The Rams realize they can’t prevent 49ers fans from inundating SoFi Stadium again for Sunday’s NFC Championship game. So their players and coaches are focused on what they can control: Making sure the 49ers Faithful don’t have a reason to make a return trip to L.A. in two weeks.
At least that’s the message from Rams coach Sean McVay as the teams prepare to battle for the right to play in Super Bowl LVI at SoFi on Feb. 13. McVay was asked Monday whether his team will be affected by another mass invasion of 49ers fans for their home game Sunday.
“I don’t know that I really look at it like that,” McVay told reporters. “I think that you just look at it as, ‘Hey, let’s control what we can control.’ ”
Still, McVay couldn’t help but make a plea to Rams ticket holders.
“Hold onto those tickets, and it’ll be much appreciated,” McVay said. “But our guys are looking forward to putting on a good show against a great opponent. (We) can’t wait to be able to do it, and don’t sell those tickets!”
Despite a clear attempt to stop 49ers fans from taking over SoFi like they did in the regular-season finale almost three weeks ago, there are mounds of evidence The Faithful managed to secure plenty of tickets. And a denial by the Rams front office that they intended to shut out 49ers fans when their ticket partner, Ticketmaster, restricted sales of this week’s tickets to Southern California residents only.
“The policies were put in place to give local residents and season-ticket members first access to tickets,” Rams vice president of corporate affairs Joanna Hunter told the Los Angeles Daily News this week. Hunter said the 49ers fans were not a factor in that decision.
That residency provision was lifted when it became moot because all tickets were sold out through Ticketmaster, which only opened up more chances for 49ers to scoop up tickets through third-party vendors. StubHub said it had a little more than 4,400 tickets for the game available as of Wednesday afternoon. As you might imagine, they aren’t cheap.
The cheapest ticket you can find there is $599. The average price of those remaining tickets is nearly $1,200. Of course, if you want to just hang out and tailgate at SoFi, that’ll cost you “just” $145. The big spenders can still go watch the game in style in a Lower VIP section, where four tickets available at $12,000 a pop remained Wednesday.
Alex Terry of StubHub said business is so good that the NFC Championship will likely be the third-best-selling postseason game in the ticket resale company’s history. She also said 77 percent of the Rams-49ers tickets have been sold to California residents – 44 percent of them reside in Northern California.
SeatGeek, meanwhile, appeared to have the lowest get-in price for the game available. For $541 you can still get a seat in Section 551 in the upper deck above the west end zone at SoFi.
When Ticketmaster’s restrictions first went into effect Sunday, it didn’t take long for some creative 49ers fans to figure out a way to game the system.
Some of the Faithful went into stealth mode to purchase tickets for the team’s first NFC Championship game on the road since 2013, when San Francisco’s 2013 season ended in Seattle. One man belonging to a Facebook group for 49ers fans said Tuesday he was able to purchase tickets to Sunday’s game directly from a member of a Rams fan Facebook page. The man, who requested anonymity, said he — and some others — got the tickets after following advice from a fellow 49ers fan – he hid his location from public view and also made all photos showing his 49ers allegiance private.
Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford knows dealing with the 49ers defense will be a challenge within itself. He’d prefer not to deal with a crowd that makes it difficult for his teammates to hear him, like the last time the 49ers were there.
“Hopefully it’s one of those games where we come out and it’s heavy blue and yellow (in the stands) and we have a nice, loud crowd that makes it tough on them,” Stafford said.
