"I checked my home computer two or three times a day looking for seats," Edwards said.
She said she doubled her initial $5,000 investment and applied the profits toward four new seats.
"And they are much better seats," she said. "I moved up from the 15-yard line to the 45-yard line on the Ravens' sideline."
Edwards and other fans and ticket brokers have learned that the economy may be sluggish, but Ravens supporters aren't. The average PSL price sold through STR Marketplace's site, seasonticketrights.com, fell from $4,200 in 2008 to $3,400 so far this year. But that's still up about 300 percent from 1998.
The team's PSLs sold out in 2004, and fans have since been reaping dividends by selling choice positions on the seat-license waiting list. Fans pay $50 to join the list, which the team limits to 3,000 members to sustain value and allow everyone a realistic shot. People on the list also pay a $25 annual fee, with all the fees applied to any eventual PSL purchase.
People selling their wait-list positions - which allow up to six PSL purchases - have seen profits this year ranging from $125 to $2,225, according to data from STR Marketplace.
"Yes, the economy is bad, but there are a lot of Ravens fans out there, not even just in Maryland. They're all over the place," said Stephanie Crockett, a retired accounting clerk from Westminster. She said she got $6,000 last month for each of two PSLs she bought in the late 1990s for $1,500 apiece.
Fans holding PSLs the longest typically fare best. The Ravens originally sold the licenses for $250 to $3,000, depending on seat locations. The club charges $750 to $8,000 today, and they fetch higher prices when sold through STR Marketplace, eBay or other outlets.
But Scott Murphy, a partner at Hardesty Capital Management, counsels caution. "If you're going into it from a business standpoint, you're relying on a shrinking pool of potential purchasers given the economic situation," Murphy said. "I would think discretionary income is down because the economy is down. It's a big-ticket expense, and it's like real estate - location, location, location."
Eleven NFL teams currently require season ticket holders to buy PSLs, according to Burks. The number will soon increase to 14 when the Dallas Cowboys, New York Giants and New York Jets open new stadiums.
STR Marketplace splits a 5 percent fee with the Ravens on each PSL sale it coordinates. Under then-owner Art Modell, the Ravens were among the initial wave of NFL teams - the Carolina Panthers were first in 1993 - to adopt PSLs.
