Buffalo, N.Y. (WBEN/WGR 550) - The Buffalo Bills entered the 2022 season as Super Bowl favorites in the National Football League, and the team is off to a hot start in its first two games.
Buffalo has outscored its opponents, 72-17, in the first two games, which includes wins over the defending Super Bowl champion Los Angeles Rams and the Tennessee Titans, who finished the 2021 season as the No. 1 seed in the AFC.
With the team's success to start the year, the demand for tickets on the secondary ticket market is starting to see prices for games skyrocket through the roof.
"The fans are excited. Buffalo is buzzing, and it's all about the Bills' success on the field. We're seeing that translate into ticket prices, fortunately, or unfortunately," said Nick Giammusso, President and CEO of VIPTIX.com.
When looking through ticket prices for Bills games over the past two weeks, Giammusso says ticket prices after the season opener went up 20% from where they started just before the season kicked off. After the Bills' win on Monday night over the Titans, he says ticket prices have jumped another 20%.
The remarkable fact of the matter is the prices for Bills tickets are not just for games played at the friendly confines of Highmark Stadium in Orchard Park.
"'Bills Mafia' travels really well. I'd say now, they are probably top of the league, as far as fans traveling to other cities to watch their teams play. Green Bay is one of the good ones, [Las Vegas] Raiders, 'Bills Mafia' definitely come out to support their teams," Giammusso said. "We'll see that this weekend in Miami. We've sold a lot of tickets in Miami for this game on Sunday."
As of Thursday, the cheapest tickets - according to VIPTIX - for Sunday's Bills matchup with the Miami Dolphins at Hard Rock Stadium were in the low $200 range for seats in the 300 level.
As long as the Bills continue to play at the pace they're at right now and remain Super Bowl contenders throughout the season, Giammusso believes fans will be paying a premium for tickets to Bills games, no matter where they're being played.
"As long as they can remain healthy and keep winning, I see the trend continuing with higher ticket prices," he said. "We usually tell our clients to let the market settle down and be patient, and things will get cheaper, as far as ticket prices go leading up to the game. But it's just getting worse and worse, as far as ticket prices go. The city continues getting on that Bills high."
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And with prices for Bills game tickets continuing to rise at the rate they are, Giammusso doesn't have too many answers for people looking for the best times to purchase their tickets.
"Unfortunately, there's not a lot of season ticket holders that are selling their tickets. They're going to the games, which is problematic," Giammusso said. "The supply side, the tickets are just not there. I get all kinds of requests and family friends, as well as clients, asking me, 'What do you think prices are going to do? I mean, this is crazy!' And it is. I mean, there's no real strategy. We usually, at this point in time a week before a game, there's usually 3,000-to-5,000 tickets available in the secondary market. Right now, we're at about 1,000. There's a lot less supply out there, and unfortunately, that translates to higher ticket prices."
At this point, Giammusso says the value games for fans to buy tickets for are going to be the cold weather games, especially in Buffalo, once the calendar hits December.
"Right now, they're at about $135 and up just to get into Highmark Stadium for the New York Jets, Miami and New England [Patriots]. We expect those to rise significantly, so if you are interested in seeing this team, and hopefully it will be a historic season for the Buffalo Bills, I would buy those December and the early January game against New England now, because we are expecting those to rise significantly, probably double or triple," Giammusso said.
More from Giammusso is available in the player below: