Excitement surrounding Bears prompts warning about possible playoff ticket scams
It was the first time that Bears fans were glad that Aaron Rodgers and the Pittsburgh Steelers were able to get the job done on Sunday against the Detroit Lions.
Following a messy finish to that game, in the end, the Chicago Bears are officially playoff-bound — meaning that fans will be scrambling to find playoff tickets.
There is a warning for those ready to shell out those big bucks.
Right between that Packers win, clinching the playoffs, and Tuesday's Pro Bowl announcement, there's a lot of energy and hope for the Bears faithful this Christmas. That energy is driving demand at the Pro Shop and on the ticket market.
Shoppers Marinna Guedes and Gabriel Folly, visiting from Brazil, are officially Bears fans after watching Saturday at Soldier Field.
"The game was amazing. The turnaround at the last minute it was, man, unbelievable," Folly said.
They're certainly not the only ones picking up swag. Some fans said they found some items in short supply.
"They're doing the best they can, and that's a good sign that they're in a size that's left," one buyer said.
When you look at Google data, searches for Bears merch are the highest they've been in the past year, same as the search for Bears tickets.
"If you Google Bears playoff tickets, it's hard to know what direction that may take you in," said Brian Forth.
Forth, who is the Bears' Director of Ticket Operations, said they're warning fans that scammers may try to capitalize on playoff excitement.
"The bigger the game, the more instances of things like that occur," he said.
They're asking fans to use verified sale sites like their partner Ticketmaster, never pay in cash, and be mindful when sending money through apps like Venmo.
The team said they'll send out ticket alerts to people who sign up for them on the Chicago Bears website.
Forth also said that the number of people on their priority list for tickets is at an all-time high — that's about 10,000 accounts.
As the excitement continues, there are still a lot of variables to determine if the Bears will host a playoff game.