Powered by Forward Market Media, a Chicago-based company, Teamtix is a platform that enables any ticket underwriter--whether a team, venue or broker-- to create a face-price ticket reservation market. In the case of the Super Bowl tickets, the market is being underwritten by a company called Ludus Tours and you can buy a face price reservation for any of the four remaining teams. Such a market allows anyone to bet on a team’s chances of making the big game, whether the Super Bowl or the BCS National championship. For the Super Bowl, Seahawks tickets are most expensive with a reservation price of $810, while the 49ers are cheapest at $430. You can see see all of the current prices here. If you bet correctly, you get a face-price ticket to the big game. For underwriters, it means incremental revenue for all the tickets they make available. For the BCS title game, that incremental revenue amounted to more than the face price itself for the City of Pasadena, who owns the Rose Bowl.
In the AFC, despite being a 3.5-point underdog, a Patriots face price reservation is $25 less than that for one for the Broncos. Bill Belichick is universally recognized as one of the savviest coaches in the history of the NFL, and the current prices suggests that his intelligence may be rubbing off on Patriots fans. If the Patriots were to make it to their 6th Super Bowl in 13 years, they’d have a five-hour car ride to get the game that would cost $100 depending on how fuel efficient the car is. Broncos fans, on the other hand, would have a five hour flight that costs about $500. As a result, Patriots fans are willing to spend more. If the Patriots pull out the upset win in Denver, it’s likely that the price of SuperBowl tickets on the secondary market would rise given their proximity to MetLife Stadium. If they do, it would make a face-price reservation the value-play of the year.
For a Patriots fan looking to add a little extra thrill to the game on Sunday but not planning to attend XLVIII, a face price reservation is also the best betting return opportunity. At the current prices, if the Pats win, your all-in cost for a ticket would be $1,475 -- well below the cheapest ticket on the secondary market, currently at $2,400. Assuming that that price holds, you’ll make around $1,000 on your $475 bet, or 220%. If prices go up, so will your return. Even at 220%, though, this is better than any bet you can place in Vegas. A straight-up bet on the Patriots to win carries a line of +180, which means a 180% return. If you bet the spread, your return will be just under 100%, after the vig.
According to the American Gaming Association, approximately $100 million of bets are placed on the Super Bowl every year. That’s more than any other single day sporting event. While there’s no clearly defined number for the size of the sports betting market, estimates generally start at around $500 Billion annually. At that number, the Super Bowl accounts for roughly 2% of bets laid down each year. It’s also been the most expensive ticket on the secondary market in four out of the last five years. Given the magnitude of those numbers, it’s surprising that someone didn’t come up with a way to bet on the ticket market sooner.
If you're interested in the conference championships leading up to the Super Bowl, check out our overview of prices for the AFC Championship game and NFC Championship game.
