Super Bowl tickets hot item for chilly clash
TICKETS to the National Football League’s first cold-weather Super Bowl are a hot item, with some climate-controlled suites in New Jersey’s MetLife Stadium priced at US$1 million (NZ$1.2 million).
Following Monday’s conference championships that set up a Denver-Seattle Super Bowl on February 3, the average resale price of tickets on secondary markets was US$3721 (NZ$4465), the highest figure in five years of tracking.
No single ticket on the secondary market had sold for under $2000 ($2400), a price that was 33 per cent more than what the cheapest ticket sold for on conference championship on Monday during each of the past three NFL playoffs.
Face value of individual Super Bowl tickets ranges from $1000-$2600.
For high-rollers, one suite on the Commissioner’s Level of MetLife Stadium, the shared home of the New York Giants and New York Jets, is listed for $1.019 million. The same luxury suite for an entire Giants or Jets regular season sells for $350,000.
There were more than 12,000 tickets listed on secondary markets as of late Monday, representing roughly 15 per cent of the capacity at MetLife Stadium.
Ticket broker Lance Patania said that he expected a busy market immediately following the conference title games as fans of the winning teams react.
Patania, who buys and sells between 200 and 300 tickets for each Super Bowl, said the game’s location, across the Hudson River from Manhattan, is a key factor in interest for the event despite the likelihood of wintry weather.
‘‘The game is really insignificant,’’ Patania said. ‘‘Everything leading up to the game is what the whole experience is about.
‘‘And New York has shopping, and Broadway. There’s hockey and basketball. There are a million things to do.’’
Meanwhile, wide receiver Percy Harvin, a big-play threat for the Seattle Seahawks, should be able to return for the showdown against the Broncos.
Harvin did not practice last week after being sidelined in Seattle’s divisional round win over the New Orleans Saints with a concussion and the former Pro Bowler has missed all but one game in the regular season after having hip surgery in August.
Asked about the status of Harvin for the Super Bowl, Carroll said that he ‘‘should be fine’’.
Harvin joined the Seahawks this season as a free agent. He played sparingly in a mid-November game against Minnesota before being bothered again by his hip, and returned in Seattle’s playoff win over New Orleans.
Hewas forced out of the playoff game after slamming his head to the turf while taking a hard hit in the end zone.