Biggest Of The Big: Super Bowl XLVIII's Record-High Price Tag Reaches $70M

NFL officials said that Super Bowl XLVIII at MetLife Stadium "will be the most expensive Super Bowl ever played," according to Ted Sherman of the Newark STAR-LEDGER. The "anticipated price tag organizers are now expecting to raise" in support of the event is $70M. The N.Y./N.J. Super Bowl Host Committee's IRS filing shows that the group has "already spent" $11.4M since '10, which "doesn't include what it incurred this year." The filing showed that the committee's "top executives were paid" more than $2.3M last year. It also showed that the committee paid out $525,609 in "consulting fees, another $331,363 in legal expenses and spent $405,795 on advertising and promotion -- all more than a year before the kickoff." The committee is "exempt from taxes, but must publicly disclose a detailed accounting of its revenues and expenses every year." The filing for '12 "does not account for any of the committee's activity this year," but the committee reported sponsorship revenues of $7.2M last year, and recorded more than $52.8M in deferred revenue "yet to be collected." The committee has 29 sponsors and 11 partners "playing a supporting role in the game." The committee "would not disclose what they paid to become part of the event, but said most receive tickets, and in some cases, stadium suites" (Newark STAR-LEDGER, 12/3).

CATCH THE TRAIN: Giants Treasurer and N.Y./N.J. Super Bowl Host Committee co-Chair Jonathan Tisch said that the game will "rank as the first Super Bowl to draw most of its fans to the pregame festivities and the game itself via public transportation." CRAIN'S N.Y. BUSINESS' Lisa Fickenscher notes there are "detailed plans to get 82,000 ticket-holders to MetLife Stadium" via public transportation, as well as proposals to "transport the million football fans who are expected to descend on the Big Apple the week before the big game." Port Authority of New York & New Jersey Exec Dir Patrick Foye said that the agency is "producing around 70,000 commemorative PATH-train smart cards" for the event. He added that more buses and trains will be running "for the duration of the Super Bowl Boulevard events," including PATH trains, which will "run every 10 minutes, late into the night" (CRAIN'S N.Y. BUSINESS, 12/1 issue).