Attending the Super Bowl is bucket-list item that is unaffordable for most
Think your favorite team improved its Super Bowl chances thanks to free agency? Better start saving.
Many hopeful NFL fans spend the offseason dreaming of their favorite team making the Super Bowl while monitoring offseason deals and preparing for the NFL Draft. But attending the Super Bowl in person is a must-do item that will never be checked off for most American sports fans.
The dream instead becomes a nightmare. Median household income was about $83,730 in 2024, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. With the rising prices of almost everything, the idea of the average American football fan attending the Super Bowl seems more like a fairy tale.
Financial guru Ted Jenkin said the average American simply can’t afford to attend the Super Bowl on a whim if their favorite team makes it.
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Attending the Super Bowl in person is a bucket list item that will never be checked off for most American sports fans. (Ishika Samant/Getty Images)
“The Super Bowl has become the largest corporate hospitality event in America. When you look at resale tickets today, with prices for the Super Bowl between $7,000 and $10,000, that means for the average American to attend, they would be spending four months of mortgage payments. Or if you look at the median income… two Super Bowl tickets are essentially a fifth of your income,” Jenkin told Fox News Digital.
Finder, a company designed to help consumers make informed financial decisions, released shocking data last month revealing that Super Tickets cost “approximately 7.1% of a household’s projected median annual income.”
The average ticket for the 2026 Super Bowl was $5,567 on the secondary market, with the cheapest seats costing almost $4,000 and some premium tickets climbing to more than $30,000, according to TicketiQ.
Jenkin, the founder of Exit Stage Left Advisors, estimates that between corporate sponsors, NFL partners and hospitality, he estimates 75 percent of Superbowl tickets aren’t even resold. In addition to the rising cost of the ticket itself, Jenkin said flights, hotels, food, souvenirs and other entertainment will also add up quickly.
“That’s probably a few thousand dollars extra. So you could easily spend, for a ticket, almost $20,000 in a weekend,” Jenkin said.
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Many hopeful NFL fans spend the offseason dreaming of their favorite team making the Super Bowl. (Jason Redmond/Getty Images)
Jenkin understands that in a perfect world, the NFL would work to make it easier for the average American to attend a Super Bowl. However, he is a capitalist at heart and understands that the NFL is a business.
“It’s not just about the Super Bowl. If you look at the Masters, or Formula One, or the NBA All-Star Game, those events have become luxury corporate events and the average American who wants to attend those events just can’t afford to attend them,” Jenkin said.
Stephen L. Shapiro, a professor at the University of South Carolina and chair of the Tepper Department of Sports and Entertainment Management, believes the Super Bowl is simply an “ultra-premium event” that relegates the average American to the couch.
“The average fan, if their team is in the Super Bowl, it’s going to be a pretty significant investment to be able to attend the game,” Shapiro told Fox News Digital.
“Every year the Super Bowl gets bigger and bigger in terms of a global spectacle,” he added. “I think there’s definitely a desire to offer more corporate hospitality and VIP experiences. So you’re seeing a lot more services aimed at a high-end audience, whether it’s a corporate partner or wealthy individuals.”
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Denver Broncos fans cheer on their team against the New England Patriots during the fourth quarter of the Patriots’ 10-7 AFC championship game victory at Empower Field at Mile High in Denver, Colo., Sunday, Jan. 25, 2026. (Aaron Ontiveroz/The Denver Post/Getty Images)
Shapiro also said the rise of an established secondary market for tickets also works against the average fan.
“Once ticket resale went live with StubHub, it was kind of a game changer. And so, now you have this dynamic where there are people buying tickets as brokers with the intention of reselling them for a profit rather than attending the game,” Shapiro said. “This market helped drive up an already high price for an event like the Super Bowl.”
Shapiro believes NFL owners should be concerned about average fans having access to live games in order to cultivate new consumers in the long term, at least for regular season contests.
“When it comes to the playoffs and certainly the Super Bowl, it’s a prestigious event. I think it would be very difficult for the NFL to make those tickets affordable given the number of people who want to attend,” he said.
The NFL Annual League Meeting is scheduled to begin March 29, free agency began earlier this month and the NFL Draft is scheduled for late April. All offseason activities take place with one common goal: reaching the Super Bowl, regardless of who can afford to attend.
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Super Bowl LXI is scheduled for February 14, 2027 at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California, and fans shouldn’t expect the game to become more affordable anytime soon.
“I think for most Americans, here’s the way to solve your problem. You may not be at the event, but you can still buy a 100-inch screen TV. It’ll be about 20 percent of the price and you’ll probably have a better experience,” Jenkin said.
Ryan Gaydos of Fox News Digital contributed to this report.
