Seeing the NFL title game at this time is a pricey thing
Want a ticket to watch the Super Bowl?
Would you pay $12?
Too much?
How about $10?
Still a little steep?
How about $6.
That's the bottom line.
Of course, you might be a little late.
But 61,946 people took advantage of the bargain basement prices to attend the Super Bowl staged at the Memorial Coliseum in Los Angeles.
Back on Jan. 15,1967.
Before the Summer of Love.
Remember?
It was a novel experiment.
The top team in the old established National Football League against the top team in the upstart American Football League for bragging rights.
Pitting the Green Bay Packers and coach Vince Lombardi versus the Kansas City Chiefs and coach Hank Stram.
The Packers beat the Chiefs 35-10 as Green Bay quarterback Bart Starr completed 16 of 23 passes for 250 yards and a pair of scores. Tight end Max McGee, who caught just four passes during the regular season, stepped in for the injured Boyd Dowler to snare seven of the Starr aerials for 138 yards and both scores. Halfback Elijah Pitts ran for another pair of touchdowns.
Starr was selected as the Most Valuable Player. Each of the Packers received $15,000 for the winning share while every Chiefs player picked up $7,500. It was the largest single-game playoff shares in history.
And remember, you could have witnessed this slice of American history for a mere $6.
The next year, Super Bowl II was held in the Orange Bowl in Miami. Ticket prices were $12 across the board. Starr claimed MVP honors once again after leading Green Bay to a 33-14 victory over the Kansas City Chiefs. Starr completed 13 of 24 passes for 202 yards and a touchdown. Don Chandler booted four field goals while cornerback Herb Adderly capped the scoring with a 60-yard interception run back.
It was the last game for Lombardi as coach of the Packers, ending nine years in Green Bay in which his clubs won six Western Division championships, five NFL championships and both Super Bowls. Attendance was 75,546.
Super Bowl III, the one that cemented the major league status of the AFL, is renown for Broadway Joe Namath and his bombastic statement of a "guaranteed" victory three days before the big game. Namath did his part, converting 17 of 28 passes for 206 yards. The New York Jets posted a 16-7 victory, intercepting Baltimore Colts' quarterback Earl Morrall three times in the first half before backup Johnny Unitas came on in the fourth quarter to lead its team to its lone score.
The game was held once again in the Orange Bowl in front of 75.389 fans who paid $12 a pop for their ducats.
After the big upset, ticket prices jumped for Super Bowl IV, which was staged at Tulane Stadium in New Orleans in front of 80.562 fans. But even though the tickets jumped 25 percent to $15, the cost of attending the contest was still not too steep.
The $15 ticket endured for four more Super Bowls, until the AFC champion Pittsburgh Steelers dropped a 16-6 decision to NFC champ Minnesota in Super Bowl IV held once again at Tulane Stadium in front of 80,997 fans who shelled out $20 apiece.
The tickets jumped to $30 in 1978 (Super Bowl XII at the Superdome in New Orleans (where the Dallas Cowboys beat the Denver Broncos 27-10 to claim a second Super Bowl title) and then to $40 in 1981. Super Bowl XVIII, in which Los Angeles Raiders dominated the Washington Redskins 38-9 at Tampa Stadium, reached a new height for ticket prices as the individual ducats jumped to $60.
After going to $75 in 1986 (BEARS WIN !) the tickets hit triple figures two years later at Jack Murphy Stadium in San Diego when the Redskins belted the Broncos 42-10. The tickets set you back $100. Two years later, the tickets went to $125 for a single year. Tickets were $150 in 1991. They went to $175 in 1993, $200 in 1995 and a three-tier system of $350, $250 and $200 at Sun Devil Stadium in Tempe, Ariz., in '96.
This year? If you can find a ticket in Miami, the lowest seat (face value) is $500. The top price? $1,000.
