Seattle Seahawks Training Camp Sells Out In 90 Minutes
When the Seattle Seahawks won the Super Bowl, it was seen less as the culmination of hype and more like the start of something huge. Indeed, there was plenty reason for that – the team was young, successful, and poised to do it again and again. Sometimes it’s easy to forget how recently it was that the hype around these ‘Hawks was just starting to boil over. Then they go and sell out of training camp tickets in 90 minutes, and you’re reminded.
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Wait, what? Yeah, that’s right – after being on sale for an hour and a half, the Seahawks’ supply of tickets to watch the team practice in Renton had officially been exhausted. The team will host fourteen public practices, and for those they printed 34,000 tickets. There aren’t any left. That’s incredible.
Obviously the NFL is the most popular sports league in North America. Obviously the Seahawks are one of that league’s premier franchises, last-second Super Bowl loss be damned. Maybe it makes sense that they’d sell out their training camp so quickly – there’s only so many Seahawks-related things fans can buy tickets to, you know.
Or maybe this is a nice little surprise. It’s a good sign that fans in Seattle haven’t started to do the worst things that fans of a successful team can do – take what they have for granted. The hype isn’t yet subsiding, despite what happened in the Super Bowl. Despite the unsigned franchise quarterback. Despite the fact that everyone expects this team to be good, just like they did last year.
To see that the hype is alive and well is a healthy, welcome sign. Fans aren’t exasperated that Russell Wilson doesn’t yet have a new deal – they’re excited for any chance they can get to see him up close and personal. People are still so amazed by the abilities of Marshawn Lynch and Richard Sherman that it’s worth paying money to go watch them prepare for the season ahead. It’s a beautiful thing.
This team went out and nabbed Jimmy Graham, and now fans get to take a look at him before the season even begins. Before the pre-season even begins! It sounds silly when you say people are lining up to watch a practice, but when you choose to view it as a passionate, involved fan base getting a look at their awesome favorite team’s new star, it’s easy to see why these tickets were such a hot commodity.
Friday, July 31st is a long ways away, and the start of the NFL season is further away still. But that’s a day that’s being circled on lots and lots of calendars around the Seattle area right now, and for good reason. With that date comes the first open-to-the-public training camp, and with that comes the arrival of the 2015 Seattle Seahawks. The team that’s trying to go to the Super Bowl for the third year in a row. A team that’s worth all the hype in the world.