If you're an Eagles fan in the market for an SBL - that's "stadium builder license" to the uninitiated - now is the time to open your checkbook.
The recession has affected more than just one market: It's driven down the demand for stadium builder licenses - more commonly known as personal seat licenses - at Lincoln Financial Field. Prices for the costly SBLs have dipped nearly 20 percent, according to Season Ticket Rights, "an online marketplace where fans buy and sell seat licenses."
So while it would seem the Eagles' NFC championship game appearance and what is being hailed as a great draft would increase demand, the economy has turned SBL trade into a buyers' market.
"There are two things that affect team-to-team prices. One is team performance, two is the local economy," said Kyle Burks, president and founder of Season Ticket Rights. "This is the perfect time to buy because this is the lowest the prices have been since the stadium opened."
Before the Linc opened in 2003, the Eagles managed to sell seat licenses for 29,000 of the stadium's 68,000 seats, according to the Philadelphia Business Journal. Seat licensing at new stadiums has became a very popular way to procure revenue for sports franchises, and the Eagles were able to sell $70 million worth of licenses during the initial sale.
The team's success, though, and a booming economy created an open market that saw prices jump from an average of $2,233 in 2002 to $7,300 in 2007. An 8-8 record in 2007 partly accounted for a fall to $4,700. As of last week, Season Ticket Rights has bartered 2009 SBLs for an average of $3,800.
Ticket brokers have benefited from the Eagles' winning ways and what was, a few years ago, a robust economy. Jeff Weinberg of Philadelphia-based Seatmeat Inc. said he owns "more than 50" licenses at the Linc. On his Web site, phillysbl.com, he deals mainly with Eagles SBLs.
"I wouldn't say the prices are necessarily lower," said Weinberg, who did acknowledge that agreeing that the market was flagging would be bad advertising for his business. "There's certainly a decreased desire to own them because of the economy."
Weinberg pointed to one off-season transaction that may have accounted for some of the indifference. "I know people who said 'That's enough' when [safety] Brian Dawkins left," he said.
