NFL set to initiate ticket exchange effort

New York -- NFL officials say the professional football league is prepared to initiate "NFL Ticket Exchange," an online ticket exchange program.

NFL executive vice president Eric Grubman said beginning on Thursday, fans of the National Football League will be able to use the online program to buy or sell tickets to NFL games nationwide, USA Today reported.

"Over the last 5-10 years, the secondary ticket market has gotten to the point where this is an important amenity for our fans," Grubman said. "It's really become an essential way a fair number of our fans choose to buy tickets -- or sell their excess tickets."

The offering from NFL.com and TicketMaster.com will allow those involved in such sales to set their own ticket prices, meaning the ticket's face value can be exceeded as long as it stays within various state laws.

USA Today said the football league already leads all other professional sports leagues in ticket prices. The newspaper said that according to the Team Marketing Report newsletter, the average cost of an NFL ticket reached $67.11 last season, an increase of 6.9 percent from the preceding season.

Copyright 2008 by United Press International.