The Super Bowl is the most anticipated sporting event in the US, and people from all over the country tune in to watch the NFL championship every year. Some make the trek to watch the Big Game in person, a prospect that has become increasingly expensive every year.
Super Bowl tickets are some of the most expensive you can buy, especially on the secondary market at places like SeatGeek, Vivid Seats and StubHub.
With the cheapest in-person seats starting in the several thousands of dollars range, surely there are better things to spend your hard-earned money on, especially in Texas.
Deposit Match
Five things in Texas you could buy instead of a Super Bowl ticket
According to The Sporting News, the average ticket price for the 2023 Super Bowl was an astounding $8,837 on the secondary market. That’s for a single ticket.
There are a lot of things you can buy in Texas for that kind of cash. Here are some of our favorites:
A family vacation
Need to get away and do something fun with the family? For the price of an average Super Bowl ticket, you can make the trek to either of Texas’ Six Flags theme parks and purchase the diamond-level season-long park pass, which comes in at $195 per person, add the platinum Flash pass for $530, the season dining plan for $119 and get yourself some preferred parking for $50.
For a family of four, you’re spending $3,376 before parking for the entire season with unlimited trips, which leaves you plenty of room for hotels and other costs you might endure when taking the family for some roller coaster fun.
A used car
In the market for a used car? You’re in luck because the cost of an average Super Bowl ticket can land you a used car in great condition. Just a quick gander at Cars.com in the Dallas area will find you a slew of cars available for $8,000 or less and some with fewer than 100,000 miles on them.
Dinner at the fanciest restaurant
According to LoveFood.com, Nobu Dallas is the most expensive steak house in all of Texas, and it is known for its top-quality cuisine and luxurious dining experience. While most folks aren’t going to shell out $170 for a steak for just any dinner, when comparing the price of a night out with all the bells and whistles to that of an average Super Bowl ticket, it’s downright cheap to eat at Nobu.
Here’s what LoveFood said: “Texas – and particularly Dallas – has some swanky steakhouses with higher-priced dishes than Nobu, although many of those are enormous steaks meant for two. This byword of upscale dining has a range of small and sharing plates that surpass the $100 mark. So, based on ordering two or three dishes per person, it’s by far the most expensive place to dine in the Lone Star State.”
Seats to a Dallas Cowboys or Houston Texans game
The odds are pretty good that if you live in Texas, you’re potentially a Cowboys or Texans fan. Why spend all of your hard-earned money on a single Super Bowl ticket when, for that kind of money, you could watch several of the top-rated games for either Dallas or Houston with seats right along the field?
According to StubHub, many seats for a Dallas Cowboys game within 10 rows of the field cost approximately $2,500. If you’d rather see multiple games, Vivid Seats states the cost of season tickets to the Cowboys is as low as “$1,513 with an average price of $2,363.”
A once-in-a-lifetime experience
Ever wanted to be a cowboy or a ranch hand? In Texas, you can be for the right price. Dude ranches and guest ranches can be found across the Lone Star State, and each offers its own level of experience for those looking to be transported to a different time.
Take Texas Life Ranch, for example. There, you can stay in seven “historic Texas homes dating back to the 1850s” and learn how to ride horseback, work a cattle drive, work on bullwhip cracking and throwing a tomahawk, or even something as chill as two-step and country line dancing. Lodging ranges from $370 to $895 a night, depending on your chosen housing, and additional events cost more per person.