The History of Super Bowl Tickets - Ingles

Pete Rozelle worried that maybe the NFL had charged fans too much for Super Bowl I. This article was written by Ray Buck and appeared in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.

That game, then called the AFL-NFL World Championship, played out before 31,000 empty seats at the LA Coliseum. Tickets sold for $6, $10 and $12.

Needless to say, overpricing became less and less a concern of the NFL, because every Super Bowl since the second one has been a sellout.

But now, some of the ingenuity behind the Super Bowl ticket design has waned.

The league introduced a "permanent core design" for each Super Bowl logo -- different than the ticket design -- starting with SB XLV at Cowboys Stadium.

Each Super Bowl logo going forward will now include: 1.) a background of the host stadium and 2.) the Lombardi Trophy as its central theme. This was unveiled at the South Florida Super Bowl last year.

We're still waiting for the unveiling of the SB XLV ticket, and that's really a safeguard. The league purposely delays showing off the design each year to deter forgeries.

Historically, SB ticket designs have run the gamut from lavish works of art to mundane images that badly miss on identifying a particular game or host city.

The Star-Telegram has made five picks in each of three categories:

The Best

SB XV

Result: Raiders 27, Eagles 10

MVP: QB Jim Plunkett

Location: New Orleans (Superdome)

Date: Jan. 25, 1981

Comment: Jazzy. What else would you expect from a New Orleans Super Bowl? Bourbon Street always plays a major role. The SB IX ticket saluted a trio of jazz legends, but this ticket ties together brass instruments and the Lombardi Trophy in perfect harmony.

SB XVI

Result: 49ers 26, Bengals 21

MVP: QB Joe Montana

Location: Pontiac, Mich. (Silverdome)

Date: Jan. 24, 1982

Comment: Detroit's first Super Bowl ticket is... well, classic design. Think muscle-car hood ornaments artistically grouped around the Lombardi Trophy in a sweeping tribute to the Motor City. The entire ticket appears Turtle-waxed.

SB XXVIII

Result: Cowboys 30, Bills 13

MVP: RB Emmitt Smith

Location: Atlanta

(Georgia Dome)

Date: Jan. 30, 1994

Comment: It's Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey, at first glance. A dark border is created by a symmetric pair of lush tree rows -- uniquely Georgia -- and a turf-cover road that leads to what is the second of three '90s Super Bowl championships for the Dallas Cowboys.

SB XXX

Result: Cowboys 27, Steelers 17

MVP: CB Larry Brown

Location: Tempe, Ariz.

(Sun Devil Stadium)

Date: Jan. 28, 1996

Comment: The Cowboys punch their ticket to a third Super Bowl title in four years. By now, SB tickets are intricate works of art, aesthetically pleasing to the eye. What's indigenous to the desert? A curious Gila monster perched on a rock.

SB XXXII

Result: Broncos 31, Packers 24

MVP: RB Terrell Davis

Location: San Diego

(Qualcomm Stadium)

Date: Jan. 25, 1998

Comment: Zoo animals... it must be San Diego. While this Super Bowl is best remembered as the first of two in a row for retiring John Elway, the ticket is a colorful tribute to the most famous zoo in America. It's the only Super Bowl ticket to involve lions.

The Worst

SB VIII

Result: Dolphins 24, Vikings 7

MVP: RB Larry Csonka

Location: Houston (Rice Stadium)

Date: Jan. 13, 1974

Comment: Wild West cliché depicts a generic football player amid a trio of graphics left over from the Houston Livestock Show & Rodeo. The movie Urban Cowboy was just around the corner. Houston's next SB ticket, printed 30 years later, was classier.

SB XII

Result: Cowboys 27, Broncos 10

MVP: DT Randy White,

DE Harvey Martin

Location: New Orleans (Superdome)

Date: Jan. 15, 1978

Comment: The Lombardi Trophy in a field of cumulus clouds. If nothing else, it foreshadows The Simpsons, which didn't air until the late '80s. This is the first Superdome Super Bowl, although a marching band stands on Astroturf outside the building.

SB XX

Result: Bears 46, Patriots 10

MVP: DE Richard Dent

Location: New Orleans (Superdome)

Date: Jan. 26, 1986

Comment: A ticket design that was nearly as bad as the game itself. The style is Early Kinko. Nothing about it says host region or host stadium, and only a gray rendition of the Lombardi Trophy. The ticket looks like it was printed overnight.

SB XXI

Result: Giants 39, Broncos 20

MVP: QB Phil Simms

Location: Pasadena, Calif. (Rose Bowl)

Date: Jan. 25, 1987

Comment: Lombardi Trophy on steroids? The message here is: "Can you see me now?" It does appear that the Lombardi Trophy is holding its own news conference, with SB XXI logos cascading in the background. Big on trophy, small on imagination.

SB XXIX

Result: 49ers 49, Chargers 26

MVP: QB Steve Young

Location: Miami

(Joe Robbie Stadium)

Date: Jan. 29, 1995

Comment: Trying to find the purpose behind this green-on-green design is too much work. It's basically a bowl of pea soup. During a decade of Super Bowl ticket imagination, this one lacks simple contrast and characterization.

The Historic

SB I

Result: Packers 35, Chiefs 10

MVP: QB Bart Starr

Location: Los Angeles

(Coliseum)

Date: Jan. 15, 1967

Comment: The inaugural game brings a no-nonsense approach to its ticket design. It's a bronze bust of a '60s football player.

SB III

Result: Jets 16, Colts 7

MVP: QB Joe Namath

Location: Miami

(Orange Bowl)

Date: Jan. 12, 1969

Comment: The first time that the championship trophy is depicted on the ticket. It's later called the Lombardi Trophy.

SB IV

Result: Chiefs 23, Vikings 7

MVP: QB Len Dawson

Location: New Orleans (Tulane Stadium)

Date: Jan. 11, 1970

Comment: "Super Bowl" first appears on a ticket. The name is the brainchild of AFL architect Lamar Hunt, whose Chiefs win SB IV.

SB V

Result: Colts 16, Cowboys 13

MVP: LB Chuck Howley

Location: Miami

(Orange Bowl)

Date: Jan. 17, 1971

Comment: Still the only Super Bowl with an MVP from the losing team. The ticket debuts the use of Roman numerals.

SB XXXVIII

Result: Patriots 32, Panthers 29

MVP: Tom Brady

Location: Houston

(Reliant Stadium)

Date: Feb. 1, 2004

Comment: It's a Roman numeral mouthful, this first seven-digit Super Bowl. We won't see another until SB LXXVIII in February 2044.