When Super Bowl LVI kicks off Sunday, over 100 million viewers are expected to tune in to watch the game on NBC featuring the Los Angeles Rams and Cincinnati Bengals.
One data analytics firm, PredictHQ, has projected that viewership will reach an all-time record 117 million viewers, which would break the previous record of 114 million in 2015 when Tom Brady and the New England Patriots faced the Seattle Seahawks.
Some will even come to watch the actual football game, as opposed to zoning out until the now-traditional ad blitz. A 30-second advertisement costs $6.5 million in the 2022 game, up from 2021’s $5.6 million for slots. In the first Super Bowl played on Jan. 15, 1967, companies could run an ad spot for $37,500, roughly $320,457 in 2022 dollars.
And for your halftime entertainment, an all-star hip-hop lineup featuring Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, Eminem, Mary J. Blige and Kendrick Lamar will hit the stage for an 11- to 12-minute performance.
In the first Super Bowl though, the University of Arizona Symphonic Marching Band took the field as headliners for the halftime show. Twenty years later, in 1987, the University of Southern California joined forces with Grambling State University for the halftime of Super Bowl XXI. Things went downhill two years later when Super Bowl XXIII brought on Elvis Presto, an Elvis Presley impersonator, as the halftime entertainment.
It wasn’t until the mid-1990s that the Super Bowl started to become the enterprise that we know today, with halftime shows and advertising that frequently overshadows the game itself. And nowhere can we see that more clearly than in the history of Super Bowl ticket prices.
When tickets first went on sale for Super Bowl LVI , the National Football League offered 14 prices for tickets ranging from $950 for the upper level to $6,200 for the best seats, according to Spectrum News 1. At last check, the NFL’s official verified ticket site Ticketmaster was asking $3,100 for its cheapest ticket in the upper level in Section 532 of SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, Calif.
The average ticket price for Sunday’s game, according to StubHub, is $8,869, which would be the highest average for secondary market tickets in the Super Bowl’s 56-year history, The Spun reported.
As you’ll read below, while a ticket today costs more than a new computer or kitchen appliance, it wasn’t that long ago that you could see the Super Bowl for less than the price of dinner and a movie. (The prices are based on data from the Star Tribune, Bleacher Report, NBC and The Spun.)
A Historical Look at Super Bowl Ticket Prices
1967
Average Ticket Price – $12
Inflation Adjusted – $106
1968
Average Ticket Price – $12
Inflation Adjusted – $99
1969
Average Ticket Price – $12
Inflation Adjusted – $95
1970
Average Ticket Price – $15
Inflation Adjusted – $112
1971
Average Ticket Price – $15
Inflation Adjusted – $106
1972
Average Ticket Price – $15
Inflation Adjusted – $103
1973
Average Ticket Price – $15
Inflation Adjusted – $99
1974
Average Ticket Price – $15
Inflation Adjusted – $91
1975
Average Ticket Price – $20
Inflation Adjusted – $108
1976
Average Ticket Price – $20
Inflation Adjusted – $101
1977
Average Ticket Price – $20
Inflation Adjusted – $96
1978
Average Ticket Price – $30
Inflation Adjusted – $135
1979
Average Ticket Price – $30
Inflation Adjusted – $123
1980
Average Ticket Price – $30
Inflation Adjusted – $108
1981
Average Ticket Price – $40
Inflation Adjusted – $129
1982
Average Ticket Price – $40
Inflation Adjusted – $119
1983
Average Ticket Price – $40
Inflation Adjusted – $115
1984
Average Ticket Price – $60
Inflation Adjusted – $166
This year began the Super Bowl’s modern ticket price practices. While tickets remained relatively inexpensive to what fans expect to pay in 2020, up until 1984, prices had remained largely stable with only occasional, modest jumps. From this point on that practice ended.
1985
Average Ticket Price – $60
Inflation Adjusted – $160
1986
Average Ticket Price – $75
Inflation Adjusted – $192
1987
Average Ticket Price – $75
Inflation Adjusted – $190
1988
Average Ticket Price – $100
Inflation Adjusted – $243
1989
Average Ticket Price – $100
Inflation Adjusted – $232
1990
Average Ticket Price – $125
Inflation Adjusted – $276
1991
Average Ticket Price – $150
Inflation Adjusted – $313
1992
Average Ticket Price – $150
Inflation Adjusted – $305
1993
Average Ticket Price – $175
Inflation Adjusted – $345
1994
Average Ticket Price – $175
Inflation Adjusted – $337
1995
Average Ticket Price – $200
Inflation Adjusted – $374
1996
Average Ticket Price – $275 to $350
Inflation Adjusted – $501 to $637
Ticket prices in 1996 are noteworthy because this is arguably when the Super Bowl begins to take on modern pricing practices. This year represents a big jump in prices, and from 1996 onward, prices not only continued to increase; they did so dramatically. This year is also an outlier because it will appear that ticket prices decrease afterward.
1997
Average Ticket Price – $275
Inflation Adjusted – $486
1998
Average Ticket Price – $275
Inflation Adjusted – $478
1999
Average Ticket Price – $325
Inflation Adjusted – $556
2000
Average Ticket Price – $325
Inflation Adjusted – $541
2001
Average Ticket Price – $325
Inflation Adjusted – $522
2002
Average Ticket Price – $400
Inflation Adjusted – $635
2003
Average Ticket Price – $500
Inflation Adjusted – $774
2004
Average Ticket Price – $600
Inflation Adjusted – $911
2005
Average Ticket Price – $600
Inflation Adjusted – $885
2006
Average Ticket Price – $700
Inflation Adjusted – $992
2007
Average Ticket Price – $700
Inflation Adjusted – $972
2008
Average Ticket Price – $900
Inflation Adjusted – $1,199
It is within the past decade or so that Super Bowl tickets have become truly a luxury for the rich, or those willing to save hard. From this point on, prices begin to leap by hundreds of dollars between most years.
2009
Average Ticket Price – $1,000
Inflation Adjusted – $1,332
2010
Average Ticket Price – $1,000
Inflation Adjusted – $1,297
2011
Average Ticket Price – $1,200
Inflation Adjusted – $1,532
2012
Average Ticket Price – $1,200
Inflation Adjusted – $1,488
2013
Average Ticket Price – $1,250
Inflation Adjusted – $1,526
2014
Average Ticket Price – $1,500
Inflation Adjusted – $1,803
2015
Average Ticket Price – $2,000
Inflation Adjusted – $2,406
2016
Average Ticket Price – $2,500
Inflation Adjusted – $2,967
2017
Average Ticket Price – $2,500
Inflation Adjusted – $2,894
2018
Average Ticket Price – $2,500
Inflation Adjusted – $2,836
2019
Average Ticket Price – $2,900 – $4,300
Inflation Adjusted – $3,239 – $4,803
2020
Average Ticket Price – $7,172
Inflation Adjusted – $7,816
2021
Average Ticket Price – $8,609
Inflation Adjusted – $9,253
2022
At time of writing, the average ticket to Super Bowl LVI is $8,869, a far cry from when you could see the game for the equivalent of about $91.
