Super Bowl tickets average over $4800

By Dian Vujovich

Read somewhere online yesterday that the average price of a Super Bowl ticket was over $4800 this year. That’s about the cost of 13 shares of Apple and twice the average cost of bowl tickets last year.

Clearly, people love this goofy game that’s rarely are barnburner, have money to spend on tickets, waging bets and the must-go-to parties surrounding it.

Regarding that betting thing, according to a recent press release from The Florida Council on Compulsive Gambling, more bets are placed on the Super Bowl each year than any other sporting event. Last year, over $5 billion was waged on it. That’s a lot of pigskin.

But here’s a buzz kill from that same source: “For compulsive sports bettors, the Super Bowl can be one of the lowest times of the year – a time when their debt and desperation escalate to a point of crisis. ”

Oh my, pass the chips and salsa, please.

On to some fun stuff.

According to story in The Washington Post today titled, “Five myths about the Super Bowl” I gleaned the following:

•This is the weekend that Americans hold the fewest weddings and the most parties.

• The game wasn’t called the “Super Bowl” until 1969. Originally called the AFL-NFL World Championship Game. You can thank Pete Rozelle, then NFL Commissioner, who suggested a phrase for the game should be coined. He’s the one who came up with “Super Bowl”.

• Last year’s Super Bowl was the most-watched TV program in U.S. television history.

• The game is usually a yawn (hence, all the partying). Sixteen of the first 22 Super Bowls were decided by 10 points or more and five of the last nine games have been decided by four points or less.

Bottom line on the Super Bowl? It doesn’t matter who wins or loses, it’s all about the party—and the commercials.

To read the full Super Bowl story visit: http://tinyurl.com/4devtqj

To learn more about compulsive gambling visit The Florida Council on Compulsive Gambling at http://www.gamblinghelp.org or phone 1-888-ADMIT-IT.