Pumblechook

I will be visiting New York from Australia between Sep 13-20 and have just realised the Giants are hosting Dallas on the Monday night I'm there (15/9).

What are my chances of getting a ticket to this game? I'm assuming I won't be able to get one through legitimate sources. Will there be scalpers outside the ground? What sort of a markup do they put on the tickets?

Thanks, Pumblechook

travleis

Monday night games are especially big and it'll very likely be a sellout.
There are many places to get tickets, though.
Among the best is E-Bay.
Start there.
If you don't find what you want there are legal ticket brokers as well as scalpers.

JungleCat

Ahhh, Australia and the Cowboys, two of my favorite topics...

Rumor has it that the Giants will be launching an exchange service similar to the one the Jets have. It allows season ticket holders to sell tickets at face value on a website. My friends got some awesome seats to Jets Monday night games, although I would agree, this is gonna be a big one. Monday night, Cowboys, and The Tuna. Big news.

Anyway, keep checking the Giants website for news on this exchange service:

http://www.giants.com/

SusieQQ

There will be scalpers outside the gates, but your best bet will be e-bay or a ticket agency (look in the yellow pages). All Giant games are sold out.

Italiano

If you just go to the game that night there will be some people that have extra tickets that just want face value some people just go to tail gate eat and drink in the parking lots its a great experience I have gone several time without tickets and had no problem getting one .Sometimes if you wait till the game starts the people who still have tickets the could not scalpe will give you a good price. There will be alot of regular season ticket holders just want to get there money back your allowed to sell a ticket for no more that 2 dollars over face value but there is a catch you can"t do it on the games property thats why people are selling the tickets out side the gates of the stadium . If you dont get a ticket you still will experience a great American Traddition you will meet very friendly people that will invite you to join them . The average season ticket holder will be between 35-60years old white male . who's tickets have been handed down from each generation. if they don't fit that general description they probally are a scalper . some will only sell to respectable people and you might be sitting with them . The season ticket holder is responabile for who sits it there seats actions and could loose his tickets for bad behavior.

Ryan

Ticket brokers are not illegal in New Jersey and you can definately find tickets listed on E-Bay. Licensed ticket borkers in NJ can charge up to 20% of the face value. (There have been some revisions in the law so there may be some recent changes to that limit.)

As previuosly stated, you might be able to buy someone's surplus ticket the night of the game or use their ticket-exchange service.

If you happen to be in a business where you are the client, and have substantial dealings with US firms, every major bank, investment bank, or company based in NY/NJ, will probably have tickets.

kikahead

Your concierge will be able to get you tickets. They always (at least in San Francisco) have connections with ticket brokers. It will cost you more then face value but you'll get a ticket.

panhandle

You might also check the classified ads in the newspaper. I always see Blazers..Mariners..Seahawk tickets for sale by people who cant attend.

ezron

Just a thought---but do you realize the Giants do not play in New York but in New Jersey !! It's a bit of a trek to get there and that part of NJ is the armpit of the world---so don't say you weren't warned.

Budman

It's early in the season, I would suspect you could get a scalped ticket for pretty much ticket price at the stadium. Neither team will be contenders this year. Go Redskins!!!

Giant Stadium is in the Meadowlands of NJ -- I am sure there is bus transportation to/from NY.

Ryan

A bit of trek? From Philly, sure. From NYC, not for most people. The Meadowlands is about 11 miles from the city and EASILY reachable by Bus from the Port Authority.

Your characterization of the area is also grossly overstated. It's not like the Stadium is in the middle of Newark.

AAFrequentFlyer

Any game, any city, any team. You will be able to buy tickets from a scalpers. If you're patient, you may score great seats for face value or close to it. Show up about an hour, hour and a half before the game, find the main gates and you will have no problem. Many states have laws against it, but if there are any cops, they will bust the sellers, not the buyers. There are guys there that actually buy and sell tickets before the games to make few bucks. I've been to 12 different NFL stadiums, and while I usually had a ticket, I saw what I saw. On couple of occassions we didn't have a tickets, and never had a problem getting one, and once we actually got club seats for face value(servers bring you drinks, carpeted lounges, etc...etc...) Going through a ticket broker/concierge will guarantee a ticket, but you will pay the price, in most cases double or more. Either way you will see a game, don't worry about it.
Have a great trip!

Pumblechook

Thanks everyone, your answers were pretty much what I hoped for. I think I'll just go to the game an hour or so before kickoff and try my luck. I had a look at some ticket brokers web sites but I can't believe the prices! Maybe I'm just a naive little Aussie but the prices ranged from $700 for the 50 yard line, to about $150 for what I assume would be really bad seats. Can anyone give me a feel for the face value of the tickets? Are there some parts of the stadium that aren't worth sitting in?

Incidentally, I'm a Springsteen fanatic and on my last trip to NYC (1994) did quite a bit of sniffing around the Jersey Shore area and took a spin around Meadowlands so the area won't be a complete shock to me, assuming it hasn't changed too much in the last 10 years (man, I can't believe it's been 10 years ... )

Ryan

Giants Stadium is a pretty decent place to watch a game and most of the seats have a full view of the field.

I had 50 yard line seats for a game last year and I believe the face value at least $150. Part of the reason that prices for excess tickets are so high for this game has to do with the fact that (a) it's a Monday Night game, (b) it's the Cowboys, a traditional rival and always a tough ticket, (c) it's Bill Parcells, former Giants and Jets coach, NY debut as Cowboys coach, and (d) on paper the Giants have sold out virtually every home game since 1976 and the waiting list for season tickets is backed up someting like 30 years.

AAFrequentFlyer

Pumblechook,
NFL ticket prices range from around $40 up to $250. For obvious reasons, the cheap tickets are usually in some nosebleed section where you could actually shake hands with the pilot of the passing plane. The expensive tickets will get you to the "Club" level at the newer stadiums which besides the fact that you could actually see the ball from your seat, also provide closed in areas with full service bars, drink servers will bring drinks to your seat, better food stands, etc...etc...(a more civilized way to see a game )
Just a word of caution. What may seem like a great seat, first few rows on the ground level, is not. Unlike soccer where these are highly coveted, you have to realize that if you are on the sidelines, your view will be blocked by the 'other' 1/2 of the team that's actually not on the field at that time, plus coaches, press, security, everybody is usually just standing. If you get a seat on the lower level, try to get a higher row.

dweebe

ticketsnow.com is a large national online ticket broker. If you want to be sure that you have a ticket before you get to the game; give them a try.

SusieQQ

All rows in Giants stadium are good, even front row which is considerably higher than the player's bench. We have season tickets in the 7th row in the end zone and we love them!