Anti-Sports Marketing?

Good news for Colts fans, not so good news for Pats fans. The Colts, like the San Diego Chargers, blocked out fans of the opposing team from buying tickets to the AFC Championship game in Indianapolis, reported the Boston Globe.

The Colts organization put close to 1,000 tickets on sale but did not use the traditional vehicles that drive ticket sales. Fans could only get these tickets through walk-up at the RCA Dome in Indianapolis or at Ticketmaster outlets in Indiana and Louisville, Ky., reported the Globe.

No tickets were sold online. This seems to be against the rule of maximizing profit for this sporting event. Wouldn’t one want to sell to as many people in as many places as possible, regardless of where their loyalty lies? This policy was instated because it would give the home team more of an advantage if locals only bought tickets, according to Bruce Mohl the author of the article.

This rule is based off the assumption that those who live in Indianapolis are fans of the home team. If they weren't that would effectively negate what the Colts, and the Chargers for that matter, were trying to do. It comes down to a matter of priority, and clearly online marketing was not an issue considered when this policy was created.