Everyone knows the Super Bowl is an expensive ticket. But as Calvin Watkins of ESPN writes, this year’s Super Bowl matchup as well as the location (oil-rich Texas) has pushed prices even higher.
Locally, tickets for the Feb. 6 game between the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Green Bay Packers have an average price range between $2,100 and $8,000, according to Ram Silverman of Golden Tickets.
“They are readily available,” Silverman said. “Things started off pretty high, then it’s gotten steady.”
Silverman said the $200 Party Plaza tickets the NFL put on sale last week are going for about $375, and that price could keep rising as fans without tickets become desperate to be there for the game.
StubHub reports that the average asking price is $3,676. I generally use TicketLuck, which seems to have tickets for a more reasonable price for most events. Their cheapest ticket is around $1,600. An upper level seat at the 30-yard line is going for anywhere between $2,400-$2,600.
It will be interesting to see just how many Packer and Steeler fans actually make it to the game with prices this high.
This contest is sponsored by FRS Healthy Energy, who recently announced that Tim Tebow would be joining the FRS team that already includes Lance Armstrong and Derek Fisher. From the company’s press release:
The FRS Company produces and distributes its FRS® Healthy Energy® products in a variety of formulations – ready-to-drink cans, liquid concentrates, soft chews and powdered drink mixes — to meet consumers’ needs. The key ingredient in FRS is quercetin, a powerful antioxidant found naturally in fruits and vegetables. A large body of existing scientific research demonstrates the positive fitness and performance effects of quercetin.
To enter, simply answer the five questions and two tiebrakers, and follow the instructions below. Thanks to FRS for providing the grand prize, an autographed Tim Tebow Denver Broncos jersey.
1. Which team will score first and what type of score it will it be?
A) Packers – touchdown B) Packers – field goal/safety C) Steelers – touchdown D) Steelers – field goal/safety
2. Which player will account for more TDs (both passing and rushing)?
A) Aaron Rodgers B) Ben Roethlisberger
3. Which player will have more receiving yardage?
A) Greg Jennings B) Mike Wallace
4. Which team will commit more turnovers?
A) Packers B) Steelers C) Tie
5. Who will win the Super Bowl MVP award?
A) Aaron Rodgers B) Ben Roethlisberger C) Rashard Mendenhall or Greg Jennings D) Troy Polamalu, Charles Woodson or Clay Matthews E) Field (any player not listed above)
In question #5, if there are multiple players listed, the answer will be correct if any of them win the MVP award. So if Greg Jennings wins the game’s MVP, answer C) will be correct.
The contestant with the most correct answers will win the autographed jersey. In the event of a tie, Tiebraker #1 will be used to break the tie. If two or more contestants are still tied, then Tiebraker #2 will be used to break the tie between the remaining contestants.
Tiebraker #1
What will be the total number of points scored by both teams? (The answer closest to actual total wins.)
Tiebraker #2
What will be the total number of penalties committed by both teams? (The answer closest to actual total wins.)
In the event that two or more contestants are still tied, winner will be determined randomly.
To enter, simply copy the text below into an email and fill in your answers, using the letter in front of the answer (A, B, C, etc.). Send your entry to scoresreport@gmail.com by 5:00 PM ET on Sunday, February 6th, 2011. The winner will be asked to provide a shipping address for his/her prize, which is in hand and will be shipped out within two weeks after the Super Bowl. Only one entry per person, please. Employees of Bullz-Eye, LLC or The Scores Report are not eligible to win prizes.
Your Name:
1. Which team will score first and what type of score it will it be?
2. Which player will account for more TDs (both passing and rushing)?
3. Which player will have more receiving yardage?
4. Which team will commit more turnovers?
5. Who will win the Super Bowl MVP award?
What will be the total number of points scored by both teams?
What will be the total number of penalties committed by both teams?
Want to see the Tebow FRS ad? Check out the video below:
Green Bay Packers cornerback Charles Woodson (L) and quarterback Aaron Rodgers celebrate after the NFC Championship game against the Chicago Bears at Soldier Field in Chicago on January 23, 2011. The Packers won 21-14. UPI/Brian Kersey
Kurt Warner completed 72 percent of his passes for 377 yards and three touchdowns against Pittsburgh in Super Bowl XLIII two years ago. So if there were anyone that could help Aaron Rodgers try and master the Steelers’ defense, it would be him.
According to Rodgers, he’s already had at least one conversation with Warner and he hopes there are many more in the following week.
From Packers.com:
“I reached out to a couple of them. Kurt Warner’s been a great friend, really since I was drafted. And so I reached out to him about any advice he can give me this week, and the next week, it’s readily appreciated. I’m sure there will be more conversations with him. I talked to a number of buddies who played in the Super Bowl before, and I think it’s important to learn from their experiences and try and find ways to stay focused in the midst, I’m sure it’s going to be controlled chaos down there.”
If you’re a Packers fan, this is what you want to see out of your starting quarterback. He wants to win and in preparing for the game, he’s going to reach out to players who have been there before. Rodgers doesn’t have any Super Bowl experience and instead of winging it, he appears humble enough to ask for advice on how to handle the situation. Of the many attributes that he possesses, his willingness to learn will make him great for a long time.
On a related note, I’m highly intrigued to see what defensive coordinator Dick LeBeau has in store for Rodgers next week. The Steelers’ secondary can be had, but they’re not going to allow the Packers’ receivers to have a free release off the ball like Atlanta and Chicago (at least in the first quarter) did. I expect Pittsburgh’s corners to try and jam Greg Jennings and Donald Driver at the line in effort to disrupt Rodgers’ rhythm. The Falcons’ defensive game plan was an absolute monstrosity and while the Bears learned from their early mistakes and corrected them, it’ll be interesting to see what LeBeau does from the start.
Speaking of LeBeau, he announced on Wednesday night that he only wants to coach the Steelers. His contract is set to expire and there’s speculation about his retirement but if he does come back, he promised that if he’s coaching, “it will be the Pittsburgh Steelers.”
The injury news on Steelers’ Maurkice Pouncey has gone from bad to worse.
Three days after suffering a high ankle sprain in a win over the Jets, Steelers’ insider Jim Wexell tweeted that Pouncey was on crutches and sporting a hard cast on Wednesday morning. Following Sunday night’s AFC title game, the rookie was optimistic that he would play in the Super Bowl, but his hopes just got bleaker.
If Pouncey can’t go, Doug Legursky will once again take his place. The backup played extremely well against the Jets, but he’ll have his hands full against mammoth Green Bay defensive tackle B.J. Raji, who is having an outstanding postseason. The nose tackle has recorded five tackles and one sack, and also returned an interception for a touchdown against the Bears last Sunday.
Pouncey’s injury situation reminds me of Colts defensive end Dwight Freeney’s ankle problem last year. Freeney didn’t practice in the two weeks leading up to Super Bowl XLIV in hopes that he could rest the injury and start against the Saints. And while he played very well in the first half (his second quarter sack of Drew Brees halted one of the Saints’ drives and held them to a field goal), he admitted that the long layoff at halftime hampered his ability to play in the second half. His ankle stiffened up and despite his best efforts to loosen it on the sidelines, he just wasn’t the same player as he was in the first half.
Which brings us back to Pouncey. Even if the rookie center is able to start, how long can he play on a bum wheel? The question is not whether he can play, but whether or not he can be effective. It sounds like this injury is going to cost Pouncey an opportunity to help his teammates in two weeks, which is unfortunate because the former first rounder is having an exceptional rookie campaign.
Pittsburgh Steelers’ quarterback Ben Roethlisberger is all smiles after the Steelers defeated the New York Jets 24-19, winning the AFC Championship, at Heinz Field in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania on January 23, 2011. The Steelers will face the Green Bay Packers in Super Bowl XLV. UPI/Kevin Dietsch
Quick, name the conference that will have the second most representatives at this year’s Super Bowl.
The MAC? Damn. You read the title didn’t you? You little title reader, you…
That’s right, the MAC, with its 15 players, is second only to the SEC (18) in terms of representatives at Super Bowl XLV. According to Mt. Pleasant Morning Sun writer and fellow TSR contributor Drew Ellis, the Packers have nine former MAC players on their roster, including Central Michigan’s Cullen Jenkins, Frank Zombo and Josh Gordy, Western Michigan’s Greg Jennings, Buffalo running back James Starks, Miami of Ohio’s Tom Crabtree, offensive lineman T.J. Lang of Eastern Michigan, safety Atari Bigby of Central Florida and linebacker Diyral Briggs of Bowling Green.
Of course, the most recognizable name to come out of the MAC is Steelers’ quarterback Ben Roethlisberger, who played at Miami. Pittsburgh also rosters former MAC players Antonio Brown (CMU), linebacker James Harrison (Kent State), quarterbacks Charlie Batch (Eastern Michigan) and Byron Leftwich (Marshall), as well kicker Shaun Suisham (BGSU).
According to a former MAC player, it is the constant disrespect the conference gets on a national stage that could lead to the players succeeding in the NFL.
“It really speaks volumes about the conference,” former CMU quarterback and teammate of Zombo, Brown, and Gordy, Brian Brunner, said. “This conference used to be know for being a quarterback-conference, but it has really become much more. National pundits may dog the MAC but when you see numbers like these you realize that a lot of MAC players that get a chance to play in the NFL, they come into the league with a chip on their shoulder and they are going work hard and push themselves and prove they belong.”
Obviously the number of players that represent a conference in the Super Bowl doesn’t reflect its status in college football. I hardly doubt we’ll hear anyone campaign for Northern Illinois to play in next year’s BCS title game if the Huskies go 11-0 and the MAC won’t suddenly be viewed as an elite conference.
But it’s nevertheless interesting to see that the little ol’ MAC – not the Big 12, Big Ten or ACC – has only three fewer players at this year’s title game than the SEC. It just goes to show you that talent is talent.
