One man flew in from Honolulu and his sister flew in from Asheville, N.C., to be a part of it.
Another man brought his family, and his Pittsburgh Steelers allegiance, up from Albuquerque for it.
The Denver Broncos are in the AFC championship game Sunday against those Steelers, and about 2,000 rabid fans seeking tickets came to the south steps of Invesco Field at Mile High for a chance to buy one, or six.
Most went away empty- handed, as only 15,000 tickets went on sale at 4 p.m., and they were sold not only at Invesco but also online and at all Ticketmaster outlets. The roughly 61,000 remaining tickets go to season-ticket holders and the National Football League.
Those fans at Invesco, some apparently there as early as 6 a.m., were given little blue slips to take part in a lottery to determine their place in line.
The winning number, 625916, was held by unemployed 24-year-old Paul Davey, who stepped up to the ticket window and asked ticket seller Samantha Nokes for six of the cheapest tickets she had.
The prices of the tickets on sale Sunday were $73 to $135 for reserved tickets and $300 to $400 in the club level.
Davey said he’d been outside Invesco since 6 a.m.
“I don’t know what to say,” he said. “I’ve never won anything before.”
Ron Bueno was more demonstrative as he won a chance to step up to one of the dozen ticket windows, throwing his arms in the air and yelling, “You gotta believe!”
After he plopped down $700 for six tickets, Bueno grinned and said: “Don’t tell my kids. They wanted new shoes, but we can’t buy shoes now.”
Jose Beltran and Joann Sanchez were up from Albuquerque for the playoff game against New England and stayed around for the chance to get tickets to the Steelers game.
Sporting a No. 7 jersey in black and gold with “Roethlisberger” across the back (for Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger), Beltran said he’s been a Steelers fan all his life, but his children are Broncos fans.
“We promised them this for Christmas,” he said.
They will return to Albuquerque and come back for Sunday’s game.
Ryan Parker and his sister Paige Parker flew in for the Patriots game – he from Honolulu and she from Asheville – and stayed an extra day for the chance to get tickets for the AFC championship.
They got tickets, but the biggest part of their expense will be returning to work this week and flying back to Denver this weekend.
At 4:20 p.m., it was announced that only the expensive club-level tickets remained, and by 4:30 p.m., only scattered seating at that level was left. At 5 p.m., they starting closing the ticket windows.
Rick Nichols, vice president of ticket operations and business development for the Broncos, advised fans to watch Ticketmaster.com this week because some of Sunday’s transactions probably wouldn’t go through and some tickets could become available.
Staff writer Jim Kirksey can be reached at 303-820-1448 or jkirksey@denverpost.com.
