Bob CollinsWhen the Denver Broncos host the overachieving New England Patriots for the AFC championship this weekend, there’s little chance any Patriots fans will be attending. The team is not selling tickets to them, at least not directly.
The Broncos have announced that a limited number of tickets would go on sale today at 10 a.m., mountain time, but only will be available to residents of Colorado, New Mexico, Utah, Wyoming, Nebraska, Montana, South Dakota, and western Kansas.
“It’s our normal procedure for playoff games,” Patrick Smythe, the Broncos’ executive director for media relations, told the Boston Globe.
The Seattle Seahawks, who host the San Francisco 49ers for the NFC championship, announced that the team is selling tickets to residents of Washington and five other states. California is not one of them, however. Hawaii is.
A couple of other teams in the past have tried this tactic. The Chargers limited 2007 AFC championship tickets to southern California residents. The Chicago Bears blocked Seattle fans from buying tickets in the same year.
