Every year I go to the Thanksgiving day Dallas Cowboys game at Texas Stadium. Every year I buy tickets from eBay or from Stubhub or RazorGator, or some other on line vendor. Every year I feel ripped off because I pay at least 3X the face value of the tickets.

Now don't get me wrong, I am not pissed because I am paying way more than their face value, I buy and sell tickets regularly for profit. This is legal in my state, as it should be, and the concept of supply and demand forces the market to determine the value. Everyone has the exact same chances as I do to get the exact same tickets for the exact same price. It requires a little effort, but pays off well. So I am not pissed because of the price, I am pissed because this is seemingly the ONLY way to get the tickets. I have contacted the Cowboys regarding the matter and they basically told me to wait until they officially go on sale and hope for the best. Well, I tried that last year, and every single ticket for every single game was completely sold out, as is the case every year. Additionally, I suspect the Cowboys are in bed with online ticket vendors anyway, because you can go to multiple unrelated ticket sites and get quotes on the exact same seats, at different prices. I find this a little odd.

So what is the answer? It seems to be becoming a Dallas Cowboys season ticket holder. This way, you deal directly with the Cowboys, and should not pay any premiums. I am not sure if you are familiar with the way season tickets work, at least for the Cowboys. Basically you get "in the system" as a season ticket holder, then each year when you renew you get first dibs on former season tickets holders seats as "upgrades". Also, there are VERY few open season ticket seats available. This creates a scenario where people auction off their tickets "rights". For example, there is currently an auction on eBay where you pay $2,000.00, just for someone to sign over their rights to you, then you still have to buy the tickets themselves. Another guy on eBay was asking nearly $13,000.00 for his "rights" for fairly decent seats.

So I called them today and inquired about season tickets. The guy basically said he has a few available, both are in the upper sections. one is at the 50 yard line, 6 rows back(UPPER SECTION), for $3540.00 a pair. This does not include parking, which is another $240.00. So right around $3,800.00 bucks total for a pair of season tickets. HOLY SHIT! The other pair are in the corner, about at the goal line, in row 16 (UPPER SECTION) for $1620.00 plus parking which is still another $240.00. So about $1700.00 total for those. These prices are for the 8 regular season home games, and 2 pre-season games. Additionally, you are guaranteed the ability to get playoffs tickets if the Cowboys make the playoffs and have any home games.

I just want to go to the one game on Thanksgiving, so basically my plan is to buy season tickets, and sell all of them except the ones I need. Based on the business model I have experienced in the past, I should be able to do this without a problem. I think I can make enough by selling them to essentially get my one game for free, and still perhaps even have a small profit at the end.

I will add an update on this later...