My Trip to the Super Bowl – A Review

I have been a lifelong NFL fan. I have always wanted to go to the Super Bowl. As a Jets fan, it never seemed like I would be able to follow my own team there, but I have still always wanted to go. When it was announced that the game would be in my backyard that just made my desire to go even higher. What many people may not know is that there is one way to officially buy Super Bowl tickets from the NFL. In an FAQ buried on their website they give the details on how to enter the Super Bowl random drawing. Winning the drawing doesn’t get you tickets but rather the opportunity to buy tickets. Only 250 “winners” are picked. You are given the option to buy tickets at the face value of about $500. You have no choice in seat location and don’t actually find out where you sit until game day.

My journey to attend the Super Bowl seemed to end abruptly when I received a post card saying I had not been selected in November. All of a sudden in late December, things changed. My friend who also entered the lottery received a letter saying he had been selected in a secondary lottery. The dream of going to the Super Bowl was now a reality.

The face value of $500 seemed totally reasonable based on what you can find on the secondary market but this price which is more than double what most regular season tickets go for to sit in the lower level should have been a sign of things to come. As a Jets season ticket holder tailgating is one of my favorite things to do but the NFL decided this was not to be. Not only was tailgating restricted, but just to get in and park would be another $150 on top of the price of the game tickets. A normal parking pass to a Jets game is $25.

It was time for plan B. As gameday approached we investigated every option available. There were only two real choices. The NFL sponsored Fan Express Bus at the cost of $50 a ticket or the NJ Transit Rail Line. A few years ago a train station was added to the stadium, but I had never had the opportunity to use it. I had never heard bad things though. At $6.75 per ticket each way, this was by far the best option. The NFL promised pregame entertainment so even without tailgating I figured we could have a good time.

Gameday was finally here! We were excited. We began at an NJ Transit train station for a 12:57 PM train to take us to the Secaucus junction, the only way to get the stadium. Security was already tight. There were two armed officers at every station along the way. We arrived in Secaucus on time at about 1:30 PM. The NFL has said the stadium opened at 2 PM and it was only a 10 minute train ride to the Meadowlands station.

That could not have been more wrong. With years to prepare apparently no one told NJ Transit to expect a crowd with all the people commuting from New York City and other parts of New Jersey to get to this game. MetLife Stadium seats 82,500 people. 30,000 of those people decided the train would be the best way to get there. The NFL was saying the train was the best route for months. Why wouldn’t it be the best?

When we arrived in Secaucus it was the epitome of hurry up and wait. Everyone rushed off the train to transfer to the single track Meadowlands line. We thought we were getting somewhere and then all of a sudden encountered a wall of people. I can’t even begin to guess how many people were there. The entire building was wall to wall people, but the worst part? The heat was still on. After months of telling people to prepare for a cold weather game the bundled up crowds were in a heated space on an unseasonably warm day. It was probably 90 degrees in the station. The train status screen had a little popup that said “Check Cooling System.” Even the electronics couldn’t handle the heat. We didn’t move at all for about 45 minutes. People were starting chants for the Broncos and the Seahawks but also “Jersey Sucks.”

When we were finally able to advance forward the failed attempt at a security checkpoint was out next stop.  Barricades were pushed around. Signs were facing the wrong direction. I can only describe it as chaos. They quickly visually inspected the clear bags that the NFL requires if you were bringing anything and rushed people through the metal detectors without really checking anything. Then we waited another 20 minutes at least. They could not let us down to the platform until the train came back. Armed guards held us back from the shutdown escalators. Eventually, they allowed us down while ever so quickly glancing to make sure that you only got on the train if you had a ticket.  The transportation nightmare didn’t end there. We sat there for another 15 minutes while they over stuffed the train. Just to add insult to injury, the train didn’t move for 10 minutes after the doors closed.

Along the trains route was a countless number of NJ Transit vehicles and staff as well as police from many areas and military Humvees. When we finally arrived the disorganization continued. Volunteers and staff instructed us to keep walking past the first entry pavilion, then again at the second and third. Again we were told to move along at the forth, but we went in anyway. We were ushered through more security having to go through metal detectors again and having real bag inspections. At this point we were finally given our tickets. They were in the sky as I expected, corner endzone second to last row.

Now for the promised festivities! There were plenty of photo ops and lots of merchandise to be purchased everywhere.  There was not much else. We walked around for a while and decided the best bet would be to just head to our seats and relax. I wanted to grab a beer before we headed up and started noticing pricing. $16 for a beer! With all the games I have been to at this stadium I have a pretty good feel for prices. Beer is normally $8-$12. It was $12-$16 for the Super Bowl. A cheesesteak normally a rip-off at $10 was $16. Chicken tenders with fries are normally about $8, they were $14. The same exact food marked up 10%-100% just because it was the Super Bowl. My favorite though came from one of the vendors walking the stands. If you were feeling cold, you could get a hot chocolate for a mere $20. Things turned even further south when one of the staff said a lot of people were not even being paid to work.

I guess all this extra money went to pay for the pretty awesome gifts left on every seat. Every fan received a seat cushion, hand warmers, gloves, a hat, a radio, ear muffs, tissues, and more. These things really did make the experience better. The radio was one of the best ideas every. We could listen to the FOX broadcast or Westwood One’s coverage of the game while watching it in person. It was the best of both worlds.

The Super Bowl has more pregame activities than any other. They had a joint performance from the Syracuse and Rutgers marching bands, Queen Latifah performing ‘America the Beautiful’, and as always the national anthem. The most unique part of the Super Bowl however is the fly over.  Usually this consists of military jets flying over. This year they decided to use helicopters. I don’t think the cameras did it justice. Sitting as high as we were, this is one of the coolest things I have seen. The amount of precision that it must take to fly that close the stadium was impressive. I was a little startled at what happened next. I am no stranger to sitting at the very top of MetLife Stadium, but I don’t recall ever being shaken by fireworks launching from 10 feet behind me. There was no warning and ashes quickly rained down. Not the best planning. This happened several more times during and after the game.

I won’t get in to the game itself other than to say I was hoping for a Broncos victory. I was bit disappointed, but the Seahawks played a great game and as a football fan I still had a blast watching it. Jermaine Kearse’s touchdown reception was a beautiful thing.

The halftime show was rather disappointing. They made a big deal inside the stadium of the Pepsi sponsored hats with lights in them. They were remotely controlled so they could create a lightshow throughout the stadium. While the effect was really cool looking, there were entire sections that did not work and it was basically I giant Pepsi ad. Even though MetLife is used as a concert venue the audio setup isn’t really optimized for it. The sound was overly loud and distorted. There was a visible crowd reaction and excitement when the Red Hot Chili Peppers came out. I wish they had performed more than one song. It seems like the halftime show is really for the people at home much more than those at the stadium. For those looking for a mini Bruno Mars concert, that is not what we got.

We had already come to the conclusion that taking the train back was not a viable option. We did not want to be herded like cattle and trapped waiting for them to find a way to handle the immense load of passengers. It was time to find another way home. The problem was, we didn’t have a backup plan. The only way to get on a bus was with prepaid tickets. Cabs for the most part were not allowed passed security. There is no way to walk out as the stadium is surrounded by only highways.  We talked to several security staff and NJ State Troopers. Some were completely unhelpful while others were great but the general consensus was that no one knew the rules of what we could and could not do. Eventually they opened a road that goes from one of the highways next to the stadium and we were able to have someone pick us up as thousands continued to wait for trains.

The Super Bowl experience really had its ups and downs. Clearly the NFL is in it for the profit. I think it is despicable that they raise the already inflated prices just for this game. However, the extras they gave us at our seats and the game itself were great and truly were a once in a lifetime experience. I have never been nor do I know anyone who has been to previous Super Bowls so it is hard to compare. I’m not sure if the blame lies with New Jersey or the NFL for the many shortcomings. Either way, for such a large scale event that draws so many important people, I really feel that things should have been handled better. The Super Bowl should not be a game that can only be enjoyed by the super wealthy but rather by the true fans who make the journey to support their teams.