In a thinly veiled attempt to prevent San Francisco 49ers fans from attending the NFC Championship at Seattle’s CenturyLink Field, the Seahawks have limited online ticket sales to credit cards with billing addresses in Oregon, Washington, Montana, Idaho, Alaska and Hawaii. 49ers fans are known for travelling to away games en masse and made their presence felt at Sunday’s 23-10 victory over the Carolina Panthers in Charlotte. However, by excluding Californians from purchasing tickets directly, the 49ers fan presence will likely diminish noticeably on Sunday as fans not residing in the six eligible states will be forced to search for tickets on third-party sites like NFL Ticket Exchange, Stub Hub and others, which are currently selling the cheapest tickets in excess of $300.
Shutting out opposing fans hardly seems necessary for a team that already boasts what is arguably the greatest home-field advantage in football. Seahawks fans, also known as “The Seattle 12th Man,” hold the Guinness World Record for the loudest crowd roar at an outdoor sports stadium reaching 137.6 decibels on December 2, 2013. Moreover, the 12th Man’s crowd noise is credited with forcing the highest average of false starts by opposing teams in the NFL since 2005. Leading the NFC with a 13-3 regular season record, the Seahawks have certainly earned home-field advantage. However, given the notorious extent to which Seattle fans disrupt opposing teams, the Seahawks’ attempt to exclude 49ers fans from purchasing tickets to Sunday’s game seems unsportsmanlike and weak.
— John Hammel Strauss
Tough to be a Saints fan these days…