Super Bowl ticket prices: A historical look

By: Stephen Smith
Topics: Football

In 1967, fans paid no more than $12 to watch Packers quarterback Bart Starr lead Green Bay to a 35-10 victory over Kansas City in Super Bowl 1.

(Credit: AP Photo/Los Angeles Times)

In 1967, the average cost of a new home was less than $25,000. A new car cost about $2,750. Admission to the movies was just $1.20 and tickets for the very first Super Bowl topped out at $12.

Well, 45 years have passed and things have changed. New houses cost an average of ten times as much now, and a new car will cost you more than that house in 1967.

But that's nothing compared to the Super Bowl. The priciest ticket for Sunday's big game in Indianapolis is 100 times its 1967 price -- $1,200.

Complete Coverage: Super Bowl XLVI

As you can see from the chart below, the cost to attend the Super Bowl has soared as astronomically as the popularity of the NFL.

But that's just the face value of tickets for the big game. On the secondary market (on outlets such as StubHub), you're going to dish out $2,000 for a cheap seat. Meanwhile, as SB Nation notes, the most expensive seat (Section 113, Row 1) is going for more than $12,000 - or ten times more than the most expensive face-value seat this year and 1,000 times more than the most expensive Super Bowl I ticket.

But there is a silver lining. According to TiqIQ, the price of the average ticket for this Sunday's game has actually dropped 15 percent in the past few days on the secondary market. So go ahead and buy a ticket. But just remember, the same cash would have gotten you a 1967 Pontiac Firebird.