The Minnesota Vikings have tried to find every competitive advantage they can ahead of Sunday's matchup against the Detroit Lions, including the team getting $2 million in Ford Field tickets.
The Vikings claimed 1,900 seats located behind the visitors' bench, and each seat cost about $1,000. They then resold them to interested parties on the team for between $200 and $300.
When the Lions learned of the purchase, they contacted the NFL, who told the team that the Vikings had not violated league rules, according to Sports Illustrated.
That's a massive profit loss, but it could prove valuable in gaining just under 3 percent more of Detroit's homefield fan base on the Minnesota side for the final game of the NFL regular season.
The 1,900 ticket total does not count the 600 stubs the Lions are required to give to the Vikings as part of NFL rules for a visiting team, nor to any part of the Minnesota fan base who purchased tickets through of Detroit sales.
Sunday night's crowd is expected to have an overwhelming number of Lions fans to witness the battle for the NFC North and first place overall in the conference.
The Minnesota Vikings purchased 1,900 tickets for team stakeholders for Sunday's game
The Lions consulted with the NFL about it, and the league said Detroit did not violate the rules.
In the first NFL regular-season game in league history between teams with 13 or more wins (both have 14), the loser will have to go on the road for next week's wild-card round against the winner of the NFC South.
A possible rematch of this game could occur in the divisional playoffs if the seeding holds, barring the loser of this game taking the No. 4 seed.
The loser will have the best record of any non-division winner in NFL history, and that team can still have the third-best record in the NFL on Monday and not host a playoff game.
The Lions won this season's previous matchup 31-29 at US Bank Stadium on a Jake Bates field goal in the final minute.
Ford Field has a capacity of 65,000, and the Lions fill it almost every week of their current resurgence.