How to Track NFL Ticket Prices Into Kickoff

How far the cheapest seat falls: 20% to 45%
When it falls: The last 3 days
What fees add: 0% to 38%
Which marketplace is cheapest: It changes

Step 1 of 5

Know who sells it

Ticketmaster lists mostly resale for NFL games. Seven more marketplaces carry the same games, each with its own fees.

Marketplace	What the captures show	Fee on top
Ticketmaster	Mostly resale, some primary	19–20%
SeatGeek	Mostly resale, some primary	19% resale, 31% primary
TickPick	Resale	None shown apart
StubHub	Resale	None shown apart
Vivid Seats	Resale	38%
Gametime	Resale	15%
GoTickets	Resale	11%
Viagogo	Resale	None shown apart

Step 2 of 5

Match one game everywhere

Each marketplace has its own id and its own name for the same game. Join on the teams and the date.

Field	Across marketplaces	What to do
Event id	Different on every marketplace	Never join on it across marketplaces
Event name	Worded by each marketplace	Match on both team names, in any order
Kickoff	Same game, same date everywhere	Key on the date plus the two teams
Extras	Parking passes list as their own events	Drop anything that isn't the game

Step 3 of 5

Watch four signals

What repeated captures of NFL games show in the week before kickoff, and the move each one calls for.

The cheapest seat drifts, then drops in the last three days

Across Ticketmaster, SeatGeek and TickPick, the lowest price sits within about 7% of its week-out level until three days before kickoff, then falls to about 70 to 75% of it. StubHub, viagogo and Gametime fall further, to about 55 to 70%, on thinner samples.

Do: Capture every couple of days until the final three, then every few hours. Compare each game against its own week-out price, not against other games.

stats.getInPrice
capturedAt
eventDateUtc

Listings thin out only on game day

Tickets listed stay close to their week-out level until the final day, then fall to roughly a third to a half of it in the last six hours, on every marketplace.

Do: Don't read the game-day drop as sell-through. Listings can expire, get pulled, or move marketplace. Track listing ids if you need to tell a price cut from a removal.

stats.ticketCount
listings[].listingId
listings[].quantity

The cheapest marketplace changes, especially on game day

Matched hour by hour, TickPick holds the lowest all-in price most often. On game day Ticketmaster's share of the lowest price roughly doubles, and viagogo takes it more often too.

Do: Capture at least three marketplaces in the same hour before calling a price the market low. One marketplace's get-in is not the game's.

listings[].totalPrice
source
capturedAt

Fees decide the ranking

On top of the listed price, Vivid Seats adds about 38%, Ticketmaster about 19 to 20%, SeatGeek about 19% on resale and more on primary, Gametime about 15% and GoTickets about 11%. StubHub, TickPick and viagogo show no fee apart from the price.

Do: Rank on the all-in total, never the listed price. A seat that looks cheapest on Vivid Seats is often not.

listings[].ticketPrice
listings[].fee
listings[].totalPrice

Step 4 of 5

Clean before you compare

Rules for the game list and for the listings. Skip one and the comparison is off.

Games

Match on teams and date.Each marketplace has its own event id and its own name for the game.
Drop parking and add-ons.Parking passes and other add-ons list as separate events.
Keep preseason apart.Analyze preseason games separately from the regular season.
Mark international games.Games played abroad sell to a different crowd. Don't pool them with home games.

Listings

Compare all-in prices.Fees run from none shown to about 38%. Rank on the total.
Quote get-in by quantity.Most listings are one or two tickets. The cheapest pair isn't the cheapest four.
Removals aren't sales.A listing can vanish because it sold, expired at kickoff, or moved.
Dedupe cross-listed seats.Brokers list one pair on several marketplaces. Match on section and row before summing.

Step 5 of 5

Set up the collection

Spend captures where prices move: lightly until three days out, then every few hours. Each capture is one game on one marketplace.

Every game

Every 2 days

Daily

Every 4 hours

Each tick is a capture of one game on one marketplace. Spacing shows the rhythm, not exact counts.

Setup	Captures a month	Plan
One team's home games, every marketplaceAbout 2 home games a month × 8 marketplaces	400	Starter, $50/mo
Every game, three marketplacesAbout 65 games a month × Ticketmaster, SeatGeek, TickPick	4,875	Developer, $300/mo
Every game, every marketplaceAbout 65 games a month × 8 marketplaces	13,000	Production, $1,000/mo

Find a team's games, with each marketplace's id and link

curl "https://api.tickets.dev/v1/events?query=chiefs" \
  -H "x-api-key: $TICKETS_API_KEY"

Capture one of them: every listing, priced all-in

curl "https://api.tickets.dev/v1/capture/seatgeek?url=<event url>" \
  -H "x-api-key: $TICKETS_API_KEY"