More than a decade ago, Steve Sigel, a University City resident, responded to an ad in the newspaper to buy and sell tickets.
"They're paying me commission on the ticket," he recalls to Daily RFT. "They must be worth more than I am getting."
By 1999, he had launched his own ticket resale company, which quickly became lucrative. And now, days before the 2013 Super Bowl, he is gearing up for the biggest event of the year for the company. And his hard work -- temporarily based out of New Orleans -- has this week earned him national attention.
Sigel and his website called "The Ticket Guys" was spotlighted in print today in a lengthy New York Times piece that goes behind the scenes of his makeshift operation in New Orleans this week before the Super Bowl.
"We've been getting a lot of people calling," he tells Daily RFT this morning.
Sigel, 42, lives in University City, but his company is based out of Cahoika, Illinois.
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The Times story takes a close look at Sigel's work as a licensed ticket broker dealing with hundreds of thousands of dollars' worth of Super Bowl tickets.
Sigel tells us it is the most profitable event of the year and that he is buying and selling hundreds of tickets.
"There are not a whole lot of ways [to get Super Bowl tickets] unless you know somebody who has tickets or go through a broker," says Sigel, who has been in New Orleans for about two-and-a-half weeks. In terms of prices, he adds, "It's...the most volatile event."
Sigel tells us he has come a long way since the launch of his business -- which happened after he quit a desk job.
"I was tired of wearing a suit and tie every day," he recalls.
Sigel opened a burrito restaurant, but after two years, decided to sell it and dedicate his attention to The Ticket Guys.
His business is focused on St. Louis events, but he does national work, too; his operations are about sixty percent sports and forty percent concerts and theater.
And it's not a bad gig, he says.
"I get to go to some great concerts, some great venues...and travel," he says. "It's definitely fun."
More from our Media archive: "VIDEOS: Catch a Glimpse of Anheuser-Busch's 2013 Super Bowl Ads"
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