Most objective observers around the NFL were pining for a New England Patriots and Dallas Cowboys Super Bowl. It would have pitted the old guard against the new guard. A historical quarterback in Tom Brady against a rookie signal caller in Dak Prescott who dominated the league as a rookie.
This all seemed possible after each team earned the top seed in their respective conference heading into the playoffs. New England finished with a 14-2 record and proved to be the class of the AFC. Meanwhile, Dallas turned a four-win 2015 campaign into a 13-3 mark this past regular season.
Unfortunately, Dallas fell to the Green Bay Packers in the NFC Divisional Playoffs. It was a bitter end to an amazing season for the upstart team.
It’s also pretty unfortunate for the NFL.
According to this graph from TicketCity (h/t CBS Sports) ticket prices on the secondary market for Super Bowl LI fell dramatically after the Cowboys were eliminated.
That’s a pretty stunning drop right there. We’re looking at a near 50 percent drop in ticket prices for Sunday’s Super Bowl matchup between the aforementioned Patriots and Atlanta Falcons. That’s in three weeks time.
This tells us just how big of a draw the Cowboys were in 2016. In fact, ratings themselves suggested that (more on that here). This most definitely isn’t meant to discount the Falcons. They will prove to be a difficult test for the Patriots in what should be a tremendous game on Sunday.