Super Bowl LVI between the Los Angeles Rams and Cincinnati Bengals has not drawn as much interest around the sports world compared to previous big games.
There’s a number of reasons this could be the case. The NFL itself continues to be mired in a ton of drama with a former head coach suing the league over what he calls systemic racism in the hiring process. Meanwhile, Washington Commanders owner Daniel Snyder is in a ton of hot water following more allegations of sexual misconduct.
Whatever the reasoning is for this (and we’ll focus on other theories below), there just hasn’t been a lot of talk about Super Bowl LVI.
That’s now being represented in the ticket prices for Sunday’s game at SoFi Stadium. According to TickPick (h/t ESPN’s Adam Schefter), there’s been a 42% decrease in Super Bowl LVI ticket prices since this matchup was confirmed nearly two weeks ago. The raw numbers are eye-opening.
- Championship Sunday get-in price: $6,434.00
- February 10 get-in price: $3,723.00
That’s an absolutely huge difference, and it goes to show us where interest is right now around the sports world.
Related: Super Bowl LVI bold predictions
Factors leading to cheaper Super Bowl LVI ticket prices
We focused on the Brian Flores’ class-action suit against the NFL as something that’s dominating the news cycle. We also looked at the aforementioned allegations against Mr. Snyder.
However, there’s other factors in play here. The NFL won’t say it publicly, but the league likely would have preferred a second Kansas City Chiefs against San Francisco 49ers Super Bowl matchup in three seasons. Both lost Championship Sunday, setting up this matchup. At the very least, Kansas City remains a much larger draw than the up-and-coming Bengals in the AFC. As for the 49ers, their playoff games drew huge television ratings.
Two other factors here include the ongoing Winter Olympics. However, TV ratings for that event are down a large amount. The NFL head coaching cycle has also made news later in the year compared to previous iterations. That’s primarily due to the NFL going to an 18-game regular-season schedule — pushing back hirings in the process.
Despite the decrease in Super Bowl LVI ticket prices, it will still end up being the most-expensive championship game in NFL history.
Right now, the average ticket is going for $8,772.00. To put that into perspective, last season’s game between the Kansas City Chiefs and Tampa Bay Buccaneers averaged $5,950.00 per ticket.
Related: Positional breakdowns for Super Bowl LVI matchup
Super Bowl ticket prices: Average cost past 10 games
- Super LVI: Cincinnati Bengals vs Los Angeles Rams ($8,772)
- Super Bowl LV: Kansas City Chiefs vs Tampa Bay Buccaneers ($5,950)
- Super Bowl LIV: Kansas City Chiefs vs San Francisco 49ers ($3,488)
- Super Bowl LIII: New England Patriots vs Los Angeles Rams ($2,557)
- Super Bowl LII: New England Patriots vs Philadelphia Eagles ($2,500)
- Super Bowl LI: New England Patriots vs Atlanta Falcons ($2,500)
- Super Bowl 50: Denver Broncos vs Carolina Panthers ($2,500)
- Super Bowl XLIX: New England Patriots vs Seattle Seahawks ($2,000)
- Super Bowl XLVIII: Denver Broncos vs Seattle Seahawks ($1,500)
- Super Bowl XLVII: Baltimore Ravens vs San Francisco 49ers ($1,250)
As you can see, Super Bowl ticket prices continue to increase every year. With the Rams and Bengals game being played at the new SoFi Stadium in Southern California, that’s magnified further.