The ticket resale market for Super Bowl LIX is crashing, and historic hotel pricing in New Orleans is a primary factor.
Low-end, get-in pricing for the game across multiple marketplaces is now hovering around $3,300 per seat, down by nearly 30% from levels seen a week ago, after the Chiefs-Eagles matchup was set. That prior pricing was already a significant retreat from last year’s Super Bowl in Las Vegas, a first-time placement of the event and one that ultimately reached record-setting levels.
Even Super Bowl LIX ticket packages sold through On Location, the NFL’s official hospitality provider, that include additional entertainment and fan experiences have shown a marked retreat, with pricing now starting at $4,750 per person—also down 28% from a week ago.
Similarly, prime lower-level seats can now be easily had for less than $10,000 each. In other recent Super Bowls, such inventory frequently sold for more than double that figure.
Where to Stay?
It’s not uncommon for Super Bowl ticket resale pricing to fall between the conference championship games and the title clash itself, though ordinarily not by this much. A key driver in this year’s market, however, is historic pricing and demand seen for New Orleans lodging—particularly in the French Quarter and near the Caesars Superdome, but all over the local area.
For stays this coming weekend, two-star hotels in the region are nearing $1,000 per night, while four- and five-star ones are frequently exceeding $4,000 per night—and in most cases, each requires a three-night minimum.
The Sport Management Research Institute says the hotel pricing escalation in New Orleans is the highest it has seen in three decades of tracking Super Bowl trends, with the event-related increases now tracking at roughly eight times normal pricing. For many other Super Bowls, the hotel price bump has been half as much or less.
It’s not expected that the Super Bowl LIX ticket resale market will sink to historic depths, such as during the 2009 recession when some seats could be had for less than $1,000. The lodging crunch in New Orleans, however, is still having a material impact.
“I personally know more than a hundred people who would like to go to the game, have the means to do so, but only want to if they can get a decent hotel room, and right now, they can’t,” TicketManager CEO and cofounder Tony Knopp tells Front Office Sports. “When you see upwards of $2,000 a night for a hotel room that normally goes for $198, that’s insanity.”
