NYTimes.com: Arizona Cardinals Finally Sell Out Home Playoff Game

From NYTimes.com: Arizona Cardinals Finally Sell Out Home Playoff Game

Listen Phoenix and Minneapolis: Your city doesn’t deserve an NFL football team if you can’t sell out a home playoff game. 

Still, until 4:30 p.m. Friday, many Cardinals fans in the Phoenix area were in danger of missing the moment. Because the Cardinals were having trouble selling out their home field — University of Phoenix Stadium, with a seating capacity of about 65,000 — a local blackout loomed.
…
So the N.F.L. extended the deadline by 24 hours. But as that new deadline approached Thursday afternoon, 3,700 tickets remained unsold. The Cardinals, a charter member of the N.F.L., were playing just the eighth playoff game in their history, but that idea just didn’t seem to be resonating in the Phoenix area. A team marketing campaign that included an appearance by wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald at a cellphone store wasn’t closing the deal, either.

So the league granted the Cardinals another 24 hours. And this time, with the help of a local pool supply company, which bought a chunk of tickets, the game finally sold out.
…

…Meanwhile, the Vikings were still flirting with a potential blackout of their own for their Sunday game against the Eagles. With 3,100 tickets still unsold, the league extended the deadline to Saturday afternoon. Which is when the Cardinals will be taking the field, at home and on local TV.

As a Cincinnati Bengals fan, it’s inconceivable to me that a team that hasn’t been to the playoffs recently has to struggle to sell out their only home playoff game.  Pitiful.