News/Commentary

Super Bowl: The Expense, The Odds, The Game and More

February 7, 2023 by CollegeFootballPoll.com Staff

Glendale, Arizona is pulling out all the stops for the NFL and Super Bowl XVII. And they should, because thousands  of visitors are in town with no chance of actually attending the game. Instead, they will be flocking to as many of the open events as they can gain access.

Those events include a Super Bowl Soulful Celebration on February 8 at the Mesa Arts Center, and the Historic Old Town Tailgate from Feb. 8 to Feb. 12 with no ticket required.

The Free Super Bowl Experience continues on February 9th and 10th at Hance Park with Lee Brice in concert on the 10th.

Hance Park is also where the first-ever ultimate Super Bowl Watch Party will be held on Sunday with the game broadcast on the biggest screens in Arizona beginning at 11 a.m. local time.

You can find a Full List of Events, courtesy of local news station KPNX (NBC, ch. 12).

The Kansas City and Philadelphia players and coaches are trying to drown out the noise as much as possible, but the NFL dictates participation in so many aspects outside of the game that one has to wonder how much better the actual contest would be if they didn't have to participate in all the ancillary activities.

The game itself is this Sunday night with a scheduled 6:30 kickoff. If you don't have a ticket and want to attend, TicketCity.com had 3,167 tickets listed on its website as of 1:30 p.m. ET on Tuesday, ranging from $4,177 for upper level corner seats to $23,647 for 4th row on the 50-yard line. The more expensive ticket comes with a package that includes a meal package, VIP Pass, and access to the VIP Lounge.

If you are going to buy a Super Bowl ticket at this point, you should be very careful who you trust to sell you a verified ticket. TicketCity.com has the reputation of being a top-rated source for trustworthiness.

The line on this week's game has been rather steady and was sitting at -1.5 in favor of the Eagles on the FanDuel Sportsbook on Tuesday afternoon with a moneyline of -122 and an over/under of 50.5.

The sportsbook also features 3 Bets to Make Right Now which highlights the 1st quarter spread, Travis Kelce's receiving yards and AJ Brown as favorite to win the MVP.

Another item that has been closely watched this week is the injury situation for both teams. The most concerning injury was Patrick Mahomes' ankle sprain, but there was never really a chance that he would be sitting out the game.

Other Chief's injury news early in the week focused on WR Mecole Hardman (IR, Pelvis), WR JuJu Smith-Schuster (?, Knee), CB L'Jarius Sneed - (?, but cleared concussion protocol), WR Kadarius Toney (Ankle/Hamstring, but says he's defintely playing), and OLB Willie Gay Jr. (?, shoulder).

For the Eagles, G Landon Dickerson had been a practice holdout (elbow, rest), along with OT Lane Johnson (groin/rest), C Cam Jurgens (hip/rest), CB Avonte Maddox (toe/rest), and DE Robert Quinn (foot/rest).