The first football championship game (aka Super Bowl I) was not even a sell out. To sit on the 50-yard line in SuperBowl XLII you would have needed to pay ticket brokers $14,000 per ticket! And just to get in the stadium you'd be looking at $3,000 for a ticket in the week before the game.
The subject of Super Bowl tickets is rather fascinating and we'll be gathering more information and details about securing tickets to the Super Bowl. Which cities are the most popular - and the most expensive. We'll start with an interesting fact about who gets the tickets before they hit the secondary market. This data was collected from Super Bowl XLII in 2008 but is pretty reflective of recent games and likely future game tickets.
Each team receives approx 16% of the available tickets.
5% of tickets go to the hosting team.
Remaining NFL teams share 30% of the tickets.
And 30% are used by the NFL for sponsors and promotions.
A bit sad that you'll note no mention of tickets available to the public.
With no tickets going to the public the secondary market is huge. Sites like StubHub, RazorGator and 100's of other ticket sites have 100's of tickets listed starting at approx two times face value for tickets. In 2008 for Super Bowl XLII face value of SuperBowl tickets was $700. Reports in 2008 indicate $14,000 was the top price paid to a broker per ticket for the "best" seats in the house. As of Noon ET on game day for Super Bowl XLII ticket leader StubHub with an office in Glendale for last minute pick up right up to kick off had 191 tickets still available on their website ranging in price for $1,499 to $8,999 so perhaps waiting until the last minute pays off in getting Super Bowl Tickets.
Another interesting option that debut in 2006 is TicketReserve.com, now FirstDibz.com. They sell "options" or rights to buy at face value - in fact if you have an option for the team that makes it you must and automatically do buy tickets at face value. So at the beginning of the year if you feel the Patriots are going to make it you purchase "Dibz" for SuperBowl tickets. If the Pats make it you get Super Bowl tickets at face value. The initial price for Super Bowl tickets for the Patriots for the 2009 Super Bowl was $259 - within hours the going rate per "dibz" was over $500. So you pay $500 per ticket if the Pats make your credit card is charged for the face of tickets and they're yours. What makes this site so interesting is that you can sell your "dibz" anytime like stocks. So if 1/2 way through the season you've lost faith that your team will make it to the Super Bowl you can sell your "dibz" on their website. The catch here is pretty simple, and is why this site makes a huge amount of profit I'm guessing (besides they fees they charge on transactions) is that if your team(s) don't make the event you have "dibz" for you get nothing. You're out the money you spent on "dibz" if you still have them when your team is eliminated. They do many sporting events for many teams. It's a very interesting concept.
So you better be ready to lay out some serious cash for Super Bowl tickets. We've talked some pretty high prices and we're just talking about tickets. Nevermind hotel, flights, food, souveniers, etc.... Of course if you're willing to take a chance you can wait until the last minute - like when the national anthem starts you might get a great deal. As little as $100 a few years ago in the parking lot just before, or perhaps just after kickoff. This is possible because the people selling tickets have run out of time to sell and something is better than nothing. However, be warned - the reverse is also true. You have run out of time to buy tickets if you wait this long and the sellers know this so you could be a bunch even at the last minute.
All this for a game that's often times not that good....and you miss the commercials.
Here are just a few historical numbers on face value for tickets we've found.
Super Bowl XXXV in 2001 $325
Super Bowl XXXVI in 2002 $400
Super Bowl XLII in 2008 $700 and $900
As we find more info we'll certainly update our info.
We welcome your comments:
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