Roger Goodell Doesn't Think $1,000 Is Overpriced for Super Bowl Tickets

Last week, the Associated Press reported that this February some Super Bowl tickets, for the first time in the history of professional tackle football, will officially go for $1,000.

Fans have been forking over at least that much to see the Big Game for years, but that was due to scalpers taking advantage of demand hugely outweighing supply.

Now, however, 25 percent of the 2008 Super Bowl tickets will go for a grand. If that sounds like a lot of money during these very difficult economic times it is. For some perspective, consider this: you can attend eight Steelers home games for less than $650.

I know, I know, it's the Super Bowl; the experience alone is worth that much, blah blah blah stories to tell your grandkids. That's fine, I suppose. Plus, the NFL also announced that it will drop the price of 1,000 tickets by $200 to $500 -- the first time the league has cut prices for a Super Bowl.

Whatever, FOXSports.com's Alex Marvez asked NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell about the pricing strategy.

FOXSports.com: Saying that, there's been a lot of talk about the new $1,000 Super Bowl ticket the league has unveiled. When you first became commissioner, you talked about trying to keep ticket prices viable for the average fan who wants to attend.

Goodell: "It's a limited number of tickets for $1,000, first off. Second, those tickets are trading on secondary markets for more than 4½ times that price. To say [$1,000] is overpriced, I would disagree with anybody.

We have an $800 ticket and we're taking 1,000 tickets that are going to be offered at $500. The real trick, though, is getting them into the hands of fans who aren't going to re-sell them. They buy them at a decreased price because we want them to have the opportunity to come to the game but they then get offered four, five, 10 times the value. That's not what we're trying to create. We're trying to be sure they get to those who want to go to the game and experience a Super Bowl."

I honestly don't have a problem with the league deciding to raise some prices, and I can fully appreciate the problem in trying to identify those fans who really want to see the game and aren't looking to make a quick 500 percent return on investment.

Quick history lesson: ticket prices for the first Super Bowl 43 years ago? Six, 10 and 12 bucks. Tickets cleared the $100 mark back in 1988. That's a 733 percent increase from '67 to '88, and a 9,000 percent increase from '88 to '08. Which means, if my math is correct, nobody will be able to afford to go to the game by the end of the decade.

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Republican presidential candidate Sen. John McCain, left, speaks at Springs Fabrication while former Denver Broncos quarterback John Elway looks on in Colorado Springs, Colo., on Friday, Oct. 24, 2008. (AP Photo/Chris Schneider, Pool)

Republican presidential candidate Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., left, accompanied by former Denver Broncos safety John Lynch, center, and former Denver Broncos hall-of-fame quarterback John Elway, leave Conway's Red Top restaurant in Colorado Springs, Colo., Friday, Oct. 24, 2008. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

Republican presidential candidate Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., center, flanked by his wife Cindy, left, and former Denver Broncos hall-of-fame quarterback John Elway talks at a table during a stop at Conway's Red Top restaurant in Colorado Springs, Colo., Friday, Oct. 24, 2008. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

Former Denver Broncos quarterback John Elway, left, his fiancee Paige Green, center, and former Broncos safety John Lynch, applaud Republican presidential candidate Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz. at a rally in Denver, Friday, Oct. 24, 2008. (AP Photo/Ed Andrieski)

Republican presidential candidate Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., speaks at a rally in Denver, Friday, Oct. 24, 2008. Joining him from left are, his wife Cindy, daughter Meghan, former Denver Broncos quarterback John Elway, his fiancee Paige Green, and former Broncos safety John Lynch. (AP Photo/Ed Andrieski)

Republican presidential candidate Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz. gestures as he addresses supporters during a campaign rally in Denver, Colo., Friday, Oct. 24, 2008. Former Denver Broncos safety John Lynch looks on at left. (AP Photo/Stephan Savoia)

Former Denver Broncos football player John Elway speaks on behalf of Republican presidential candidate Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., during a rally at the The National Western Arena in Denver, Friday, Oct. 24, 2008. (AP Photo/Chris Schneider, Pool)

Former Denver Broncos hall-of-fame quarterback John Elway and his fiancee Paige Green applaud at a rally for Republican presidential candidate Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., in Denver, Friday, Oct. 24, 2008. (AP Photo/Ed Andrieski)

Former Denver Broncos quarterback John Elway, speaks about Republican presidential candidate, Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., left, at a rally in Denver, Friday, Oct. 24, 2008. From left are McCain, McCain's wife Cindy, Elway, and McCain's daughter Meghan. (AP Photo/Ed Andrieski)

Republican presidential candidate Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz. reacts to the crowd as he speaks at rally at the The National Western Arena in Denver, Friday, Oct. 24, 2008. At right is Denver Broncos hall of fame quarterback John Elway (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)