http://news.cincinnati.com/article/2...PT02/301140084
January 14, 2009
Bengal COA values plummet
By Dustin Dow
ddow@enquirer.com
The losing season of 2008 hasn’t been tough on just the Bengals. The team’s fans – along with ticket brokers – who had financially invested in the Bengals’ success are feeling let down now that their seat license contracts are looking less like blue-chip stocks and more like junk bonds.
In less than two years, the average street price of a Paul Brown Stadium Charter Ownership Agreement sold on the popular trading exchange, SeasonTicketRight.com, has dropped from $2,783 to $536.
Charter Ownership Agreements, or COAs, aren’t season tickets. They are merely the rights to buy season tickets for individual seats at Paul Brown Stadium.
Ownership of a COA has been a season ticket requirement since the stadium opened in 2000, but the contracts can be resold at market price, giving season-ticket holders the option of using the Bengals success – or lack thereof – as an investment tool.
With the arrival of coach Marvin Lewis in 2003 , Bengals seats became such a hot item that a season-ticket waiting list developed, driving up the secondary market price for COAs, which have a face value of $300-$1,500 depending on the seat location.
By February 2007, a pair of section 217 seats sold for $8,000 at SeasonTicketRights.com. Similar COAs today (section 218) are listed for $600, following a 4-11-1 season.
“It’s definitely a buying opportunity right now with the Bengals,” said Kyle Burks, president of SeasonTicketRight.com. “You’re not going to see COAs get much cheaper than this. The majority of fans purchase COAs as an emotional purchase and don’t really care about appreciation in value. But, if you buy now on Bengals COAs, you’re probably going to see a significant increase in value over the next four years.”
At the other end of the market are the Pittsburgh Steelers who are playing in the AFC Championship game Sunday. A pack of four Steelers seat licenses recently sold for $91,000, and the average Steelers seat license price in December was $8,970.
The Bengals realize fans are frustrated and financially squeezed. So with a Jan. 30 deadline approaching for club seat renewals, the team is offering a sort of bailout. COA holders of club seats, which feature access to club level lounges, need only to renew their tickets for two more years, which might be welcome relief for fans whose lengthy club leases just expired.
Indeed, the Bengals are currently embroiled in a lawsuit with some club seat holders over the terms of those six- and 10-year COA leases. Additionally, any outstanding COA payments due will be deferred for 2009, Bengals spokesperson Jack Brennan said, “to make it easier on our fans in these uncertain economic times.”
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