Seahawks and Patriots fans have already gotten the chance to see their teams play—and win—the Super Bowl. So it's understandable fans are unwilling to pay top dollar for this year's game. But that might not be the only reason prices are low.
And so have fans of every team not named the Browns, Lions, Jaguars, Panthers, Eagles, Texans, Chargers, Bengals, and Vikings. (Off the top of my somewhat tipsy head; I may be missing a loser team or two.)
The only reasons they think ticket prices are dropping are because these two teams have been there before and won, and that most people hate hate hate them for some weird, unknown reason?
This game has the potential to be one for the ages. Seriously, there are quite a few intriguing story lines in this one. Belichick vs. Carroll. The New Guard vs. the Old Guard. A team that demolished the Broncos in last year's Super Bowl vs. a team that smashed General Androus Luck and the Colts in the AFC Championship game last week. Number one vs. number one. The magnificent Tom Brady vs. the legendary Legion of Boom.
Do the writers of this piece seriously think that if the Lions had Miracle Maxed their way to victory over the Cowboys and then the Seahawks and then the Packers, to play the Bengals, who somehow survived the gauntlet of three brutal, brusing AFC playoff games, that people would empty their pockets to watch that spectacle of stank?
No, it's not the teams. The teams are just fine. The teams are the two top teams not only left, but the two top teams in the league. First of all, it's partly the economy. It hasn't recovered nearly as much as Big Brother is proclaiming it has. People just don't have a lot to spend, especially on the ever-bigger-and-better extravaganza of the Super Bowl. And especially on a product of diminishing returns. Every year, the Super Bowl is more and more commercialized, everything more scripted, mashed into an ever-tightening noose of restrictions and liabilities and prohibitions. It's hardly fun anymore from purely a spectator's point of view. Sure, Seahawks fans and Patriots fans will have a blast, but the average, everyday NFL fan won't find it nearly as entertaining as in previous years.
And this is to say nothing of the fact that they're hosting it in the splendor, the magnificence of... Glendale, Arizona. Home of the... er... saguaro cactus maybe? Hell I don't know. Let me check the map again to make sure I know where it is. I know they have Gila monsters and sandstorms and cactus and three hundred degree temperatures in the middle of February. I know they have Arizona State University, a college known for its binge drinking to wash away the sand and grit and boredom that comes with living there. What I don't know is if they have one one-hundredth of the attractions and entertainment they did in the Big Apple last year.
So maybe, just maybe, it isn't about the teams. Maybe it's about the fact they're hosting it in a place where the state pastimes are binge drinking and watching sand blow by, and a place known best for setting the cruise on 85 and passing through with the windows rolled up and the air conditioning on full blast.