Diehard Giant fan John Costantini says he has to raid his retirement fund to pay for his half of the $80,000 fee his family now has to fork over for even the right to continue buying season tickets.
And his nephew, Frank Costantini, with whom he shares four premium Giants seats, is paying the other half of the onetime fee, called “personal seats licenses,” by taking out a bank loan.
The duo is among the tens of thousands of Giant and Jet season ticket holders scrambling to raise the big bucks needed to buy the PSLs, which both teams are demanding to help offset $1.6 billion in construction costs for the new, 82,500-seat Meadowlands stadium the clubs will share beginning in 2010.
If fans don’t pay, they can be easily replaced. There is a waiting list of 130,000 seeking Giant tickets and 10,000 on the Jet list.
For many Giant fans, their first 20-percent installment on the total payment is due later this month, and desperation is setting in.
They say they’re taking out home-equity loans, dipping into their 401K retirement plans and begging friends and family for quick cash. One Bronx man said he’s considering borrowing from a loan shark to keep his seats.
And some groups who share tickets are even setting up “limited liability corporations” with boards of directors to ensure tickets are fairly distributed, tap into potential tax breaks and protect their investment in PSLs, which are like taxi medallions because they can be resold at a profit.
Details of the Jets’ PSL plan won’t be announced until the end of August, but the Super Bowl champion Giants are charging anywhere from $1,000 to $20,000 per seat.
The Costantinis, whose four midfield seats are three rows behind the Giants bench, are being whacked the maximum $20,000 each ticket.
To add to the price drama, their tickets – which have been in the family nearly 50 years – are rising from $100 to $700 apiece when the new stadium opens. So their annual bill for eight, regular-season and two pre-season games will skyrocket from $4,000 to a whopping $28,000.
“I know sports is big business now, but what about all the policemen, firefighters and other real fans who are being priced out?” said Frank Costantini, a 38-year-old advertising salesman from Mount Vernon .
“They’re going to create a sterile, corporate environment where bankers and lawyers are more worried about their BlackBerries than what’s happening in the game. What kind of home-field advantage is that?”
His Uncle John, who travels all the way from North Carolina to North Jersey to watch Big Blue play, was so angry when first billed for the PSLs last month that he considered giving up the tickets.
But John, 64, said he enjoys “going to games too much and being with friends” he’s made in his section over the past few decades to get rid of the tickets.
Jet season ticket holder Steve Kern of Boonton , NJ , is taking matters into his own hands.
He is organizing a protest against the PSLs set for 4 p.m. August 23 at Giants Stadium’s parking lot a few hours before kickoff of the annual Jets-Giants preseason game.
The speakers will include Anthony Chiappone, a New Jersey assemblyman who recently introduced a bill to outlaw PSLs in that state.
Kern questioned whether the Jets traded for star quarterback Brett Favre last week just to sugarcoat the “hefty” PSL fees they’re expected to sock ticket holders with.
The Jets did not return phone calls, but Giants spokesman Pat Hanlon said his team is “willing to work as hard as we are capable to insure that all of” its ticket holders “have an opportunity to move with us to the new building.”
Kyle Burks, president of seasonticketrights.com , the world’s largest broker of PSLs, said the Giants licenses are a bargain and currently cost about $2,000 to $3,000 less on average than market value.
“If you can come up with the money, it is worth the investment because within a year after the stadium opens, a $20,000 seat will be worth about $35,000,” predicted Burks, adding he expects Jet PSLs to do as well.
Staten Island chiropractor Anthony Banas, who is trying to raise $40,000 to keep his two Giants seats, has mixed feelings. He likes having the leverage to sell the licenses for profit, but said “the reality is loyal ticket holders will never give up their seats so it’s just another way to take money from us.”
Eric Diresta, a 30-year-old Staten Island elevator mechanic, said he is taking out a loan through his union with his retirement fund as collateral to keep his Giants seats, which his father, John, 72, first got 54 years ago.
“I have a 1-year-old [son], and I want him to experience the same stuff I went through with my dad, like tailgating,” said Diresta, whose two PSLs will run $20,000 each.
Alex Swingle, a 40-year-old Manhattan credit analyst who has to fork over $20,000 to keep two Giant tickets in his family since the late 1950s, said the timing couldn’t be worse.
“I don’t know how they could spring this on fans during a subprime mortgage crisis where fans are more worried about their homes than PSLs,” said Swingle, who is undecided on whether he’ll keep the tickets.
Nicholas Malizia, a Giant ticket holder since 1962, said he’s sick over the PSLs because he can’t come up with $40,000 to keep his six seats.
“There’s no way I can come up with the money in such a short time,” said Malizia, a 70-year-old accountant from Middletown , NJ .
Giant ticket holders must pay 20 percent of their PSL bill this year, another 40 percent next year and the remaining 40 percent in 2010.
The Giants are offering a financing plan, but ticket holders interviewed by the Post said they opted to use their own banks because interest rates were more favorable.
Twelve of the NFL’s 32 teams have previously used PSLs to offset costs to build new stadiums.
While no other New York or New Jersey team in any pro sports league has previously used PSLs, the NBA’s Nets are considering forcing them on its fan base to help pay for construction of a new 18,000-seat arena planned for the club in Brooklyn.