Super Bowl 50 kicks off Sunday, February 7 in a new-guard-versus-old bout between the Carolina Panthers and Denver Broncos. The setting? Levi's Stadium in Santa Clara, Calif. The cost to attend the game? Hold onto your rally towel.
Ticket prices on the secondary market start at $3,759 (about £2,636, AU$5,386) on Ticketmaster and $3,799 (about £2,664, AU$5,444) on StubHub. That's per ticket for nosebleed seats. It only gets worse as you get closer to the action until you ultimately end up in seats that cost as much as some people's yearly salaries at $26,000 - $30,385 (about £18,237 - £21,313, AU$37,259 - AU$43,544) per seat.
On the official NFL Ticket Exchange, tickets are on sale from $4,095 to $12,978 (about £2,872 - £9,103, AU$5,868 - AU$18,598). And for premium 50-yard line seats, you'll need to well over $20,000 (£14,027, AU$28,677) to secure a seat.
These are prices before service charges, which can range from $563 to over $2,000 (about £394 - £1,402, AU$807 - AU$2,866) per ticket. If I were to take my lonesome self to the game and sit in a seat where I may need an oxygen mask, it would cost me $4,322.85 (about £3,032, AU$6,196), fees included.
Many of the highest priced seats include food and drink, which translates to stuff yourself with as much burgers and booze while you can.
- The countdown to Super Bowl 52 has begun. See how you can stream Super Bowl 2018 online for free.
A stay for the Super Bowl
With hordes of people from all over the world descending on the Bay Area during Super Bowl week, many locals are taking the opportunity to make a quick buck through services like Airbnb.
One local in Santa Clara will let you stay in their entire house, a mere 1.7 miles from the stadium, for $6,000 (about £4,208, AU$8,599) per night. A three-night stay with tax and cleaning fee is a cool $20,790 (about £14,579, AU$29,7960).
Another Santa Clara resident is offering a shard bedroom for $1,300 (about £911, AU$1,862) a night. The same stay in a shared bedroom in San Jose, a neighboring city to the stadium, runs $1,500 (about £1,051, AU$2,149).
Many listers are throwing in services like driving you to and from the big game, which will save a little on Uber fare.
The lesson in all this? It will cost you a stupid amount to go to Super Bowl 50. Is it worth it? That's up for debate.
Top Image Credit: Matthew Roth/Flickr (this image has been cropped)
