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 Lows of 22 Fahrenheit (minus 5 Celsius) forecast for Sunday's
game, the first Super Bowl played outdoors in a cold-weather city,
drove ticket prices as low as $1,309, said Meredith Owen,
TicketCity.com Communication Director, but they have risen since
then to an average of $1,609.
Those who did buy tickets, preferred the partially covered premium
seats at the lower levels of the stadium.
"Fans are going to be paying a premium for the promise of a buffer
from the wind," said Owen.
The rise in sales of premium tickets made them 54 percent more
expensive than upper-level seats — compared with last year's 30
percent, he said.
Further hampering sales is the distance that separates the New
Jersey stadium from the hometowns of the Denver Broncos and the
Seattle Seahawks. Those thousands of miles are proving too far to
travel for the championship teams' fans.
Lower ticket prices drew renewed interest from residents of New
York, Connecticut and New Jersey, who led visits to TiqIQ.com, a
site that resells tickets to the public.
"It is a very good deal to check the Super Bowl off the bucket list
and not have to miss a day of work to do it," said Jesse Lawrence,
CEO of TiqIQ.com.
The rise in ticket sales to locals may shrink the $500 million to
$600 million the NFL Host Committee estimates the game will generate
in economic activity for the region, as fans have no need to pay for
hotels or other travel expenses.
Fifty-five percent of hotels within the 3.7 mile-radius of the
stadium, and 70 percent of hotels in Manhattan still have vacancies,
according to data from Orbitz.com. Hotels close to the stadium are
posting an average room rate of $181 on the site, an 8 percent
decrease since Wednesday.
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"If you look at economic impact, the big factor at the end of the
day is dependent on the teams that play, and if they travel," said
Robert Tuchman, President of Goviva, a sports and entertainment
events company. "The teams that are in it are really far away, and
it's a long trip. Without a doubt, you are going to find in this
market there are a lot of locals."
But the New York Hotel Association remained optimistic that the game
will bring a wave of tourists to the region.
"The weather prediction for Sunday is good, and we're optimistic
that people will come to enjoy the game and stay in the city as
well," said Lisa Linden, the association's spokeswoman.
As weather forecasts grow more positive, ticket prices are rising
again from their weekend low.
"We may be seeing the market coming back from here," said Lawrence.
It would not be the first comeback in Super Bowl prices.
In 2011, prices fell 19 percent in the first week after the
conference championship on fears of bad weather in Dallas before it
became the most expensive Super Bowl in history, with prices
climbing to an average of $3,649 per ticket, Lawrence said.
"I think it was a similar scenario," he said.
For those looking for a true respite from the cold, $25,700, the
most expensive ticket on the site, buys fans access to a 20,000
square foot indoor facility, an open bar, food and multiple
televisions, he said.
(Reporting by Marina Lopes; editing by Barbara Goldberg and Gunna
Dickson)
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