At least 100 players from roughly half of the NFL’s 32 teams face fines and possible suspension for allegedly selling their allotted tickets to this year’s Super Bowl LIX above face value in violation of league policies, sources told ESPN on Friday.
Under an agreement between the league and the NFL Players Association, players who violated the rule will be fined 1½ times the face ticket value and lose their allotted tickets to the next two Super Bowls. If they are playing in the game, the players will have the chance to purchase seats.
Those who decline the punishment could be suspended by commissioner Roger Goodell, league and union sources with direct knowledge of the situation said.
The sources said the number of players involved was “in excess of 100,” some of whom have already accepted the fine to avoid missing games. A league source declined to identify the players and employees who had sold their Super Bowl tickets or their teams.
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According to an NFL memo sent to all 32 teams and obtained by ESPN, an investigation revealed that team employees and players sold tickets to a “small number of ‘bundlers’ who were working with a ticket reseller.”
According to media reports before the February game in New Orleans between the Kansas City Chiefs and Philadelphia Eagles, ticket prices on secondary sites ranged from $2,588 to nearly $3,500 for the cheapest seats, with some tickets fetching over $10,000.
Players and employees who worked directly with the bundlers or “otherwise had a greater role … will face increased penalties,” the memo said.
“Our initial investigation has determined that a number of NFL players and coaches, employed by several NFL Clubs, sold Super Bowl tickets for more than the ticket’s face value in violation of the policy,” read the memo from NFL chief compliance officer Sabrina Perel to the teams. “This long-standing League Policy, which is specifically incorporated into the Collective Bargaining Agreement, prohibits League or Club employees, including players, from selling NFL game tickets acquired from their employer for more than the ticket’s face value or for an amount greater than the employee originally paid for the ticket, whichever is less.”
Perel added that the league will enhance mandatory training before Super Bowl LX for all league personnel to emphasize the rules and “the broader principle that no one should profit personally from their NFL affiliation at the expense of our fans.”
