The secondary ticket market for Super Bowl XLVI is showing considerable softness compared to last year, even with a sharply reduced seating inventory at Lucas Oil Stadium and the big-market matchup of Giants-Patriots. StubHub officials Thursday night said the company's average sales price for the game was $2,750, 24% below the $3,596 seen at a similar point before last year's Packers-Steelers game at Cowboys Stadium. Similarly, ticket metasearch engine FanSnap showed an average listing price of $3,666 per ticket, 22% below the $4,683 average listing seen at a comparable point prior to Super Bowl XLV. Demand and ticket pricing remains much stronger than the Saints-Colts matchup two years ago and Steelers-Cardinals three years ago. But some of the decline this year is due to a marked increase in available inventory. FanSnap early Friday showed 8,277 tickets for sale, nearly twice the 4,332 available at comparable point last year. Also an influencing factor is strong consumer interest in low-end, get-in seats. "We are getting many inquiries about the $1,500 price point," said FanSnap GM & VP/Event Ticketing Mike Janes. "For many fans that is apparently their 'bucket list' budget, or the amount they feel will maintain household harmony." After last year's turbulent secondary ticket market for Super Bowl XLV that showed numerous price swings, this year's market has returned to a more conventional pattern with a slow, steady downward slide as the game approaches. Event ticket aggregator TiqIq has showed a 15% drop in the average price of Super Bowl ticket listings from $4,310 on Jan. 27 to $3,664 yesterday (Eric Fisher, SportsBusiness Journal). In Indianapolis, Zak Keefer wrote if recent Super Bowls “are any indication, the average ticket price should drop over the weekend of the big game.” Typically, thousands of tickets “hit the secondary market, collectively dropping the average price down a few hundred dollars” (INDYSTAR.com, 2/2).
EXCEEDING EXPECTATIONS: NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell said that Indianapolis “has exceeded the NFL's high expectations so far as a first-time Super Bowl host.” Though Goodell said that the city is “off to a great start,” he would not talk about “the possibility of hosting another Super Bowl.” He said that “it’s ‘still in the second quarter,’ and that he'd like to see the city finish strong over the weekend” (Cliff Brunt, AP, 2/2). ESPN’s Mike Golic said, “Indianapolis is really doing a fantastic job with the Super Bowl.” ESPN’s Mike Greenberg: “Congratulations to the folks here in Indianapolis, to the people who put this event together and just to the good people of this city. There is nowhere you go that someone isn’t trying to help you figure out where you are going. The better news is that where you are going is always within a five-minute walk” (“Mike & Mike in the Morning,” ESPN Radio, 2/2). NBC’s Cris Collinsworth said, "It’s been one of the most comfortable-feeling Super Bowls for me that there has been. New Orleans has a great ability to have the party in a very small sort of area there on Bourbon Street and everything, but this place is even smaller and they’ve done a great job.” NBC’s Phil Simms said, “They’re always having some type of convention here, they built this city really for that, the downtown is nice, everybody walks around” ("Inside The NFL," Showtime, 2/1).
LOVING THE INDY SPIRIT: In Boston, Akilah Johnson writes under the header, “Hoosier Hospitality Permeates In Host City.” The city is the “patina of Midwestern civility and generosity that Hoosiers are showcasing, starting with the knitters who crafted scarves for 8,000 volunteers fanning across this city of 820,000” (BOSTON GLOBE, 2/3). In K.C., Sam Mellinger writes Indianapolis is “using an international sporting event to show the world it’s more than its sleepy reputation” (K.C. STAR, 2/3). In Jacksonville, Vito Stellino notes he is attending his 40th Super Bowl and he writes New Orleans is the “best Super Bowl city,” and it is “the obvious choice.” Stellino: “It knows how to throw a party and the Super Bowl is like a warm-up for Mardi Gras on Bourbon Street.” Still, he thinks the “best for the writers is Indianapolis.” Stellino: “The media center is in the hotel and the team hotels, stadium and plenty of good restaurants are all within walking distance. It will be interesting to see if the league comes back here even though it’s a cold-weather site” (FLORIDA TIMES-UNION, 2/3). CBS News’ Cynthia Bowers said Indianapolis "has been a party-like party atmosphere largely because the weather has been so spectacular and because Indianapolis is such a small city” (“CBS This Morning,” CBS, 2/3).
