# Super Bowl tickets -- on sale to public? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [February 4, 2009, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/super-bowl-tickets-on-sale-to-public/484420 "2009-02-04T15:40:30Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Ravenman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ravenman/32/2929_2.png) [@Ravenman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ravenman)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2009, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/super-bowl-tickets-on-sale-to-public/484420/1 "2009-02-04T15:40:30Z")
It occurred to me the other day that I have never heard of how Super Bowl tickets are distributed. For the major sporting events I’ve attended, like a couple of World Series games many years ago, or even some major golf tournaments, I recall that it was generally announced that tickets would be put on sale at some time on some day, perhaps days to even years before the event is scheduled. But I have never heard of Super Bowl tickets going on sale to the public. So how are Super Bowl tickets sold? (I’m not talking about how they are re-sold on Stub Hub or whatever.) ---
**Author:** ![Bijou\_Drains](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bijou_drains/32/2814_2.png) [@Bijou\_Drains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bijou_Drains)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2009, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/super-bowl-tickets-on-sale-to-public/484420/2 "2009-02-04T16:23:46Z")
Fans of both teams get a shot at the tickets. Typically the team’s season ticket holders get a chance to buy them and if any are left anyone can buy them. I suspect that season ticket holders of the host team (Tampa this year) probably get some too. ---
**Author:** ![Santo\_Rugger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e95f7d/32.png) [@Santo\_Rugger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Santo_Rugger)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2009, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/super-bowl-tickets-on-sale-to-public/484420/3 "2009-02-04T16:30:37Z")
Don’t _all_ the teams get some tickets, some of which are offered to their respective season ticket holders? I seem to remember a poster who worked for a company that bought and sold tickets on the grey market. Does this sound familiar to anybody? I’m sure that thread would answer a bunch of the OP’s questions. ---
**Author:** ![Bijou\_Drains](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bijou_drains/32/2814_2.png) [@Bijou\_Drains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bijou_Drains)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2009, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/super-bowl-tickets-on-sale-to-public/484420/4 "2009-02-04T16:34:48Z")
All NFL coaches get tickets (or did in the recent past), don’t know about fans. A coach got in hot water a few years back for selling his. ---
**Author:** ![Ravenman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ravenman/32/2929_2.png) [@Ravenman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ravenman)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2009, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/super-bowl-tickets-on-sale-to-public/484420/5 "2009-02-04T16:46:33Z")
So, what are the numbers like? How many tickets are offered to the season ticket holders of the teams in the Big Game? How many go to coaches? ---
**Author:** ![Bijou\_Drains](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bijou_drains/32/2814_2.png) [@Bijou\_Drains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bijou_Drains)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2009, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/super-bowl-tickets-on-sale-to-public/484420/6 "2009-02-04T17:13:14Z")
A lot of tickets go to bigwigs at companies that sponsor the NFL. And those guys are not sitting in the upperdeck or endzones. ---
**Author:** ![Yorikke](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yorikke/32/4335_2.png) [@Yorikke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yorikke)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2009, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/super-bowl-tickets-on-sale-to-public/484420/7 "2009-02-04T17:57:37Z")
[Here is a relevant website](http://www.nfl.com/superbowl/faninformation). I haven’t read the whole thing, but it seems to somewhat inform the OP, if not answer it. Joe ---
**Author:** ![Snickers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/5daacb/32.png) [@Snickers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snickers)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2009, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/super-bowl-tickets-on-sale-to-public/484420/8 "2009-02-04T18:08:35Z")
> [@Bijou\_Drains](#): > > All NFL coaches get tickets (or did in the recent past), don’t know about fans. A coach got in hot water a few years back for selling his. That’d be Mike Tice, formerly of the Vikings. Ahh, memories. What a wonderful tenure his was: ticketgate, boat trip… He’s not missed. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2009, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/super-bowl-tickets-on-sale-to-public/484420/9 "2009-02-04T18:16:38Z")
> [@Santo\_Rugger](#): > > Don’t _all_ the teams get some tickets, some of which are offered to their respective season ticket holders? > > I seem to remember a poster who worked for a company that bought and sold tickets on the grey market. Does this sound familiar to anybody? I’m sure that thread would answer a bunch of the OP’s questions. [Yup.](http://www.tampabaysuperbowl.com/faqs.htm) > [@](#): > > **How are game tickets distributed?** > The demand for tickets to Super Bowl XLIII greatly exceeds the NFL’s ability to accommodate the majority of fans interested in attending the game. The vast majority of Super Bowl tickets (approximately 75%) are distributed to the 32 NFL teams. The participating teams each receive 17.5% of the tickets, the non-participating teams receive 1.2% and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, as the host team, will receive 5%. The remaining 25.2% are controlled by the NFL and are distributed primarily to NFL affiliated companies, the broadcast network, corporate sponsors, media, VIP’s charities, fans and the Host Committee. I don’t know if the teams themselves all use the same ticket distribution model, but Bucs season ticket holders had first crack at the Bucs’ allotment in order of seating priority, then they would have had a lottery to distribute the remainder (had there been any). ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2009, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/super-bowl-tickets-on-sale-to-public/484420/10 "2009-02-04T18:21:41Z")
I’m a Packer season ticket holder. Every year in which it looks like the Pack has a shot at the Super Bowl, they hold a drawing among the season ticket holders for rights to Super Bowl tickets – since there are far more season-ticket holders than there are SB tickets available to a participating team, and since they dole them out to others besides season-ticket holders. I have no idea what percentage of season-ticket holders get rights to SB tickets in a given year. I’ve come up a “winner” twice in the past 15 years, but, both times, the Pack lost in the playoffs before getting to the Super Bowl. ---
**Author:** ![Ravenman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ravenman/32/2929_2.png) [@Ravenman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ravenman)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2009, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/super-bowl-tickets-on-sale-to-public/484420/11 "2009-02-04T19:59:04Z")
Thanks very much for the responses. I am not wiser, but much better informed. 😉