Boston fans finding ways to cry about Yankees during Patriots' playoff run

Boston sports fans really hate the New York Yankees, even when baseball season isn't happening. That's why it wasn't shocking to see the Yanks' lingering aura showing up in a batch of fresh complaints from New Englanders about the upcoming AFC Championship Game between the Patriots and Denver Broncos at Empower Field at Mile High, an event for which the Broncos are restricting ticket sales to people with a billing address in the Rocky Mountain region.

New England-based network NESN was sure to point out that a similar thing happened for the Yankees' American League Wild Card series home games at Yankee Stadium in October, with ticket sales restricted to fans with billing addresses in New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, and Pennsylvania. NESN called the Broncos "absolute cowards" for "following in (the Yankees') footsteps." The problem with such an accusation is that it ignores the fact that restricting ticket sales in this way is very common practice among many teams across all pro sports leagues.

Pro sports teams restrict playoff ticket sales all of the time (the Broncos and Yankees aren't alone)

You don't have to look that far back in sports history to find another example of this practice. It happened a few days ago. The Seattle Seahawks restricted ticket sales for their Jan. 17 NFC Divisional Round matchup against the San Francisco 49ers. Seattle even went a step further, issuing a warning to season ticket-holders thinking about reselling their tix to non-Seahawks fans! Are the Seahawks "absolute cowards" as well?

The San Diego Padres rolled with a similar practice during their 2024 NLDS battle with the Los Angeles Dodgers, restricting ticket sales for Games 3 and 4 at Petco Park to people with billing addresses in "San Diego County, southern Orange County, western Arizona, Las Vegas and the surrounding area, and all of Baja California."

The Detroit Pistons did it during their series against the New York Knicks in last year's NBA playoffs, as did the Carolina Hurricanes during their 2024 NHL playoff series against the New York Rangers.

It's petty and nonsensical to single out the Yankees and/or Broncos as cowardly here. Hilariously, there was an apparent Yankees fan in the comments of NESN's post, keeping things real. "Every team in every sport does this for playoff games," user @Pepe_Yanks wrote. "Stop acting like this is anything new lmao. Just win more games if it bothers you that much." Do Red Sox fans really think Ticketmaster doesn't play a role here?

You'd think New England fans would be feeling rather confident about going up against Broncos backup QB (and former Patriot) Jarrett Stidham on Sunday, without any reason to complain about the home crowd. Maybe this is all just residual bitterness from the ALWC loss. Don't fret, Red Sox fans; remember that the Yankees were thoroughly handled in the next round.

This Broncos-Yankees connection is quite a stretch, isn't it? Then again, it does feel like the Yankees have been unnecessarily attacked by Boston fans (and players) in weak fashion all offseason long. The MLB season can't come soon enough. Maybe starting in April, all of this forced and unfounded animosity will go away.