Super Bowl or Super Luxury? How the Big Game Became a Playground for the Rich
By Matt Quinn
The Super Bowl. You dream about it as a kid, growing up rooting for your favorite team. You look up to the players as if they’re our own version of super heroes. Having pick up games with friends in the neighborhood, imitating your favorite players’ celebrations and touchdown dances. Every kid that has grown up around football has dreamt of one day going to the big game and how magical of an experience it would be. But as the game grows bigger and bigger, it’s becoming increasingly difficult to live in a reality where a dream such as this could ever be realized.
Just twelve years ago, the average ticket price of the Super Bowl was in the range of $600 to $1200. More expensive than a normal, regular season ticket, sure, but compare that to the price of tickets for this upcoming Super Bowl and it seems alot more reasonable. The cheapest ticket to get into this year’s big game in New Orleans, LA is $5,580 just to get in. Add on the average concession prices of around $86 which does of course vary from person to person as well as the price for travel and hotel stays, which average close to $1000 a night for the weekend of the Super Bowl, and it becomes increasingly difficult for the average fan to be able to see their favorite team compete for the ultimate prize.
Now, the reality is not lost on me. The NFL generates billions in revenue per year and is constantly growing. Just last season, the NFL hauled in a revenue of $20.24 billion, which was the highest figure they have achieved to this point. With all of that revenue comes higher prices, I understand all of that. But if you watch the Super Bowl and all of the things that surround it, it’s become a haven for the rich, mostly celebrities. One could argue that most of those celebrities that go to the game are just there because it’s one of the biggest events of the year, and not because they love the game. This is not to say celebrities shouldn’t be allowed to go to the game, that would be ridiculous and would never work anyway. The point of this article is that it seems like the Super Bowl has become more of an event and less of a football game. The average NFL fan that is a die-hard fan of one of the 32 teams, will probably never be able to go to the Super Bowl because the prices are just insane at this point. There was even some backlash recently when the Super Bowl ticket prices were revealed. Many people online voiced their displeasure with the prices, with many saying that nobody can afford something as expensive as that and that the NFL should make the Super Bowl for the fans and not celebrities. It’s understandable why people would be upset. Though the tickets are cheaper this year than last year’s Super Bowl in Las Vegas, alot could probably point to the fact that just everything is more expensive in Las Vegas in general. All of this is basically a moot point unfortunately. The NFL is a multi-billion dollar corporation and unless they start losing money, which is unlikely, the prices will most likely continue to increase as the game becomes bigger and bigger. The Super Bowl is still a must watch event, even if the teams playing in it are not exactly well liked amongst the NFL fanbase. Millions will continue to watch and thousands will continue to pay for the Super Bowl experience, no matter the cost.