MainStreet Explains: What are Personal Seat Licenses?

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The Carolina Panthers became the first pro sports franchise to sell personal seat licenses, or PSLs, when the team joined the NFL in 1996. Carolina fans were not deterred from paying an extra fee to cover the cost of reserving a season ticket -- all seats were sold out by the end of the first day of sales.

These one-time payments for permanent control of a seat have seen their “value” increase dramatically since 1996. Then, PSLs ranged from $600 (for upper level seats) and $5,400 (for premium seats.) Now, the price of these same PSLs at the Panthers' home field, Bank of America Stadium (BAC), range from $3,000 to $20,000. And as team owner Jerry Richardson pointed out in 1996, the 40,000 fans that purchased a PSL helped ensure that the stadium would be built without a dime from the taxpaying public.

Other teams, such as the New York Giants, are following suit.

“Once you purchase a PSL, you can control your seat for as long as the Giants continue to play in the new stadium [New Meadowlands Stadium, scheduled to open in 2010],” wrote John Mara and Steve Tisch, co-owners of the New York Giants, in a letter that was mailed to season ticket holders on June 26. “This means that, in addition to having the right to purchase the same season seats every year, you will also have the ability to transfer your PSL to other Giants fans, including to unrelated third parties.”