Tonight's Seahawks-Patriots matchup "is on pace to be the most expensive Super Bowl ticket in history." As of midday yesterday, official ticket resale site NFL Ticket Exchange "didn’t have tickets for less than $9,000." StubHub's cheapest ticket "was nearly the same." StubHub Communications Specialist Cameron Papp said that the only other event that "came close" to the level of prices for the Super Bowl was the '13 Alabama-Notre Dame BCS championship game in Miami (AP, 1/31). 

Brokers and resale sites have "reneged on tickets that they already sold" to "hundreds of fans." In most cases, those selling tickets "never had them to begin with." It is "unknown exactly how many were affected" (ESPN.com, 1/30). Brokers are "claiming an unprecedented shortage in the secondary Super Bowl market" (SEATTLE TIMES, 2/1).

Seahawks Owner Paul Allen yesterday addressed a crowd "of about 25,000" fans during a pre-Super Bowl rally at Chase Field. Allen thanked fans for their "amazing, amazing, incredible support" (SEATTLE TIMES, 2/1). The Seahawks will have a "strong home-field advantage" during tonight's game "if the last few days on the streets of downtown Phoenix are any indication." Seahawks fans "are everywhere," and every so often, "a thunderous 'Sea-HAWKS!' chant would be heard out of nowhere" (ESPN.com, 2/1).

NFL licensees and their retailers are pulling hard for the Seahawks in Super Bowl XLIX. The appeal of a back-to-back championship and the Seahawks' superior retail draw after winning last year has "if-win" orders for the team ranging 30-40% more than the Patriots, via licensed sports e-commerce specialist Fanatics GM John Sabo. Many producers of NFL licensed goods said orders for Seahawks championship merchandise are trending 2-1 or better. "New England fans will buy hard if and when they win," said Sol Werdiger, founder and CEO of NFL lead kids apparel licensee Outerstuff. "But the story so far has been pretty much Seattle."

With a heavy dose of snow, sleet and rain forecast for the East beginning tonight, licensees now are worried about delivering championship product to retailers in a timely fashion. "The Seahawks look stronger, be it if they win, but we think the Patriots would have long legs, because it has been ten years since they won," said NFL Senior VP/Consumer Products Leo Kane. "Overall, we were comping New York numbers through Wednesday. Likely we won't do that for the entire week, but we look to be past forecast."

Google-owned video platform YouTube plans to "host and stream its own halftime show as an alternative to the NBC telecast." While the site "doesn't expect to steal the limelight" from the official halftime spectacle, organizers "do think their experiment will grab the attention -- and clicks -- of otherwise bored younger viewers who aren't big sports fans." Head of YouTube Space L.A. Liam Collins said, "We are targeting viewers who enjoy everything around the game, specifically ads, as much as they do the game itself" (L.A. TIMES, 1/31).

Subway will debut a spot near the end of NBC's Super Bowl pregame show in a deal that was concluded just yesterday. The QSR last year bought a last-minute spot in the Super Bowl broadcast. Subway CMO Tony Pace this year was again negotiating almost until the last minute, and came up with a unit that will be in one of the last commercial pods in the final 30 minutes of pregame programming. The ad will be a continuation of the brand campaign launched in the fall by agency MMB, Boston. Subway Global Dir of Sports Marketing & Strategic Partnerships Paul Bamundo said the spot will not include name athletes and is about "working out and being healthy, without going to extremes."

Former NFL GM Bill Polian yesterday "was among eight of 18 finalists elected" to the Pro Football HOF's '15 class. He and former Packers GM Ron Wolf "were the first inductees from the newly created contributors category." The players elected were Junior Seau, Jerome Bettis, Charles Haley, Will Shields, Tim Brown and senior nominee Mick Tingelhoff. The inductees "will be enshrined in Canton on Aug. 8," when former Bills coach and fellow inductee Marv Levy will present Polian (BUFFALO NEWS, 2/1).

On today's edition of NBC's "Meet the Press," host Chuck Todd separately interviewed NFLPA Exec Dir DeMaurice Smith and NFL Exec VP/Labor & Chief Counsel Jeff Pash, touching on topics including the league's new personal conduct policy plus whether the game football is safe. Smith said of player safety, "I don't think that we will ever be content that the game is as safe as it can be." Pash: "The game is safer than it has ever been, and the progress that's being made means it's going to be safer in the future. And I think if you look at what's been done during Commissioner Goodell's tenure, whether it's in the context of preventing concussions by rule changes, better equipment, and teaching safer tackling techniques ... there's a tremendous amount of progress being made."

Smith said of the NFL's conduct policy, "We have issues with a number of the individual issues. But I honestly believe that we should be working together to make an overall policy fair for both players and owners." Pash later pushed back on the notion that the NFLPA was not consulted in the drafting of the new policy: "The NFLPA has been in the room. They've been in the room for the past 15 years when we've talked about this" ("Meet the Press," NBC, 2/1).

Editorial cartoons today in the San Diego Union-Tribune and the Cleveland Plain Dealer parody current issues facing the NFL.

Meanwhile, "SNL" opened last night's episode with a parody of Marshawn Lynch and Richard Sherman. Comedy Central's "Key & Peele" offered their own take on a Sherman and Lynch press conference during the show's hour-long Super Bowl special.

The Royals sold 14,000 tickets in presales for this weekend's annual FanFest, with walk-up totals "still to come." The pre-sale figure alone represents "about 3,000 more than their previous high for an entire weekend." The team "figured that final ticket sales of 18,000 was a realistic expectation, with 20,000 as an outside hope." Last year's event drew "only 11,000 fans." But after a run to the World Series, the line to enter this year's event at Bartle Hall "snaked through the building’s lobby, and outside, stretching well down the sidewalk" (K.C. STAR, 1/31).

Meanwhile, Royals radio play-by-play announcer Denny Matthews, who has served as the team's broadcaster since its establishment in '69, "has agreed to a four-year contract extension." The new deal, which was announced yesterday during the final day of the FanFest, "will keep Matthews with the Royals through their, and Matthews’, 50th season" in '18 (K.C. STAR, 2/1).

Orioles Exec VP/Baseball Operations Dan Duquette yesterday "took the stage to a warm reception and partial standing ovation" for a Q&A with season-ticket holders at the team's annual FanFest. The event "drew more than 16,000 attendees," marking the "second-highest total at FanFest -- trailing only the 2013 event, which had more than 18,000 fans in attendance." Despite still not "addressing his long-term future beyond the upcoming season," Duquette, who was reportedly a candidate to replace Blue Jays CEO Paul Beeston, "was quick in telling fans that he's committed to building a contending club this season" (Baltimore SUN, 2/1).

The PGA Tour this weekend introduced the first of several new 30-second commercials under its “This Guy” campaign during CBS Sports' coverage of the Waste Management Phoenix Open. Entitled “Have It Made” and featuring actor Luke Wilson, the spot focuses on the challenge of succeeding on the Tour, with clips of golfers Justin Rose, Billy Horschel, Bubba Watson and Tiger Woods. The remaining spots will debut in the coming weeks (PGA Tour).

Today "marks a full year in charge" for the "more collaborative-than-combative" NBA Commissioner Adam Silver. Asked to grade the first year of Silver's tenure, Mavericks Owner Mark Cuban said, "A-plus. Love everything he's done. He has handled every obstacle perfectly." Silver has "much to do in Year 2," such as finding "the right formula to phase in the new TV money and keep the salary cap from a wild spike of its own." He also needs to negotiate "a workable truce between the various big- and small-market teams haggling behind the scenes over the future of revenue sharing" and address the "looming prospect of contentious labor negotiations" with new NBPA Exec Dir Michele Roberts (ESPN.com, 1/30).

An ESPN.com roundtable addressed Silver's first year on the job. Kevin Arnovitz: "He's been a thoughtful presence while navigating some thorny issues." Michael Wallace: "Silver has been responsive, accountable and largely accessible on many levels." Brian Windhorst: "He's open to new ideas, which has endeared him to those fatigued by David Stern's frequent unilateral edicts." As for Silver's greatest accomplishment outside of handling the Donald Sterling issue, Larry Coon wrote, "More transparency. The league has never been so open about the way it does things and the way it responds to the public and media." Others pointed to the NBA's recent TV contract (ESPN.com, 1/29).

Ann Mara, "the often-feisty First Lady" of the NFL Giants, died early Sunday morning at the age of 85. Mara, who had served as co-Owner of the team "since her husband, Wellington, passed away more than nine years ago, died of complications from a head injury she suffered on Jan. 18 when she slipped on ice" in front of her Rye, New York, home. NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell in a statement said, "Mrs. Mara was a tower of strength, dignity and inspiration for her family and all of us in the NFL" (NYDAILYNEWS.com, 2/1).

The Packers yesterday announced that former NFLer Brett Favre's induction into the Packers HOF this summer "is sold out due to a high interest from sponsors and supporters" (GREEN BAY PRESS-GAZETTE, 2/1).

The 76ers "will be unveiling a brand new mascot" on Feb. 10 (PHILLY.com, 1/31).

By "all accounts," this weekend's season-opening LPGA Coates Golf Championship presented by R+L Carriers at Golden Ocala Golf & Equestrian Club in Florida "exceeded expectations with the biggest crowd showing up for the final round" (GAINESVILLE SUN, 2/1).

UConn starting this fall "will offer student-athletes enhanced scholarships aimed at covering the full cost of attending college," expected to cost the athletic department an additional $1-1.5M annually (HARTFORD COURANT, 1/31).

Texas Tech on Friday announced that due to the replacement of seating inside Jones AT&T Stadium, the school's annual spring football game has been cancelled (Texas Tech).

Rutgers' athletics department "was subsidized" $36.3M by the university in FY '14 in order to fund a $76.6M budget (Newark STAR-LEDGER, 1/31).

IOC President Thomas Bach will be in attendance for the Super Bowl tonight, marking "his first football game" in person (ARIZONA REPUBLIC, 2/1).

"I’m in no rush to put advertising on our sweaters. I think we’ve got the best jerseys in all of sports. I like the history, the tradition – NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman (CP, 1/30).

"I've been doing TV for 24 years, and I've never had to wear an earpiece in both ears. We couldn't hear anything if we had it in only the regular one ear" – Golf Channel's Steve Sands, on the crowd noise at TPC Scottsdale's 16th hole during the Waste Management Phoenix Open (ARIZONA REPUBLIC, 1/31).

"During the Super Bowl on Sunday, the NFL will show its first anti-domestic violence PSA. Hey, that’s smart. Show it the one time when the NFL players can’t watch it" – "SNL" cast member Colin Jost (“SNL,” NBC, 1/31).

"I think as an organization we should be above that" – T'Wolves coach Flip Saunders, on the team's promotional video belittling Cavaliers F Kevin Love's return to Minnesota by instead featuring G Mike Miller (ESPN.com, 1/31).

The Baltimore SUN's David Zurawik wrote he "won't be watching" tonight's Super Bowl, protesting the game because the NFL "now has near-total control of some networks and cable channels because of the way its telecasts can raise their ratings -- and generate hundreds of millions of dollars in annual profits."

The N.Y. TIMES' Bill Pennington reported former FSU QB Jameis Winston's "checkered past" has presented the Buccaneers, who hold the No. 1 spot in the NFL Draft, and their fans, "with a quandary that has divided and unsettled the Tampa Bay community." Predicting how Winston will behave off the field "has become the consuming focus of as many as 20 NFL teams."

Elsewhere:

• Ahead of the Super Bowl, NBC's Al Michaels sits for the WSJ's Weekend Interview.
• As Chiefs' Clark Hunt nears 50th birthday, "credit him for identifying his shortcomings."
• Last year "was a very good one" for MLS, but its momentum "might soon be lost."
• Kobe Bryant's shoes through the years represent different chapters "of his evolution."
• WaPo's Feinstein: NBA's one-and-done rule "must be done with immediately."
• Reds want the '15 MLB ASG to leave visitors to Cincinnati "with positive impressions."

L.A.-based underwear company MeUndies has come out in support of Seahawks RB Marshawn Lynch’s "crotch-grabbing method of celebrating touchdowns and has agreed to donate $20,000 to Lynch’s Fam 1st Family Foundation charity to help offset his latest fine for the act." MeUndies "also announced for every touchdown Lynch scores in the Super Bowl, it will donate an additional $20,000 (up to $100,000) to the charity" (WASHINGTONPOST.com, 1/31).

How does anyone expect the Celtics to win while wearing those hideous uniforms? Bill Russell would throwing up DURING the game.

— Bob Ryan (@GlobeBobRyan) February 1, 2015

No inbound flights to PHX due to fog. Lot of freaked out football fans at Vegas airport.

— Dan Wetzel (@DanWetzel) February 1, 2015

Titans parted ways with VP of Player Personnel Lake Dawson, a GM finalist in other cities in recent seasons.

— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) January 30, 2015

Phil wanted to return to the Lakers twice in the last five years but they refused to hire him. But now he's saying he divorced them? Ok.

— Frank Isola (@FisolaNYDN) February 1, 2015

You never want to lose anyone, but today we gained an ANGEL. RIP Mrs. Ann Mara. We love you dearly and we will continue to honor you. 🙏🙏

— Antrel Rolle (@antrelrolle26) February 1, 2015