Minnesota Vikings use NFL rules loophole to fill seats in road matchup versus Detroit Lions

With their most important game of the season coming up on Sunday night against the Detroit Lions, the Minnesota Vikings are getting extremely creative. It could even force an NFL rules change when the competition committee returns to the discussion table at the conclusion of the 2024 season.

What did the Vikings’ ownership, led by Zygi Wilf, do to gain a competitive advantage despite heading on the road to play in a packed house at Ford Field? They made sure the stadium would be filled with plenty of Vikings fans. Here’s how they did it.

Minnesota Vikings spent $2 million to pack Ford Field with Vikings fans

Here’s one most NFL fans have never heard of. With a first-round bye and the No. 1 seed in the NFC Playoffs on the line, the Minnesota Vikings got extremely creative this week ahead of their Detroit Lions matchup on Sunday Night Football.

According to Sports Illustrated’s Albert Breer, Vikings ownership spent nearly $2 million to purchase tickets at Ford Field on the secondhand market. The Vikings then offered these tickets to their season-ticket holders to make sure the Lions’ stadium would be packed with thousands of Vikings fans in a rowdy atmosphere.

“In the days leading up to Sunday night’s showdown against the Detroit Lions, the Vikings took the unusual measure of buying around 1,900 tickets for the road game on the secondary market, at about $1,000 apiece, for a total approaching $2 million. The team then turned around and sent an email to season ticket holders, offering the opportunity to buy the tickets at a much lower price point, and in some cases for as little as $200 per ticket.”
SI’s Albert Breer on Minnesota Vikings’ big ticket purchase

Some would say, well, isn’t that cheating? Not according to the official NFL rulebook. So, why haven’t any other teams ever thought of this before? That’s a great question.

It’s possible other owners aren’t willing to cough up that much cash, knowing it will lead to a large short-term loss in funds. Then again, this is just a bigger form of a massive expense that the Vikings can surely write off when tax season arrives. Plus, if it leads to hosting more sellouts at U.S. Bank Stadium instead of playing on the road, this wise move will surely pay off in the long run.

Lions fans will hate it, but that’s the spirit of competition. In fact, the Lions did take issue with what the Vikings did.

“The rival Lions flagged it, with the team’s ticket office noticing the unusual activity, then finding out about the email. The email said, “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 were available on a first-come-first-serve basis, and the team added in the email that they were “intended to be used by Vikings fans and not positioned for resale.”

The Lions contacted the league office about it and were told, per sources, that the Vikings didn’t break any rules in the process of pulling this off”

As some would say, if you’re not cheating, you’re not trying hard enough. Yet again, according to NFL rules, the Vikings, and any other team for that matter, are free to buy tickets through a third-party source and re-sell them back to their fans. They essentially beat the system.

The seats that were sold to Vikings fans are even located behind the road team’s bench at Ford Field, which, as Breer noted, could help Kevin O’Connell and company communicate with their players on the sideline.

Whether it pays off is an entirely different matter, but in a sports world where teams are doing anything they can to gain a competitive advantage, credit to the Vikings for coming up with a way to help tip the scales in their favor.

Plus, it’s a very important game, considering a win for either team would give them home-field advantage throughout the playoffs, right up until the Super Bowl, which is played at a neutral location (in New Orleans in 2025).