KANSAS CITY, Mo. — After an incredible overtime thriller, fans are now looking ahead to Sunday’s AFC Championship game against the Bengals – in what they hope is revenge for a late-season loss to Cincinnati.
This weekend’s game makes history for the Chiefs who will become the first team to host four-straight conference championship games.
The excitement is already growing throughout Kansas City. Jason Durbin, vice president of sales at Tickets For Less, said the demand for tickets so far is the highest ever for a sporting event in Kansas City.
It has lifelong fans weighing their financial options versus the experience of seeing a massive Chiefs playoffs game.
“I’ve been to the KU national championship game in 2008. That was in San Antonio. Saw (Salvador Perez) walk-off, hit down the third base line in the 2014 Wild Card game,” said Jeff Manwarren, a lifelong Kansas City sports fan.
Manwarren is in between a rock and hard place, trying to make the best decision ahead of a historic game.
“I want to go to the game this weekend, but I know that demand is going to drive the price up. But life’s all about experiences and being able to live in the moment,” he said.
He’s not wrong. The demand for tickets is already reaching historic levels for any playoff game ever — in Kansas City or beyond.
“The surge that we saw for this game probably, you know, matched anything that anyone’s seen for any playoff game,” Durbin said.
Durbin told FOX4 the high volume could be attributed to good weather, a full capacity Arrowhead Stadium compared to last year’s AFC Championship and the thrilling finish to last night’s instant classic.
So what’s his advice on when you should get your tickets?
“Get now so you can be all set because it’s hard to tell where this is going, when tickets are going to be sold out, you know,” he said.
For Manwarren, the decision is getting easier with tickets going at this rate. He said he hopes to be inside the stadium.
“Rather spend my money on an experience like that than any other type of material thing, so that’s what life is all about,” he said.
But a word of advice: Be careful who you buy from because when demand reaches these levels more scams happen.
“I always tell people when the games are this in high demand, just be safe. You know, make sure you’re buying from a secure, verified reseller,” Durbin said.