Background

Have you ever wanted to own some season tickets to the 49ers, but since the list is so long, you never thought you'd get there? Well, buck up! Now may well be the time!

I've had season tickets for the past 10-12 years. However, I've never owned the rights to those tickets. Most years, before the start of camp, I start watching the classified ads in the San Jose Mercury, and buy a pair when I can get them. Over the years I've been upstairs and down, in th end zone, near the press box, but mostly in the corners of the end zone.

About five years ago, a guy my wife worked with, (Bob), offered me a pair of his seats. Bob actually owns three different sets, but as his family has aged, they haven't been using them all, so he kindly offered them to me. Upstairs, Section 40. I've been in those seats since. The best part is that they're right at the top of a short sets of stairs in row 5. The steps come right up to my two seats, and end there. So there's nobody sitting in front of me, and nobody to my left. The bad part is that you're sitting in the rear corner of the end zone. Also, the angle to the scoreboard is such that the sun glares off it, rendering it blank from my vantage point. No replays, unless it's a night game.

And so, over the years, I've yearned for some primo seats. On the sunny side of the field. Where you can see the scoreboard. Where you could see the far end of the field without binoculars.

A new project

My wife now works for a small company that is owned and operated by this really rich English guy. I mean rich. So one day he decides he wants 49er tickets, and knowing that I have some, he asks if I could help him out with getting his own. He requested 4-6 seats, somewhere inside of the 20's. After watching the classified for a few weeks and not seeing much, I decided to put an ad on Craig's List. It's free. I wrote up a simple ad, which read:

My wife's boss has asked for my help in acquiring lifetime rights for 4-6 season tickets at the 'Stick. If you are thinking about giving yours up, maybe I can help you out by selling them to this guy. Interested? Let me know. Thanx!

The response was unbelievable. I must have gotten 10 replies within a week. But everybody was selling seats that, like mine, are in or near the end zone.

Except for one guy. He had a pair on the 45 yard line. But only a pair. So I go to my wife's boss and tell him "you probably won't find many better than these two," but he was adamant that he only wants 4-6 seats.

So I pondered this for about a day, and then called my friend Mike. "Hey," I tell him, "we have a shot on getting the tickets we've always talked about", and gave him the info. Mike sez "Hell, yeah, let's get 'em".

Process

So I email back to the guy with the great tickets and ask where we can meet him. Turns out he's the CEO of the USS Hornet Association, the group that owns and operates the actual WWII aircraft carrier, anchored in Alamada (near downtown Oakland) as a museum. I made arrangements to meet him the next day.

At the same time, Mike called the 49ers Ticket Office and asked a few questions. They told him that any such transaction is strictlybetween the ticket holder and the purchaser. All the 49ers have is a database of who owns the rights to which seats. So caveat emptor.

So Mike and I get a cashier's check for $3,000 and head on up there. We walk onto the actual aircraft carrier to meet the seller. He spent the next 45 minutes giving us the Grand Tour, up to the flight deck, onto the hanger deck, shows us the airplanes and the space capsule, the living quarters that the Apollo astronauts were in while they were quarantined after the first trips to the moon.

We hand over the check, and he gives us a notarized Certificate of Transfer. We then drove over the Bay Bridge and on down to the 'Stick, where we dropped the paperwork off at the Ticket Office. Everything was okay, the transfer was complete, we owned the seats!

Since we were there, we decided to go check them out. You can walk right into the stadium in the off-season! We went up to our seats and just sat there for awhile, admiring the view of the field, and the scoreboard. We then walked down to, and across the field, heading up the other side to the exit.

Advice

So, if you've always wanted own season tickets for the 49ers, now may be your best chance. And you don't have to wait on a list with the team.

Most of the offers I got for end zone tickets were priced at about $750 per seat. That will buy you the rights, and thereafter you simply purchase the tickets directly from the Niners. The $3,000 we spent ($1,500 per seat), is actually way down from a few years back. I once sought out a pair like these, and the guy wanted $8,000 for them. So now's the time, the faint-hearted are bailing out!

Since the transaction is strictly between yourself and the seller, (and since your seller probably won't be the CEO of the USS Hornet), you should take a simple precaution to make sure you're not getting ripped off: Ask the seller for their account number. Then, call the Ticket Office & make sure their account is legit. That's all you need to do.

All of the seller's I spoke with wanted cash or a cashier's check. Take it to them direct, and make sure the Certificate of Transfer is notarized.

When you have the Certificate of Transfer in your hot little hand, run over to the Ticket Office at the 'Stick and turn it in. Stay there until the clerk tells you everything is kosher. If you're feeling paranoid, ask the seller to meet you at the Ticket Office. Show him the money, but don't fork it over until the clerk gives you the okey-dokey.

Reasons to do it

• You know you've got them
  
• people are selling them for quite a bit less than a few years ago
  
• You can probably sell them later if you need to
  
• When (if) they build a new stadium, you should have first dibs on season tickets there
  

Reasons NOT to do it

• It does cost money
  
• If they move to LA, you're screwed
  

Good luck and happy hunting. If you land a pair, come on up to Section 39, Row 15, Seats 1-2 and say "Hi!"