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FOXBORO - Hundreds of single tickets for the New England Patriots' Jan. 12 playoff game go on sale for face value at 10 this morning through Ticketmaster.

But plenty of others already are on sale for thousands of dollars on unauthorized sites like eBay. And those tickets could be much more costly - for the sellers - if team officials catch them. Sellers could end up losing their season ticket rights.

Nonetheless, dozens of season ticket holders are hawking tickets to the divisional playoff game at Gillette Stadium on the digital black market.

A group of four sideline seats was available Thursday night for $2,800.

But while the demand for tickets is "certainly going to overwhelm the supply," the Patriots allow season ticket holders to sell their seats only to members of a waiting list of 55,000 fans through their TicketExchange program with Ticketmaster, Patriots spokesman Stacey James said. Anyone caught selling their tickets another way risks losing their season tickets.

"It's a buyer beware market. That's kind of our message for that," James said.

As of Thursday evening, no tickets were available through TicketExchange. Under that system, fans on the season ticket waiting list may buy up to four seats at face value.

"I can't imagine there's going to be a lot of traffic" on TicketExchange, James said.

"I think the overwhelming majority of season ticket holders want to be part of" a playoff game, he said. "These are the games that people cherish most.

He said often there's a sense of "If I don't go, they might lose.'"

"There's almost a feeling of responsibility sometimes," James said.

It's like, "I have to go. They need me. They need my support because I yell loud."

However, the Patriots carefully police how tickets are sold or transferred.

Besides this morning's authorized sale, the team made more than 1,000 tickets available Thursday to waiting list members through a private sale, James said. Last year, the Patriots sued StubHub, alleging the company encourages fans to break Massachusetts' anti-scalping law and violate the team's ban on reselling Patriots tickets for a profit.

Although not commenting directly on the suit, StubHub said it has partnerships with other NFL teams and has sufficient protections to prevent fraud and abuse.

James said he believed the Patriots was still pursuing the issue.

MICHAEL GELBWASSER can be reached at 508-236-0439 or at mgelbwasser@thesunchronicle.com.