The ticket sale for the New England Patriots’ game against the Indianapolis Colts in Frankfurt is turning into a fiasco. How the NFL handles ticket sales for the German games is a farce that must not be repeated

Ticket madness around the NFL in Frankfurt the second. And it got a lot wilder than previously anticipated.

Almost three million people are said to have been on the waiting list for tickets to the New England Patriots’ game against the Indianapolis Colts in November.

Predominant fan frustration was inevitable. But what the NFL and its sales provider “Ticketmaster” have done in the process has never been seen before.

NFL in Frankfurt: Waiting list fiasco leads sale ad absurdum

Shortly after the start of the sale, the news made the rounds on social media that various users who were actually waiting without a chance for tickets were able to trick the system via a loophole.

With a simple update, the waiting list could apparently be more or less skipped and various fans were unexpectedly rewarded.

An inconceivable and actually inexplicable glitch.

How this could have happened seems all the more mysterious when you consider that the NFL had given the supporters detailed instructions for the correct procedure in advance.

Fans feel rightfully deceived by NFL after ticket sale

Before the start of sales for the Kansas City Chiefs vs. Miami Dolphins game a good a fortnight ago, the NFL explicitly advised pre-registered users by email not to reload the page in the waiting list or in the purchase process under any circumstances or to click on “back”. Otherwise, the code received during the registration phase could be blocked.

The fact that users who acted contrary to the instructions were even rewarded crowns the whole thing.

Quite rightly, various people affected expressed their displeasure shortly afterwards and turned to the provider, who is now in need of an explanation.

NFL must urgently learn from ticket disaster

It was clear from the outset that the quota would only be able to cover a fraction of the requests and would once again cause many sad faces.

But to adhere to the guidelines and instructions of the NFL and even experience a disadvantage as a result is unacceptable and unworthy of the loyal fans.

The NFL should actually know better and must take its service provider for ticket sales to task to avoid such mishaps in the future.