For most sports fans, attending the Super Bowl in person is a once-in-a-lifetime experience. Part of the problem is waiting for your favorite team to make it all the way. But even if you want to go as a neutral fan, the price of Super Bowl tickets can be a huge deterrent. However, if you’re a fan of impulse purchases and spontaneous road trips, you might be able to score affordable Super Bowl tickets on the eve of the game. Here are five tips for how you can find last-minute Super Bowl tickets, so you can attend the biggest game of the year for a reasonable price.
Head to the Secondary Market
If you’re looking for tickets to the Super Bowl or any other sporting event, you should always look to the secondary market. For most games, people will buy tickets in bulk soon after tickets go on sale with a plan to resell them on the secondary market. As a result, sites like Gametime are able to offer tickets to just about any game for below face value. Even for major events like the Super Bowl — when every ticket is valued at thousands of dollars — a ticket marketplace is going to be your best bet for finding last-minute tickets at a good price.
Be Happy Just Being There
Unless you’re a celebrity (or have the bank account of one) the Super Bowl is not the time to splurge on club tickets or front-row seats at the 50-yard line. As is the case with any other football game, the cheapest Super Bowl seats are going to be in the upper level of the stadium, usually in the corner or in the end zone. This is where the average fan should be looking for tickets for Super Bowl LIV. After the game, feel free to embellish and change your story about how close to the field you were sitting when you tell your friends and family about the experience. But if you want the best price, you’ll have to sit in the upper level of the stadium, which will at least give you an eagle-eye view of all of the action.
Shop During the Pro Bowl
The biggest run on Super Bowl tickets comes immediately after the two conference championship games two weeks before the big game. Even if you’re a lifelong fan of one of the teams to reach the Super Bowl, resist the temptation of going out and buying tickets right away. Data from past Super Bowls show us that prices spike on Championship Sunday and slowly go down over the course of the next week. One of the best times to find low prices is on the Sunday before the Super Bowl when the Pro Bowl is held. At this time, the initial excitement of the two teams winning their conference has died down and the excitement of Super Bowl week is yet to start, creating a perfect storm for low prices.
Good Friday
If you don’t buy your Super Bowl tickets the day of the Pro Bowl, your best option is to wait until the Friday that’s two days before the game. By this point, most people who are going to the game will have their tickets and travel plans secured. This leads to a drop in the average price of tickets on the secondary market in the 48 hours leading up to kickoff. If you’re able to make last-minute travel plans, start monitoring ticket prices closely on Friday and strike while the iron is hot. Some years there is a late push during the final 24 hours that brings prices back up, so the Friday before the Super Bowl is sometimes your last chance to get the lowest price possible.
Find the Lowest Fees
When buying Super Bowl tickets, one of the biggest keys is finding the lowest service fees. Whether they’re bundled into the price you see upfront or not, all selling platforms will charge a fee on tickets, regardless of whether its a primary or secondary site. These fees are often based on the price of the ticket itself, so expensive Super Bowl tickets can lead to massive fees. As a result, finding the best price on Super Bowl tickets usually means buying from a site like Gametime, which offers some of the cheapest fees on the secondary market.
