Good Question: How Are Super Bowl Tickets Distributed?
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) - The cheapest seats for this Sunday's Super Bowl are going for $1,500 a piece.
That's down from nearly $2,500 last week due to fears of cold and rainy weather at the outdoor MetLife Stadium.
According to Ticket King, the Minnesota-based ticket reseller, there are about 4,000 available tickets left on the secondary market for the 82,000-seat venue.
Andrew Baydala, executive director of business operations for Ticket King, says a 50-yard line club seat ticket is now going for nearly $9,000 on the secondary market.
"You got to be somebody to get a Super Bowl ticket or you need to know somebody or you need to just be lucky and win the lottery, Baydala said. "And the team lotteries are very difficult to win."
According to NFL spokesman Brian McCarthy, the NFL gives 17.5 percent of the tickets to the AFC Championship team and 17.5 percent to the NFC Championship team.
The host team normally receives five percent, but given both the Jets and Giants are hosts this year, both teams will get 3.1 percent each.
The remaining 28 NFL teams receive 1.2 percent each to distribute how they see fit. The NFL keeps the rest - about 25 percent - for media, sponsors, a 1,000-ticket lottery and small number of package deals.
The host teams and player teams offered lotteries for their season-ticket holders last week. Each of those winners were offered tickets at face value, between $800 and $1,500.
Every NFL player has the option to buy two tickets at face value. Players in that year's Super Bowl can buy up to 15 tickets.
According to cbssports.com, Eli Manning is handling all the Super Bowl requests for his brother, Broncos quarterback Peyton Manning.
"He asked me for a number to get and I hit that number," Manning said.