We made it to Super Bowl LII in Minneapolis yesterday and the experience was absolutely electric. Having the NFL’s biggest event hosted in your own hometown is an incredible experience and we enjoyed all of the week’s activities – concerts, exhibits, celebrity sightings, and the big game itself (which USA Today is calling the best Super Bowl ever!). If you are a sports fan, this event is absolutely the pinnacle to see in person. As I outlined in a recent POST, it was a great stay-cation.
Our local Minnesota Vikings came up spectacularly short in the NFC Championship, which ended their bid to be the first team to play the Super Bowl in their home stadium. Nonetheless, Super Bowl ticket prices held strong throughout January and the tickets I picked up on Friday were still $200 more than I paid for them before the NFL playoffs started.
My brother asked me why I kept tracking Super Bowl ticket prices after I already committed to them and I said guess it is human nature. Warren Buffett said “price is what you pay, but value is what you get” and since the value receive is fixed in your own mind, you can’t help see if the price goes up or down.
That said, buying the Super Bowl tickets caused my whole ‘price/value context’ to go completely out of whack for a couple weeks. I bought a lot of things for the game (program, jersey & souvenirs) for outrageously inflated prices, but yet was still looking to save $5 on parking or using a coupon for a Super Bowl Saturday dinner out. Constantly, I asked myself, “how can I worry about the price of XY or Z, and still have spent so much on Super Bowl tickets?”
In fact, as odd as it seems after spending thousands of dollars to go to the big game, I felt proud for sneaking a soda pop into our Curling Rink last Thursday night and saving a couple bucks. They don’t have Diet Sprite or 7-Up at the Curling Club, and so I brought in a 20-cent generic Diet Twist-Up from Walmart and actually felt SMART that I got what I wanted AND saved money!
It just goes to show you that we all define value differently and will go to extra lengths to save a little in getting it. Never mind that I would have to save $1.50 on a soda pop every day for 16 YEARS to cover the cost of the Super Bowl tickets. Still, it made sense to me!
Funny creatures we are, aren’t we? (Financially, and otherwise!)
Image Credit: (c) MrFireStation.com
MrFireStation 
Looks like you had a blast! I would probably never splurge on SB tickets, but then again you probably didn’t pay $1200 for a cat either. Did I know you live in Minneapolis? I’m moving there in April and would love to meet up!
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That must be quite a cat! We don’t have any pets and we’ve been married for 27 years, so there has to be at least a partial offset in the spending. 😉
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Shoot me a comment if you ever want to meet up – that would be great!
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Hope you guys had a great time! A once in a lifetime experience, that you can now make up for in savings in other areas. 🙂 I’m not sure if it was the greatest game of all time, but certainly a lot of offense. I always enjoy seeing teams who haven’t won a Super Bowl before get their first.
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Shoot me a comment if you ever want to meet up – that would be great!
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Whoops. I mis-replied! I think if it had had a last second score to sway the game – like last year, I could put it on the top of the list. The Eagles fans were going crazy. Literally tears in their eyes they were so amazed at what had happened. That’s what makes sports great!
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Worth every penny. But you’ll still count every penny, Chief. The important things in life don’t change.
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Well put – and concise as always, John!
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What a great game! Glad you had the opportunity to see one of the greatest SB games in person! (Redskins fan here, so there are still three others, that I personally rank higher!)
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Our last Super Bowl in Minneapolis was 1992 – when Mark Rypien led the Redskins over the Buffalo Bills. The laughable halftime show is on YouTube. Horrible in many ways!
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Glad you enjoyed the game. Being it was local for you, probably a good chance to splurge and see the game in person while you had the opportunity. I try to keep it reasonable, but I always look for ways to save a few bucks also (which is usually a good thing.) I thought the game was definitely one of the best ever. So close till the end. It was awesome to see the Eagles actually pull it off and beat one of the best teams ever.
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