The Dallas Cowboys season ended with a loss at home to the Green Bay Packers, 34–31.
The game came down to a heroic field goal after a last second drive put the Packers in field goal range. The Cowboys weren’t the only ones that lost when Packers kicker Mason Crosby sealed the Packers victory.
The ticket prices for Super Bowl 51 fell at an average of $800 per ticket as soon as the Cowboys fell.
The first Super Bowl was played in 1967 between the Packers and the Kansas City Chiefs. The average ticket price was $12 per person according to Bleacher Report, which would make the tickets $86 today adjusting for inflation.
The 1967 Super Bowl is also the only one thus far not to sell out.
The 2016 Super Bowl between the Carolina Panthers and the eventual champion Denver Broncos cost far more per ticket than the inflated ticket price from 50 years prior.
The average seat was $4,850, with the cheapest seat sold at $2,550 and the most expensive ticket was sold at $20,500. The prices for tickets to the Super Bowl have been increasing over the past ten years, according to Bleacher Report, a sports reporting website owned by Turner Sports.
Bleacher Report also reported that the average ticket to the 2006 Super Bowl cost $650. Now the ticket prices are roughly seven and a half time higher than that.
While the Cowboys’ loss certainly hurt the resale value of the tickets temporarily, the price drop was not permanent.
Both of the Conference Championship games saw higher ticket sales than in past years and also in comparison to the previous week’s games.
The NFC Championship game was between the Packers and the Atlanta Falcons on Jan. 22, with the Falcons winning 44-21. The Falcons will be moving into a new stadium next year, and this was the final game played in the Georgia Dome.
The average price of a ticket to the NFC Championship game was around $500, which made this the most expensive game in the history of the Georgia Dome.
The AFC championship game did even better on secondary ticket markets. The average ticket price for this game was at $636.
The New England Patriots and the Pittsburgh Steelers faced off in a game between two of the league’s marquee teams.
After the dust settled and the Patriots won 36-17, the game was the most expensive AFC Championship game in history.
According to USA Today, the Super Bowl between the Falcons and Patriots will be one of the most expensive football games ever.
A majority of the remaining market on Super Bowl tickets is in bundles that give the fans more amenities in addition to seats at the game.
As of Jan. 23, tickets were being sold on the resale market at an average of $6,400 per ticket, and this is without the bundles. The most expensive seat available costs $434,000 and is for a spot in a luxury suite.
Professional football is the most watched sport in America. As long as that’s true, Super Bowl tickets will not be going back down to $12 anytime soon.
