Rams limiting ticket sales ahead of possible NFC title rematch with 49ers
They still need to beat the Tampa Bay Buccaneers first, but the Los Angeles Rams appear to be trying to keep San Francisco 49ers fans away from SoFi Stadium
The 49ers Faithful has the Rams worried.
Los Angeles hasn’t yet secured a spot in the NFC Championship Game but the team is taking steps already to keep Niners fans out of SoFi Stadium in the event it hosts the game next weekend.
The Rams are restricting public ticket sales for what would be an all-West conference title game to Southern California residents.
On the NFL’s ticketing site, Ticketmaster, the Rams left this notice for visitors seeking to buy tickets to the game:
“Public sales to the game at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, CA will be restricted to residents of the Greater Los Angeles region. Residency will be based on credit card billing address at checkout.”
Sorry, lifelong Rams fans from St. Louis.
Sales to other areas will be canceled without notice and refunded, the site says.
The Athletic’s David Lombardi noticed the note and tweeted it.
The Faithful has given the Rams reason for concern: The Week 18 game between the teams featured at least one-third of the SoFi Stadium stands filled with red. It may have been closer to half the stadium.
Niners fans also flocked to the LA Coliseum when the Rams played there after their return from St. Louis.
After securing a playoff berth in front of that surprisingly red crowd, the Niners were again greeted by a sizable friendly contingent at their wild-card victory in Dallas. The Niner Gang was less prevalent Saturday night in Green Bay, where the fans own the team and the air felt like zero degrees.
Clearly, the Rams expect a resurgence of Faithful next weekend.
This isn’t the first time a team has restricted playoff tickets by location: The Seahawks banned sales to California residents in the 2013 title game against the 49ers. Since, that has become common practice, but it may be the first instance of doing so within a state.