The cost of a Super Bowl ticket has always been an extremely expensive event that the common fan simply can’t afford. But the last few years have seen an uptick in the cost of a ticket as the demand has skyrocketed. With ten days still left before the game, tickets are averaging more than $10,000 with the price likely to still go up.
The most expensive average ticket price (not counting Covid year) came in Super Bowl LVI (56) when tickets averaged $10,322. Considering that the game is in Las Vegas, an already very attractive tourist location, only a few hours away from San Francisco, and is featuring two teams who have a long and rich history, there is very little doubt that the average cost of this year’s game is going to far surpass the current record.
Yes, there is something to attending the Super Bowl. But what if you used that money for something else? Obviously, this is a fun article, and not meant to be taken to seriously, but here are just some of the things you could do instead:
Other Ways to Watch the Game
Let’s say that you were to buy your Super Bowl ticket right now for $10,000, which would likely mean sitting by yourself in a seat that is not exactly close to the field. Instead, you could do the following: Keep in mind this isn’t considering the additional costs of flying to Las Vegas, booking a room, food, and other entertainment; this is just a single average ticket to the Super Bowl.
- Go to Costco or Sam’s Club, purchase the biggest 85” TV you can buy ($2,500), rent out an AirBnB mansion ($1500), invite your 50 best friends, and take a golf trip in the morning ($3750) before inviting them all out back to the mansion to watch the game with all the food you could ever want ($2250).
- Rent out a private jet for 12 people, and fly around in circles for the 3.5 hours of the game with private chefs and 5-star food for you and your 12 best friends.
- Stay at home, order pizza, enjoy the game, and then buy season tickets for you and someone else for the next two years for either the 49ers or Chiefs and you’ll still have a thousand dollars left over.
- Go to a 4-star Hotel, rent out a giant conference room, project the game on a presentation room, and invite as many people as you want to have catered food from just about any restaurant you want.
The Insane Difficulty to Even Get a Super Bowl Ticket
Despite being able to do all of the things mentioned above, FOMO (Fear of missing out) will still prevail and people will be willing to give up well over $10,000 for Super Bowl tickets to attend the game live. If this is you, that is great! But at some point, we also need to step back and ask ourselves, how did we let this happen? Yes, supply and demand is a real thing, but perhaps the bigger issue is the corporations that eat up tons of the tickets.
This goes beyond just the Super Bowl. If you’ve ever watched the Final Four in men’s basketball, you’ll notice a large portion of the audience not in team colors, standing, or passionate. They are corporate donors or businesses that give tickets to people who probably don’t particularly care about the two teams or who wins.
Last year, NFL Sponsors and corporations got 25% of the tickets, the Arizona Cardinals got 5%, the Eagles and Chiefs each got 17.5%, and the remaining 29 teams shared 34.8% or about 1.3% each. No tickets went directly to the public, and almost all tickets bought were by secondary market sellers. In other words, unless you’re a very lucky season ticket holder, the odds of getting a Super Bowl ticket offer sent to you are very low.
Super Bowl Tickets Conclusion
Super Bowl tickets are only going to continue to rise in price. The game was never meant for every common fan to be able to attend, and supply and demand will always keep tickets expensive. However, some small adjustments to the number of tickets given to sponsors and the rest of the NFL would allow the more common fan to atleast have a chance at attending the game if their team is playing.