Countdown to Super Bowl XLVI - making sure you have a ticket - Ingles

The troublesome temporary seats that left the NFL with a black eye at last year's Super Bowl in North Texas should be a non-issue when the game is played at Lucas Oil Stadium on Feb. 5.

That's because there will be only 254 of them.

Frank Supovitz, the league's senior vice president for events, says the decision was made in March to dramatically scale back initial plans that included several thousand temporary seats.

"One of the things we determined was that the temporary seating plan for Lucas Oil Stadium was aggressive and unproven," Supovitz said. "We determined that we should go with things that were more easy to control and things that were either installed before or considered before."

Last year's Super Bowl at Cowboys Stadium was infamous for a seating snafu that displaced 1,250 ticketholders because railings, seats and risers had not been installed. The fans either were relocated or had to watch on TV monitors, prompting some to reject the NFL's offer of various forms of compensation to instead enter into litigation that is pending.

Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones had aimed to set a record by attracting 105,000 fans. The attendance of 103,219 fell 766 short of the mark set when the championship game was played at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, Calif., to close the 1980 season.

Lucas Oil Stadium, with a regular capacity of about 63,000, was supposed to seat 70,000 for the Super Bowl.

But the league says it will be closer to 68,000, with most of the additional tickets being standing-room only.

"It wasn't a question of revenue vs. safety," Supovitz said. "It was a question of, 'What is the best fan experience?' "

Indianapolis Colts owner Jim Irsay could not help but be mindful of last year's Texas-sized problem as he planned for the smaller venue.

But he said of the seating configuration that was ultimately approved by the league, "Dallas didn't really affect us as much as our wanting to get it right.

"We weren't just trying to shoot for a bigger number, so to speak.

"We wanted to be sure that with any of the temporary seating that we had a comfort level. They would be there installed, they would be good seats, that sort of thing."

(source USA Today)