Championship Weekend to Superbowl Sunday

Championship Sunday is upon us and two lucky teams get to head to Tampa for the Superbowl.  The main question should be, what really lucky fans get to come along for the ride.  We are in the day of age were the average fan will never get to see a Superbowl in person and that is down right sad.  Fortuanately, my brother got to see the Steelers win in Superbowl XL, and that was because he has great friends.  But since the whole event has turned into a celebrity/super rich exclusive event, so the average fan gets to observe from their TV.  To combat that mindset, here are a few reasons that keep people away and hopefully things you can do to make it to the game.

1. Ticket Availability - Two teams make it the game so that means two sets of season ticket holders are put in a “lottery” to see who gets tickets.  Most stadiums hold around 70,000 people and if 80-90% are season ticket holders, that means that 60,000 seats are in the lottery.  So for the Superbowl you can hold around 70,000 or more.  After all the corporate sponsors eat up their hand out tickets, there are probably only 40,000 to 50,000 seats left for the two teams.  So divide that by two and that means each team gets to “hand out” 20,000 to 25,000 tickets.  So you have less then a 1 in 4 chance of getting tickets to the game as a season ticket holder.  You really need the Golden Ticket to get tickets as a Season Ticket Holder.
2. Ticket Price - The way the Superbowl ticket prices and playoff prices has risen over the past few years is ridiculous.  I believe face value tickets this year will be between $500 and $750 a piece.  So if you are “fortunate” enough to pay that price then you are getting a deal.  As far as getting tickets in the secondary market, you are looking at paying at least $1,000 per ticket if not a few thousand per.
3. Hotel Availability - So Hotel prices are going to be through the roof and probably booked by now, so what do you do.  Well thankfully Florida has a lot of Hotels, so staying in Ft. Myers or Orlando might be a good idea.
4. Flight Availability - With the amount of people coming in to party.  Just like a Bowl game, sometimes making a vacation out of the trip is a great idea.  Taking a road trip might also be a great idea.
5. Event Availability - So the Superbowl Parties are apparently the best part of the Superbowl, so how as an average fan do you get in to these events?  Well unless you know someone, I really can’t help you.  What you can do is go to some of the “Open” ones and then maybe make some connections.  Also you also might be able to find passes online, but beware of scams.

So Basically, I am trying not to steer you away from attending a great yearly event.  But if you want to do it once in a lifetime, I suggest you save up, plan accordingly, and make sure your favorite team is playing.  Even if your team doesn’t win, I hope you can enjoy the experience.