2014 Super Bowl VIDEO: Event Update First Look
Super Bowl XLVIII has been making headlines since the initial announcement of its location years ago. After all, it’s been decades since the big game has actually been played in freezing weather. Now less than two months away, the largest event in American sports continues to raise eyebrows as restrictions and prices are sure to inhibit any type of legitimate fan experience.
Most know the Super Bowl has been a commercial event for quite sometime, but this upcoming Super Bowl has unprecedented rules that will most likely frustrate many patrons, keeping many more fans at home.
News broke earlier this week that tailgating of any sort has been banned from the parking lot. Considering grills were banned since 2007, this isn’t too much of a shock, but unfortunately it gets worse:
“You will be allowed to have food in your car and have drink in your car,” Super Bowl committee CEO Al Kelly said on Monday. “And provided you’re in the boundaries of a single parking space, you’ll be able to eat or drink right next to your car. However, you’re not going to be able to take out a lounge chair, you’re not going to be able to take out a grill, and you’re not going to be able to take up more than one parking space. And it’ll all be watched very carefully.”
There will be only 13,000 parking spaces for the 80,000 ticketholders for this event. Additionally, taxis, limousines and black cars will not be allowed to drop off spectators, even VIPs who spend thousands of dollars for a ticket. No vehicles will be permitted near the stadium on game day without parking passes, and any car that drops off a passenger will be forced to wait at the stadium.
To get to the game, the committee has chartered buses for $51 a person that pick up and drop off passengers at nine designated locations. Fans can take N.J. Transit to the MetLife Stadium stop.
And unfortunately, not that you would want to considering its Meadowland-ie location, but fans won’t even have the option to walk to the stadium. Those attending will only be allowed to enter the security perimeter for the game through one of the pre-designated drop-off points where they will then be required to board a bus or shuttle.
Simply getting to the game sounds like it will be a treasure hunt.
If you really want to cough up the dough to the game and have the need to drive yourself, it will cost you $150. That’s right — more than a lower level ticket to a Giants or Jets regular season game…just to park your car.
If there is anything good that comes out of this corporate blitzkrieg it’s that the host city always profits. NYC is actually shutting down parts of Manhattan for the entire week leading up to the game in honor of the Super Bowl. The center hub for pre-game entertainment all week will be “Super Bowl Boulevard,” which will consist of Broadway and all streets from 33rd to 48th. The attraction is expected to bring in nearly half a million tourists.
Long story short — let the suits pay the ridiculous prices and adhere to all the rules. Just watch the game with your friends at a bar or in your warm, cozy living room with surround sound and fresh appetizers straight from your kitchen. Just think what you’ll be able to do with the extra gobs of green stuff.
Josh Helmuth is the editor of CraveOnline Sports. You can follow him @JHelmuth or “like” CraveOnline Sports on Facebook.
Photo Credit: Getty
