The Bengals have had a variety of 2002 ticket-buying options available to fans for quite some time now. But for those fans with their own specific ideas about picking the spot to visit Paul Brown Stadium for NFL action, the gates of personal choice were opened wide today.
"Single-game ticket sales are now underway," Bengals Director of Ticket Sales Kevin Lane said Monday, "and the response over the phones has been consistent and strong."
Tickets may be purchased from 9 AM to 5 PM by calling the Bengals Ticket Hotline at (513) 621-TDTD, or by visiting the Bengals Ticket Office located on Paul Brown Stadium's East Plaza Level.
Ticketmaster also has tickets available through their various outlets, through their website, WWW.Ticketmaster.com, or by phone at 562-4949.
Lane said that as expected, the games against traditional rivals Pittsburgh (Oct. 13) and Cleveland (Nov. 17) are drawing the most interest from single-game buyers.
"These are games that have perennially sold out, and we certainly are expecting they will sell out again in 2002," Lane said. "But we want to emphasize that we do still have availability now."......
Due to prior demand, as well as to anticipated demand from season ticket and ticket-package buyers, single-game seat availability for Pittsburgh and Cleveland is limited to the upper stands (Canopy Level) of Paul Brown Stadium.
"But we do have excellent locations still available in the Canopy, priced at $39 to $49," Lane said, "and fans can still get into the Field and Club levels for Pittsburgh and Cleveland if they want to pair either of those games with another game on our schedule."
The option Lane referred to is the two-game ticket package. Five such packages remain on sale along with single-game tickets, and ticket-package buyers can still obtain lower-level seats for the Steelers and Browns contests.
"We think the Pittsburgh package is a very attractive option," Lane said, "because the Steelers game is paired with our season opener (Sept. 8) against San Diego."
The Browns game is paired in the package plan with the Sept. 29 contest against Tampa Bay, which figures to be a strong NFC playoff contender under new head coach Jon Gruden. The Tampa Bay game offers the only late start on the Bengals' home schedule, with kickoff at 4:05 p.m. All other regular-season home games will kick off at 1 p.m.
Lane said that single-game requests on Monday were also particularly strong for the Sept. 8 season opener vs. San Diego.
"But except for Cleveland and Pittsburgh," he said, "we do have single-game seats available for purchase on all stadium levels for all other games."
Season tickets for all 10 games, of course, also remain available in all areas of the stadium.
"They start as low as $350," Lane said, "so they're very affordable. And of course, season-ticket buyers have a guaranteed option to purchase their seats for any home playoff games."
Besides those mentioned above, the Bengals have regular-season home games on Oct. 27 vs. Tennessee, Dec. 1 vs. Baltimore, Dec. 15 vs. Jacksonville and Dec. 22 vs. New Orleans. The team's first Paul Brown Stadium appearance of 2002 will be in preseason on Saturday night, Aug. 24, vs. New Orleans, and the Bengals will conclude their preseason schedule at home on Thursday, Aug. 29, vs. Atlanta. Both home preseason games have 7:30 p.m. kickoffs.
The Bengals had four regular-season sellouts last season, with crowds of 64,217 for Cleveland, 63,865 for Tennessee, 63,751 for Pittsburgh and 63,408 for Chicago.
The Cleveland game last season re-set the record for the largest crowd ever to see a sporting event in Cincinnati. The Bengals first set the Cincinnati sports attendance record with their very first game at Riverfront Stadium, on Aug. 8, 1970. The preseason contest against Washington drew 52,299, and the Bengals have held the city's attendance mark ever since. The record prior to the Washington preseason game had been 51,050, for the Cincinnati Reds' first game at Riverfront on June 30, 1970.
Since Aug. 8, 1970, the Bengals have re-set the Cincinnati sports attendance record so many times that they are too numerous to mention. But in just two seasons at Paul Brown Stadium, the Bengals have drawn the nine biggest crowds ever to attend a sports event in the city.
