For the first time in league history, premium tickets to the Super Bowl will carry a face value of $1,000 each, according to National Football League (NFL) officials.
Some tickets will carry a face value of $800, and the league is reportedly considering also discounting some tickets below $800. Face value for tickets for last season’s championship game between the New York Giants and New England Patriots were $900 and $700.
The game, scheduled for February 1, 2009 at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa Bay, FL, is traditionally one of the most popular events in professional sports, but presents a dilemma to ticket brokers this year because with the higher face value price, margins will be further squeezed on the secondary market. One East Coast broker who spoke to TicketNews on a condition of anonymity, called last year’s game “a stiff” from a business standpoint, partly because the game required cross-country travel to Arizona, and also because after a run up on ticket prices the market tumbled late.
Tickets to last year’s Super Bowl were selling on average for $2,000 to more than $3,000 on the secondary market a couple of weeks before the game.
“The primary ticket sellers: venues, promoters, sports teams, etc. have spent the last few years analyzing the secondary market trying to figure out how to squeeze out the middlemen, the brokers, in order to get a bigger slice of the pie for themselves,” the broker said. “Now, a tragic brew is being created as the economy is heading to a severe recession: higher box office prices – plus lower demand created by less purchasing power by the consumer who would rather pay the bills than go to an event – adds up to one thing, and it isn’t good.”
