Jim Owczarski

jowczarski@enquirer.com

The Cincinnati Bengals are giving up a game at Paul Brown Stadium in 2016 to host Washington on Oct. 30 at Wembley Stadium in London, but the team will be bringing over 2,100 season ticket holders – a number that surprised the NFL and rates as the third-best number of domestic sales in the league’s 10-year run of games in England.

“It is a very, very surprising aspect of this, the level of demand for Bengals fans is incredibly high,” said NFL executive vice president/international Mark Waller. “And it’s not just demand. It’s translating into people actually buying the tickets and committing to make the trip.”

Waller added: “The thing that I think that is encouraging I think for us and the Bengals is so many of the fans seem to be really keen to make the trip. Even though they’re disappointed of losing the home game, they’re sort of able to look at it at it and OK, if it’s going to happen, then at least let’s see if we can make the most of it. I don’t know why it’s a bigger demand for Cincinnati than elsewhere. I’m not sure what the rationale for that is.”

From England with love: Bengals fans make trip across the pond

The NFL allots each team that travels for the International Series two sets of ticket blocks, one for family and friends of the staff and players and another allotment of about 500 tickets for domestic sale to season ticket holders.

Often, Waller said teams do not sell out that second allotment of tickets.

The Bengals quickly did however – as well as two additional allotments – forcing the league to dip into other avenues such as ticket pools reserved for sponsors and the league itself to satisfy those demands.

“It’s very unusual,” Waller said. “Usually the teams do not sell out their allocation and certainly the teams that have sold out their allocation that you would expect would be the much more high profile teams like the Patriots or the Cowboys.”

Bengals to play in London in 2016

The league would not specify if the Bengals have sold the most domestic tickets for a franchise making its first trip to England.

The Bengals are not surprised at the turnout, however.

Waller acknowledged that Bengals executive vice president Katie Blackburn told the league that 500 tickets would not be enough – a claim the league has often heard – but Bengals season ticket holders backed up their vocal interest with purchases.

“Ranking third all-time as part of the NFL’s International Series, we would consider an accomplishment, and I also believe that we are the top-selling team of all six that are going this year,” said Duane Haring, the Bengals’ director of ticket sales and service.

“I think, too, it’s consistent with the demand that we’re seeing here. This offseason we’ve had a nice spike in season ticket memberships.”

Any other U.S.-based fans looking to make the trip will now have to work through Atlanta-based PrimeSport, a travel service that the team partnered with for fans to purchase game tickets and accommodations in London. Or, fans can try Ticketmaster and make arrangements on their own.

The Bengals have finally maxed out their season-ticket allotment.

“You’ll find that in London it’s going to feel like a home game for the Cincinnati Bengals, which is what we’re trying to achieve,” Haring said.

The games in London typically sell out, but the domestic demand for the Bengals presented an interesting conundrum for the league this year.

“The goal for us is to sell as many tickets as possible to fans in the UK – that’s why we’re playing the game,” Waller said. “There’s a little bit of tension internally about, well if we give more tickets back to Cincinnati that’s less tickets to sell in the UK. So that’s always an internal discussion. It’s definitely not easy.”

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