Minnesota Vikings spent nearly $2 million sending their own fans to Detroit to help drown on out Lions fans’ noise

The Minnesota Vikings spent nearly $2 million on tickets to send their own fans to Detroit for the pivotal final game of the season.

Leading up to a Sunday night game against the Detroit Lions at Ford Field, the teams were deadlocked in the NFC North standings with 14-2 records, meaning the winner would claim the division title and the best record in the entire NFC.

With the possibility of obtaining a first-round bye in the playoffs, Minnesota took an unorthodox route to make sure they had adequate support for their players while on the road.

The Vikings’ front office bought approximately 1,900 tickets on the secondary market, according to Sports Illustrated, which cost around $1,000 each. This totaled around $2 million in expenses for Minnesota, who then turned around and offered their season-ticket holders a chance to attend the game at a reduced cost.

‘We wanted to offer our stakeholders an opportunity to attend.’

Some tickets were reported as being offered for as little as $200, or around 20% what the Vikings paid.

The Vikings’ email to their ticket holders allegedly read as follows:

As a valued season ticket member, we want to offer you the opportunity to purchase lower-level seats for Sunday night’s game … [the tickets are] intended to be used by Vikings fans and not positioned for resale.

The Lions apparently contacted NFL offices about the purchases after noticing irregular activity with their ticket sales but were reportedly told the Vikings didn’t break any league rules.

Although the Vikings, along with every NFL team, are allotted around 600 tickets for away games, these seats are typically in corners or high up in the stands.

The seats the Vikings bought, however, were centralized behind their own bench to help with crowd noise in terms of team communication.

“Given the uniqueness of this game, we wanted to offer our stakeholders—staff, family, season ticket members and team partners—an opportunity to attend,” team spokesman Jeff Anderson said in a statement.

Many Vikings fans expressed gratitude about the ticket purchases online, including one fan calling it “sheer class.”

Another fan called Vikings brass a “tremendous ownership group” while one die-hard follower said he was willing to make a 10-hour drive to the game if offered a ticket.

Not all fans were as appreciative though, one ticketholder took the Vikings’ offer and resold the ticket online for $690.

When all was said and done, the Vikings still lost to the Lions 31-9, falling short of a division title. They will play the Los Angeles Rams on Monday while the Lions will enjoy a week off before the second round.

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