10 Mistakes to Avoid in Attending the Super Bowl

Good morning, Live Better than a Billionaire-a-Holics!

Are you feeling motivated this morning? I certainly hope so.

Yesterday, I shared the story of my first trip with my family to the Super Bowl in 1982. Since then I've had the pleasure of attending many Super Bowls. In the process, I believe that I've made almost every mistake that you can make . . . or bumped into someone who did. Let me share the 10 worst ones with you today.

1. Avoid the week-long all-inclusive tour. I described why yesterday.

I have run into people who have had good luck with tours. All of these tours have been sponsored by tour operators to take fans from one of the cities vying in the Super Bowl for a day-trip. Such trips usually start in the middle of the night or early in the morning and return people home with flights that begin a few hours after the game ends. The tour usually covers plane fare and transportation to and from the airport while fans use tickets that they bought from the NFL. Between 10-20 percent of season ticket holders for a vying club are able to buy tickets at face value from the NFL.

2. Be sure that you don't buy counterfeit tickets. You won't get in, and you may be arrested when you try to get in. They don't have television sets in jail cells so you'll definitely miss the game!

If you buy tickets from the NFL, this won't be a problem. Otherwise, be sure that you find out how to check the authenticity of the tickets. In the Super Bowl city, there will usually be a newspaper article that describes the tickets that year, displays an example and explains how to spot a counterfeit ticket. Be sure to look at that article before buying any tickets. If you use a reputable ticket broker, you shouldn't have a problem . . . especially if it's someone you use all the time. I have used the same ticket broker for Super Bowls for many years and have had no problems.

It's usually very hard to get more than two tickets together. If someone offers you eight seats together, be suspicious!

3. Don't stay in host cities that have few hotels.

For some reason, the NFL puts some games in cities that don't begin to have enough hotel rooms for all the fans. The NFL does all right in such situations because they book all the hotels. Ordinary fans end up scrambling. Hotels jack up their prices accordingly. For example, a so-called one-star hotel near the New Orleans airport that normally costs $45 a night (which a cockroach wouldn't want to stay) may boost their over night rate to over $250 a night during game weekend.

Although it's a pain, you can usually stay in a nicer city that's within 150 mile radius and simply drive in for game day. You'll save a bundle.

4. Avoid buying tickets that will place you among obnoxious fans. They'll pour beer on you, threaten you with violence, fill your ears with unpleasant language and may even upchuck all over you.

Generally, the best way to do this is to buy tickets that were originally allocated to fans from a "laid back" city. Over the years, I've come to appreciate that San Francisco 49er fans are the nicest ones to sit next to. Avoid Cincinnati Bengal fans like the plague!

5. Check out the parking arrangements in advance or you may not get to the game on time.

Some cities (Miami is an example) have messy parking situations. My Dad and I once spent 3 hours in a gridlock while trying to get into a parking lot within sight of then Joe Robbie (now Pro Player) Stadium while the police ignored the problem and spent their time chatting with one another. In the end, we hopped a curb in a rental car, fortunately avoided a puncture and paid a mere $50 to park. Yikes!

San Diego, by contrast, had a special deal for handicapped fans. I had to go in three days in advance to get a parking pass, but we got a spot right next to the stadium entrance. The local police also expedited our trip into the stadium so we saved a half hour that way.

6. If the only local attractions of interest are bars, stay in a city with more to do.

For instance, I took my sons to me one year for the game in Tampa. That was only 75 miles from Orlando. We spent a nice vacation at Disney World before driving over for the game.

Another year, the game was in Phoenix and my Dad and I were going. There was little for Dad to do in Phoenix . . . but he loved Las Vegas. So we stayed in Vegas and drove in for the game and on to California that night.

7. If you do stay in another city, check out the time differences between there and the game city.

This may sound obvious, but Las Vegas is in the Pacific time zone while Phoenix is in the Mountain time zone. I didn't think about this until I noticed that the times on the banks were an hour earlier in Arizona. At that point, I had to set a land speed record across the desert to make the game on time.

8. Don't wait until the last minute to leave for the game.

Everything that can delay you will delay you. Now, there's a lot of extra security into the games so you need to allow lots of extra time. Also, the NFL puts on a great show on the large screen televisions in the stadiums. I usually go in as soon as the stadium opens to just absorb all the wonderful atmosphere.

9. Avoid northern cities.

Most games are in early February. That's when it's the coldest in northern areas. So unless you normally head for Alaska in the winter for your vacations, skip the northern cities. When the games are in warm-weather cities, half the fun is running around in shorts for a few days.

10. Be careful where you party.

There's a lot of drinking that goes on during Super Bowl week. While most fans are well behaved, there are confrontations in bars in sleazy areas. Like most places where there are crowds, you can expect pickpockets, con men and other undesirables. Stick to upscale places and you'll have a fine time. For example, although you cannot get a room in an NFL hotel, you can usually get into the hotel's restaurants and bars.

I'm sure I've missed some lessons, but ten is a nice number for a list. Don't you think so, David Letterman?

Follow these tips and you are well on your way to enjoying great Super Bowls.

Tomorrow, I'll talk about spiritual experiences during Super Bowl weeks.

On Monday, I'll share my list of ten ways to attend the Super Bowl for $5 a day.

May God bless you!

Donald W. Mitchell, Your Dream Concierge

Copyright 2005 Donald W. Mitchell