Super Bowl scene: Superstition, spending abound
GLENDALE, Ariz. - As Rihanna made her way past him through to the lower concourse of the University of Phoenix Stadium and started to party with Seattle Seahawks fans, one thought flickered through the mind of 25-year-old engineer Bula Jonas.
"This is lucky," Jonas, a lifelong Seahawks supporter, told Paste BN Sports. "I remembered her cheering for Germany at the soccer World Cup, and they won. I had a good feeling about it."
Amid the color and noise and electricity that filled the arena even hours before kickoff, superstition was everywhere among the nervous disciples of both teams.
Patriots diehard Caleb Smart said he had agonized over which of his 14 New England retro jerseys to wear for the big game, eventually settling on a replica of the team's Super Bowl XXXVIII winning outfit.
"It wasn't hard deciding to come to Arizona," said Smart, whose outlay of $7,000 on a Super Bowl "play-cation" means he will cancel a planned trip to Cabo San Lucas later this year. "But deciding on the jersey? That took a good two hours."
Amid the edginess, there was also something of a social experiment taking place. Even without their respective colors, it was easy to differentiate between the identities of rival fans. If you spotted a painted Mohawk, a neon hairpiece or a dramatic costume, chances were it belonged to a Seattle fan. On the flip side, the Patriots faithful adopted a more standard approach, a consistent uniform of jersey, baseball cap, and maybe a smidgen of face paint for the more daring.
"We are here to see the game, and give all of our support to our team," said Ann Jones, who journeyed in from Boston with her family. "The Seahawks fans are more about what they can do to be seen and noticed. There is no 'I' in team."
Concerns about traffic delays prompted thousands of ticket holders to arrive hours before kickoff and there was no shortage of things for them to do, with musical entertainment, cheerleader appearances and even a mild flurry of activity when rumors fizzled through the crowd that Katy Perry had been spotted arriving.
Once inside, there was the chance to do what was seemingly everyone's second favorite activity apart from watching the game – spend money.
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Super Bowl branding was everywhere, one fan was overheard to have counted 114 logos from a single vantage point in the upper concourse. But the most appropriate place for the logo was on the multitude of ATMs conveniently dotted all around the stadium.
If the National Football League is relentless in its pursuit of the consumer dollar, Super Bowl fans were equally relentless in their desire to spend it.
As you might expect, things didn't come cheap. Where else can you buy $16 pecans, a price matched only by cups of $15 souvenir popcorn in the "most overrated snack" sweepstakes.
"Once you've spent so much already, you stop counting," muttered one fan as he shuffled away from the concession stand.
Indeed, ticket prices on the secondary market remained sky high in the build-up to the game, with the cheapest sold on StubHub in the 24 hours before game time changing hands for $4,500. In Indianapolis in 2012, tickets dropped to below $1,000 on game day as the Patriots eventually lost to the New York Giants.
When people talk about the various sagas and unpleasantness that have engulfed the sport this season, they refer to controversy, but never crisis. For all the ugliness of domestic violence, the comic furor over Deflategate and the worrying specter of concussions, business is booming and the cash keeps flowing.
There was a line two hours before kickoff that stretched a full 700 feet through the stadium.
Its destination? The NFL Store.
The shield has taken a few dents this year, but if spending equals loyalty, it remains unbroken for now.