Meet Hans Steiniger. He is the embodiment of a true fan of tailgating. Most NFL fans have their favorite team and attend and tailgate only those home games. Hans Steiniger is on another level when it comes to attending NFL games. This guy has made it a mission to visit 31 stadiums (New York Giants and Jets share the same stadium) all in the same year; the same year he is age 31. Coincidence? Hans doesn’t think so.
Hans has titled this tour of every NFL stadium his “Quest for 31”. 31 years old, 31 NFL stadiums to be completed after turning age 31. Combining last season’s games and stadium visits with this year’s season, Steiniger has visited 17 stadiums already with 14 remaining.
You would think that in order to visit 31 stadiums all within a calender year, Hans Steiniger would be independently wealthy or have a armored truck following him everywhere he goes. Actually he is your average, moderately paid, tailgating, beer guzzling, hot dog eating, fantasy football playing, road tripping, technically savvy, DirecTV NFL Sunday Ticket watching, lover of the NFL. He has a 1997 green Ford Explorer (with a ton of miles on it), an eBay account and a dream to visit all the NFL stadiums. He acquires these tickets due in part to the kindness of strangers, the auction environment on eBay, StubHub.com or through local ticket selling entrepreneurs. You’ve all seen them. They are usually the guys standing outside the stadium holding that sign that says, “I NEED TICKETS“. These are the same guys that also have a stack of tickets in their pocket for the day’s game. Hans secret to getting cheap tickets? Wait until the second quarter to get the best price. This accomplishes two goals. 1. These guys will unload their tickets uber cheap because the game has already started. 2. The extra time gives Hans more time to tailgate. How can you argue with this technique?
So in the true spirit of sharing that true tailgaters do, you probably want to help out Hans in his “Quest for 31”. The best way to help him out is get him tickets. Free tickets are preferable but cheap NFL tickets is most likely the route to be taken. Through his travels he has learned a few tricks to landing cheap NFL tickets and he has set up his own website, NFLFootballStadiums.com, dedicated to finding the best and cheapest NFL tickets. He’s even put together a tutorial on how to buy cheap NFL tickets based on his ticket buying history. Also, on his website he has compiled a one-stop-shop to find tickets for all 32 NFL franchises. Of course, Hans is also a blogger and has set up a blog site where he answers fan questions about stadiums he has visited. Add to that he has done stadium reviews and posts a synopsis of his game day experiences at the ones he has already notched in his belt.
If you see Hans Steiniger tailgating at your NFL stadium this upcoming season, make sure to say hello and invite him over to your tailgate party. If you have some extra tickets, I’m sure he would not have a problem taking them off your hands. Hans will be checking in from time to time and offering up a status report to the readers of TailgatingIdeas.com on his travels. Stay tuned.
