Jets shell out big bucks for personal seat license rights

FLORHAM PARK, N.J. " Big-spending New York Jets fans are sealing their bids for the best seats in the house with a click.

Online bidding went as high as $65,100 per seat through the first two days of the team's unprecedented auction of 2,000 personal seat licenses. The PSLs are in the Coaches Club " located near the 50-yard line and behind the Jets' bench " in the new Meadowlands stadium, scheduled to open in 2010.

Fans can specify which seats they want to bid on through the online ticketing Web site StubHub. The public auction, which started Sunday and runs through Oct. 27, marks the first time a U.S. sports team has done so with PSLs.

"We continue to be pleased with the level of activity and interest in the auction," said Bruce Speight, the Jets' senior director of media relations.

The online event was kicked off at an auction preview party last Thursday at The Four Seasons restaurant in Manhattan, where the winning bid for a pair of PSLs on the 50-yard line was $200,000 per seat.

The auction's first day yielded its top two winning bids, with fans shelling out $65,100 and $61,100 per seat. The top bid Monday was $55,100 per seat, with the next highest $38,100 per seat.

Winning bidders will also have to pay $700 for each Jets game ticket. They will have the opportunity to leave their seats in the stands and watch the game from a railed-off section of the field 5 yards behind the Jets' bench, or from a bar and lounge area directly behind them.

Along with complimentary food and beverages, Coaches Club members will receive free parking and can buy tickets to other stadium events. Fans will also be able to stand in the tunnel before games and listen to the coach's postgame press conference from a few feet away.

In August, the Jets announced their PSL plan, which will cost some season-ticket holders between $4,000 and $25,000, but spares 27,000 upper-level seats from the new fee. The Jets will share the new 82,500-seat stadium with the defending Super Bowl champion Giants, whose most expensive PSLs will be sold at $20,000 per seat.