Who Gets Those Coveted Super Bowl Tickets?
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- Jay from Bloomington and Mark from Afton asked: How are Super Bowl tickets allocated? Good Question.
U.S. Bank Stadium generally holds 66,000 football fans. During the Super Bowl, not all of those seats will be available due to increased security, more cameras and more media during the Big Game. The NFL is still working on finalizing seat numbers, but it's safe to assume, it'll be a few thousand fewer than normal capacity.
The NFL controls the tickets to the Super Bowl. It keeps 25-percent of the tickets. It sells or gives them to members of the media, corporate sponsors and NFL players. It also gives out a small number to lucky NFL fans.
During last weekend's Vikings-Saints game, NFL Commissioner Roger Goddell gave 99-year-old Vikings fan Millie Wall two free tickets to the Big Game.
The NFL also partners with On Location Experiences to offer 9,500 tickets as part of hospitality packages. The $13,500 Platinum package includes one Field-Level Club Seat, access to the exclusive pregame party at the Armory, in-game Delta Sky360° Club access, team tunnel access, on field postgame access, premium cuisine by celebrity chef Andrew Zimmern, appearances by NFL Legends, and musical entertainment from Kelly Clarkson and Sheila E. The $6,500 Bronze package includes an upper level seat and some of those extras.
The other 75-percent of tickets are given to the rest of the teams in the NFL. The NFC Champ is allocated 17.5-percent and the AFC Champ is allocated 17.5-percent. The game's host team get five-percent and the other 29 teams split the rest. That calculates to 1.2-percent of tickets to each of the other teams. According to the NFL, most of those teams give their tickets to sponsors or hold lotteries for season ticket holders.
According to the Vikings, this formula changes if Minnesota is in the Super Bowl. To encourage equity, the NFL will split the host team's allotment of five-percent. That means the Vikings would get 20-percent of the tickets and the AFC Champ would get 20-percent of the tickets.
The Vikings say some of their tickets will go to players, coaches, staff – either as complimentary tickets or as options to buy. According to a spokesman for the team, the Vikings haven't figured out the specifics of that piece of their allotment yet.
But, the Vikings say there will be "several thousand" tickets let for fans available through a lottery. The team will hold a random computerized drawing for season ticket holders later this week. The chances of winning are based on how long a season ticket holder has had their tickets and how many they have. For example, someone who's had four tickets for 10 years will be entered into the drawing 40 times.
Winners will be announced Monday morning, if the Vikings beat the Eagles Sunday. Winners will be able to buy two upper level seat. Most of them will be priced at $950.
As with all sporting events, a number of tickets have made it to the secondary market. Right now, Ticket King is selling Super Bowl tickets for $4,200 to $14,000.
