“Don’t sell your tickets!” Rams coach Sean McVay pleaded on Monday. At this point, it sounds like his cries will prove ineffective.
According to Vivid Seats, the Rams’ efforts to avoid a repeat of 49ers fans taking over SoFi Stadium are due to fail. Current projections say that Sunday’s NFC Championship Game will see the stands 65% filled with 49ers fans, an increase from the approximately 60% that flooded the seats more than two weeks ago, according to the Los Angeles Times.
This comes in the wake of attempts to restrict ticket sales to fans living in the Los Angeles area, restrictions that were removed on Monday following a backlash on social media. That plan is not unprecedented. Teams with smaller fanbases occasionally try to keep tickets in the hands of local residents, largely to no avail due to the resale market.
The Tennessee Titans tried the same ploy to keep Bengals fans out of their stadium last weekend, but the buying restrictions didn’t seem to have any effect.
It all means that the Rams could face another road atmosphere at home in the biggest game of their season. 49ers fans made such an impact in Week 18, Los Angeles quarterback Matt Stafford was forced to go to a silent count for much of the game.
“Certain parts of the field, it was really noisy,” McVay said. “It was really difficult to operate. You almost have to handle that situation like you would an away game.”
Let’s hope these projections are correct.