Super Bowl XLVIII: Ticket Prices Continue To Drop

Everyone knew weather was going to be an issue when the decision was made to move the Super Bowl out of the rotation of domes and pleasant weather venues for one year and into Met Life Stadium in the Meadowlands. After all, Northern New Jersey is pretty chilly in early February.

Although early concern about the Farmers’ Almanac predicting a big fat messy snowstorm the weekend of the Super Bowl turned out to be much ado about nothing, it turns out that even moderately cold weather—even mildly cold weather by many standards—is a major issue for ticket buyers.

For the last week ticket prices for Super Bowl XLVIII have been in a free fall, despite a very reasonable game day high of 39 degrees. The wind is expected to under 10 mph and there’s not even a hint of snowflake on the forecast—all in all not too bad considering the polar vortex hell that has gripped much of the country this winter.

It’s not going to be THAT cold.

According to SeatGeek.com’s Connor Gregoire, “The average ticket price has now fallen 40 percent in the past week, and it looks like this title game will be the cheapest since Super Bowl XXXVI in 2002.” Which, for the record, was the New England Patriots and St. Louis Rams playing in New Orleans—a few months removed from 9/11.

Over the weekend tickets to see the Denver Broncos square off against the Seattle Seahawks were selling for $2,056 on average. Just days later the average price has dipped dramatically to $1,150. Gregoire speculates they could drop as low as $800 by the end of the week, which is the lowest face value ticket available.

For awhile it was uncertainty over the weather driving prices down, but now it seems to be more a matter of people being babies about the cold. There’s also the simple matter of geography. Well, simple for people that aren’t allergic to maps.

This map won’t help at all.

Seattle and Denver are really far away from where the game is being played and planning a cross country jaunt this time of year is a risky proposition. Forget game day conditions—the real concerns are about weather in connecting cities, lost luggage and ground transportation in New York City.

That being said, it’s still the Super Bowl! And a good one at that.

The only thing these guys have in common is that they’re playing in the Super Bowl.

Peyton Manning repping the old guard, trying to secure his legacy with the second championship that has eluded him. Russell Wilson repping the new guard, a young and versatile athlete who may not look like the prototype, but can win like one.

Then you’ve got the No. 1 ranked offense in the Broncos taking on the No. 1 ranked defense in the Seahawks. A chance to answer the age old question: Does defense really win championships or has the NFL evolved that much into an offensive game.

Not that the debate will be settled, but one side will come away with a very good talking point.

And this guy! Richard Sherman alone is worth the price of admission.

That’s some riveting sh*t! Anyone with the means an opportunity to be there to witness it live that passes because of the weather doesn’t deserve to be called a football fan.