and recoup some of our investment. That way, we've got some money to play with for future playoff games and, dare I even say it, possibly a Super Bowl," Giammusso said.
Giammusso predicts the game will sell out.
The Bills opened as significant favorites in this game as of Monday.