The commonly held belief among sports fans is that only four types of people actually attend the Super Bowl: a) the media b) corporate suits c) corporate suits’ trophy wives and girlfriends and d) celebrities.
If you don’t fall into one of those four groups, then you’re S-B-O-L — “Super Bowl, Out of Luck”.
In truth, that’s a pretty accurate assessment.
But a handful of Average Joes actually do attend the game each year.
Per the NFL’s Super Bowl ticketing policy, the league reserves 1/6th of the game’s seats to a random sampling of each of the participating teams’ season ticket holders. The two Super Bowl squads have lotteries in which a handful of their season ticket holders earn the “right” to purchase Super Bowl tickets.
Alas, that “right” requires you to buy the Super Bowl tickets at face value (in most cases, $700-$1,000), arrange your own travel and lodging and hope and pray that you’re seated next to one of the less annoying corporate tools compulsively checking his Blackberry, taking cell phone photos of himself and mispronouncing Pierre Garcon’s name the entire game.
If you are one of the select few that’s randomly selected out of the season ticket holder lottery allotment, you (or someone close to you) must purchase and pick up those tickets in person at the team’s box office window within an exceptionally brief time window.
So, on top of the already built-in expenses of tickets, transportation and lodging, you should add in a potential missed day of work and possible pneumonia from waiting in the cold for an entire day to pick up the tickets.
No, they don’t make it easy. When it comes down to it, very few Average Joes actually go through with it all.
It’s a gauntlet, and a pricey one at that. From the purchasing of the tickets themselves, to the buying the flights just one week in advance, to finding hotel rooms in a destination city where lodging options have been booked for years — the thought of a 52-inch TV, a couch and a few tasty brews oftentimes ends up being the more attractive (and cost efficient) choice.
Peter Schrager is a frequent contributor to NFL and college football coverage on FOXSports.com.
If you're looking for another writer who's going to rave about that game and tell you that Eli Manning is the new Joe Namath, you may come away disappointed. That's not Fekete's angle. He's not the hardcore fan who's been to every single game ....Rather, he's a casual fan who brings an unusual insight to the table...
I really enjoyed the book. I very much liked the insights into sports marketing ,and business and financial events taking place around that time. Your book was not just about the Super Bowl. Congratulations on a job well done.
Michael Hochman New York Giants Season Ticket Holder and Super Bowl XLII spectator
I am only through the introduction but I already know it will be a great read. Kay Eggleston, Fayetteville NY
I would just like to let you know that your book looks like quite a good one. I think it would be interesting to examine a spectator's point of view instead of those from usual authors of books like these (coaches, players, celebritites).
Justin Hulsey Die Hard St. Louis Fan www . thejaystick.blogspot .com
What you will learn as a Giants fan is that this fan base is EXTREMELY loyal and knowledgable. My father became a season ticket holder in 1956 and I've been sitting in his seat since 1986. Our season ticket holder waiting list is some 20+ years long, I've been told it is the third longest in the league behind only Washington and Green Bay. Welcome to the family. I'm glad you survived a Philadelphia childhood...
Brendan Giants Fan from Hoboken, NJ responding via FanNation . com
I'm not that much of a football fan but I really am enjoying this book.
