San Francisco 49ers' running back Christian McCaffrey reacts after scoring a touchdown against the Detroit Lions in the second quarter of the NFC Championship NFL football game in Santa Clara, Calif., on Jan. 28.Carlos Avila Gonzalez/The Associated Press
Tickets on at least one secondary-market site were the most expensive in Super Bowl history on Monday, underscoring the anticipation of the game’s Las Vegas debut between the defending champion and what likely is the most popular team in the West.
Oh, and the great possibility Taylor Swift will be on hand when Kansas City plays the San Francisco 49ers on Feb. 11.
The average purchase price on TickPick was US$9,815 on Monday morning. That’s nearly double the final average price of US$5,795 for last year’s game between Kansas City and Philadelphia Eagles in Glendale, Ariz., although current prices could decline.
It’s also more than the previous high of US$7,046 for the 2021 game in Tampa between the Buccaneers and Kansas City. The stadium was at 33-per-cent capacity because of COVID-19 restrictions, increasing the demand for each ticket.
TickPick’s highest non-COVID Super Bowl was in 2020 at Miami Gardens, Fla., when Kansas City and the Niners met for the first time in the championship game. That average price was US$6,370.
The cheapest ticket on TickPick for this year’s game was US$8,188 on Monday, more than the US$5,997 low price at this point last year.
“Location has always impacted demand for a Super Bowl, but Vegas takes things to a whole other level,” TickPick co-CEO Brett Goldberg said in a statement to the Associated Press. “It’s already the entertainment capital of the world, and could very well become the sports capital of the world after the Super Bowl.
“With both teams having made at least one Super Bowl appearance in the past five years, we would typically expect there to be slight fatigue from fans, in turn causing prices to dip. Instead, we’re seeing demand hit record highs and a big driver being that fans want to experience their team winning a Super Bowl in Vegas.”
StubHub was experiencing similar demand with an average price of tickets sold at US$9,300 on Monday, though that trails the Super Bowl two years ago. The average at the same time was US$9,797 for the game in Inglewood, Calif., when the hometown Los Angeles Rams were preparing to play the Cincinnati Bengals.
The lowest-priced ticket on StubHub for this year’s game was US$6,500.
Sales on that website are 90 per cent greater than last year at this time and 147 per cent greater than the 2020 meeting between Kansas City and San Francisco.
The convenient location for 49ers fans is helping drive demand, with California residents accounting for 26 per cent of tickets sold on StubHub. That’s more than the combined tickets sold to those who live in Nevada (8 per cent) and Kansas or Missouri (7 per cent).
“As predicted, the first Super Bowl in Vegas is seeing strong numbers – sales are nearly double this time last year and early demand has far surpassed the last time Kansas City and San Francisco met in Miami,” StubHub spokesman Adam Budelli said in a statement.