Super Bowl XLVIII: Food, drink prices through roof

Signs at MetLife concession stands advertised the high-priced food and drink items for sale at this year’s Super Bowl. Photo Credit: Applecorps Ltd.

Fans attending Super Bowl XLVIII yesterday were spared no expense once settled within the confines of MetLife Stadium.

Signs at concession stands advertised $11 cups of hot chocolate — $20 in a mug — $9 for a souvenir soda and $12-$14 for a beer.

“I expected the prices to be up there,” said David Peter, 27, of Vancouver, British Columbia. “I didn’t know they’d be way up there.”

Don’t assume anything at the Super Bowl. Peter said his beer, in a normal-sized cup, ran him $14. “Premium, you know?” Peter said sarcastically about the Budweiser in his hand.

Annie and Jeff Strain, who made the trip from Seattle for their 20th wedding anniversary, said they paid $6,000 for two tickets in the upper deck, but that didn’t make the concession prices easier to stomach.

“The thing that really burned me was it was, like, $7 for the water,” Jeff Strain said.

“We did come in expecting to pay higher prices for things, but it seems a little excessive,” Annie Strain added.

For a regular-season game at the Meadowlands, fans can expect to pay about $5 for a small draft beer, according to Business Insider. But this is the big game.

“It’s double for a beer, double for pizza, double for anything,” Peter said, comparing prices to back home.

On the other hand, the Strains and Peter all said money comes with the territory at the Super Bowl.

“When you think about what we paid for the tickets to be here, the ratio of what you pay for food compared to tickets is very, very low,” Jeff Strain said.

Peter said spending the money is fine with him because it’s a vacation and he was planning on buying more items.

“[I’ll] try not to think about it,” he said.

Strahan subs for bereaved analyst Bradshaw

Fox analyst Terry Bradshaw didn’t take part in this year’s Super Bowl Sunday coverage after the passing of his father, William Bradshaw, on Thursday.

Hall of Fame inductee Michael Strahan replaced him on the network’s pregame show and led the trophy presentation. Chris Myers took Strahan’s place on a pregame red carpet segment.

“On behalf of everyone at FOX Sports, we want to extend our deepest sympathy to Terry, his mother Novis, brothers Gary and Craig and the entire Bradshaw family,” a statement released by the network said. “Terry is with his mother and family in Louisiana, and understandably will not appear on FOX Sports’ coverage of Super Bowl XLVIII today.”

Not-so-cold-weather game

The game kicked off at a balmy 49 degrees after months of concerns regarding the possibility of freezing temperatures and snow.

Fans were able to walk around the stadium with jackets open in the hours leading up to the game.

Around the perimeter of the stadium, heat lamps barely attracted a crowd and an ice sculpture of the game’s Roman numerals slowly dripped as it melted.

Hyped as the “coldest Super Bowl in history,” the game’s 48th rendition didn’t come too close to registering itself in the record books.

It went down as third-coldest behind Super Bowls VI and IX, which were both played at Tulane Stadium in New Orleans.