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The Super Bowl is always a hot ticket, but with the Rams playing
in their home stadium, die-hard Bengals fans flying in from
Cincinnati, and no attendance restrictions for the first time in
two years, demand is skyrocketing.
"A lot of factors are making this particular game incredibly
unique," Akshay Khanna, general manager of North America for
ticket retailer StubHub, told Reuters.
"But look, at the end of the day, that is just a reflection of
supply and demand. There are only so many seats that are
available for the Super Bowl. And the demand for a game like
this is so astronomically high," Khanna added.
The "get in" price for a ticket on StubHub dipped just below
$4,000 on Wednesday while the average price of tickets sold on
the site was around $6,500, eye-watering amounts that left some
fans with sticker shock.
"I think that is absurd," said Paula Thomas, a social worker. "I
think that is given the state of our economy, I think that's
absurd for any normal person to be able to pay that."
The average U.S. salary in 2019 was just shy of $52,000,
according to Federal Reserve Economic Data, meaning tickets to
the game, not to mention transportation, parking, food and
beverages, are largely out of reach for the average American
family.
Julio Bermejo, who owns a restaurant in San Francisco, said
$2,500 is as much as he would be willing to shell out. "After
that, I'll find a great bar and watch it if I can't get a
ticket. On Sunday morning, if all hell breaks loose, we can
always find a good bar and start drinking."
California buyers are driving the bulk of the sales, with
residents accounting for over 50% of new ticket sales on
Tuesday.
Although the Rams hope that means they will see plenty of blue
and gold at SoFi Stadium on Sunday, quarterback Matthew Stafford
wasn't so sure.
"I hope our fans are out there going crazy, but the Super Bowl
is its own beast in terms of ticket sales," he said during a
news conference. "I've seen some of those prices online and
they're up there. I understand it is a lot of corporate people
buying those and being able to come to the game, but hopefully
we have a lot of LA Rams fans cheering for us."
(Reporting by Nathan Frandino; Additional reporting and writing
by Rory Carroll. Editing by Gerry Doyle)
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