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The Super Bowl isn’t getting cheaper. In 2026, entry-level Super Bowl LX tickets have a national average price of $6,773, not including travel. This price may be a concern if you’re a Seattle Seahawks or New England Patriots fan, as you may be priced out of supporting your team.

Terrell Owens holding Dude Wipes XL

A new study by Gautham Marthandan of actionnetwork.com broke down the cost of attending the Super Bowl across each U.S. city. Here were the most shocking results.

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The Most Burdensome Cities for a Super Bowl Ticket

In Marthandan’s study, he revealed which cities would have to go through the most burden to purchase a single ticket.

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Topeka, Kansas, ranked first on his list. He determined residents of Topkea would have to work for 224 hours to afford a ticket to the big game. These same hours would be enough to cover 8.76 months of rent, 30.85 months of transportation, 15.39 months of childcare, 53.44 months of utilities, or 15.12 months of groceries.

Alabama had three cities show up on Marthandan’s list, with Mobile, Alabama, ranking second. Mobile has similar numbers to Topeka, with a requirement of working 249 hours to afford one ticket.

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Alabama’s two other cities were Tuscaloosa (4th) and Montgomery (9th).

San Juan, Puerto Rico, had the most shocking statistic in the list, requiring residents to work an absurd 454 hours to afford a Super Bowl ticket. While they only ranked 7th on the list, the cost of a ticket is the equivalent of 3.74 months of rent, or 30.10 months of transportation.

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Despite not appearing on the list, Elgin, Illinois, recorded the highest utility burden, with a ticket equaling 67.73 months of utility bills.

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Full List:

  1. Topeka, Kansas

  2. Mobile, Alabama

  3. Jackson, Mississippi

  4. Tuscaloosa, Alabama

  5. Enterprise, Nevada

  6. Macon, Georgia

  7. San Juan, Puerto Rico

  8. Evansville, Indiana

  9. Montgomery, Indiana

  10. Clarksville, Tennessee

The Least Burdensome Cities for a Super Bowl Ticket

For some U.S. cities, the sacrifice of buying a ticket to the Super Bowl isn’t as dramatic. Marthandan’s study located the 10 least burdensome cities, and some very shocking statistics that follow.

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Fremont, California, had the least amount of burden to buy a ticket. Marthandan determined a resident would have to work just 72 hours on average to make up for the $6,773 Super Bowl ticket. He determined that, despite the area being less affordable (the $6,773 covers just 2.41 months of rent), the less than two weeks of work made up for it.

California was dominant on the list of the least burdensome cities. Appearing on the list eight times and holding each of the top seven spots.

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Fremont didn’t hold the least amount of hours to afford a ticket, however. Sunnyvale, California, has a low of just 69 hours. Sunnyvale wasn’t able to top at No. 1 as their utilities and rent run higher, making buying a ticket a bigger burden.

Fittingly, San Francisco, California, and Santa Clara, California, appear on this list. The Super Bowl is being hosted in Santa Clara, home of the San Francisco 49ers.

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Full List:

  1. Fremont, California

  2. Pasadena, California

  3. Sunnyvale, California

  4. San Mateo, California

  5. San Francisco, California

  6. San Jose, California

  7. Santa Clara, California

  8. Seattle, Washington

  9. Anchorage, Alaska

  10. Santa Clarita, California

Will Super Bowl Prices Ever Come Down?

A lot of the Super Bowl’s overwhelming cost is due to the demand. Super Bowl LIX had an average viewer count of 127.7 million. With such a large viewership, it’s impossible for the NFL to accomodate for the rising ticket prices.

Levi’s Stadium has a capacity of 68,500. While appearing to be a big number, that is just 0.054 percent of last year’s Super Bowl’s average viewership. While not everyone who watches the Super Bowl is planning to attend it, this gives a good example of the competition levels for a seat at the big game.

The Super Bowl is also full of star power. From Bad Bunny headlining the halftime show to celebrities filling the seats, it’s hard for an average NFL fan to outbid people who have more money than they know what to do with.

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The many stars of the big game also help drive prices up. When selling a ticket on the secondary market, companies may leverage a celebrity like Taylor Swift‘s attendance into their price.

At the rate, it doesn’t seem Super Bowl tickets will be affordable for the average fan for a while. Marthandan’s price of $6,773 was just for entry-level tickets. ESPN predicts Super Bowl LX to set records for prices, with an average near $9,300 and premium seats listed at $30,000.

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Written by

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Kyle Besson

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Kyle Besson is an NFL Beat Writer at EssentiallySports, covering the New Orleans Saints and key league-wide storylines with a focus on game breakdowns, scouting, and analytics-driven insight. A journalism student at the University of New Orleans, he translates film study and data into clear, reader-first analysis. Kyle officially began covering the Saints in 2023, contributing in-depth reporting for Know more

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