18 Feb 9th–Feb 15th, 2023 phoenixnewtimes.com phoenix new Times | music | cafe | film | culTuRe | NighT+Day | feaTuRe | NeWs | OPiNiON | feeDBacK | cONTeNTs | moments ever. Patriots cornerback Malcolm Butler picked off Seahawks quar- terback Russell Wilson at New England’s 1-yard line to earn Tom Brady his fourth ring. The NFL has changed a lot since then, and so has our city. Since 2015, the Valley has welcomed more than 200,000 new permanent residents. “Downtown Phoenix has changed a lot since the last big game,” Phoenix Mayor Kate Gallego said in July 2022. “We look forward to visitors experi- encing the growth of business, restaurants, arts, entertainment, and our massively improved transportation.” During the last Super Bowl in Glendale, $52 million was added in hotel room revenue in metro Phoenix, according to Visit Phoenix. Hotel occupancy was at 95 percent in metro Phoenix, the seventh- highest ever. The light rail zipped 390,000 riders around town that week — the most ever in a week. Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport saw more than 180,000 departing passengers on the Monday after the Super Bowl, also a record for the airport. The city of Phoenix received $25,000 for FitPHX and Library reading programs, according to city documents. How Much Are Tickets to the Super Bowl? There are still about 2,900 Super Bowl tickets left on the market, but if you want to claim the temporary rights to a seat inside State Farm Stadium, you’d better be willing to shell out more than $9,300 a pop — the average cost per ticket as of Monday, according to ticket data sites. Remaining tickets start at just under $6,000, according to ticket data aggregator TicketIQ, while the most expensive seat is selling for $40,000. But the average price per seat on the secondary market is still $600 less than last year’s Super Bowl at SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles, according to ticketing tech- nology company Logitix. Ticket prices “saw a slight uptick in demand after the Super Bowl matchups were confirmed,” Logitix spokesperson Eric Nemeth said. Are Hotels Sold Out? West Palm Beach, Florida-based booking service Hotel Planner reported that all of the downtown Glendale hotels are booked for Super Bowl LVII, and surrounding hotels in greater Phoenix will likely be sold out ahead of the game, too. There are only 12 hotels in downtown Glendale totaling 18,000 rooms, which is fewer than most Super Bowl host cities, according to Hotel Planner’s chief marketing officer, Philip Ballard. “What I’ve gathered from calling about half of these hotels is that they have been completely sold out for more than a year,” Ballard told New Times. “I suspect that once Glendale was announced as a likely city, all the corporations, sponsors, and rabid fans who want to attend regardless of who plays gobbled up those rooms two or three years ago.” How Much Are Hotel Rooms in Phoenix? Hotel rooms in metro Phoenix are selling for sky-high prices — triple the rates of an average weekend, Ballard said. The Holiday Inn at Glendale Stadium has been sold out since last year with rooms that went for a whopping $900. Marriott’s Renaissance Hotel in downtown Phoenix, which charges less than $300 per night on average most days, is renting rooms out during Super Bowl week for $1,500 a night. According to Ballard, room rates in metro Phoenix are already about 20 percent higher during snowboard season. Other blockbuster sports escapades in Phoenix next weekend bumped up prices even more. “Other major events like the PGA Tour are surely going to affect occupancy and room rates because there is extremely high demand and limited supply,” Ballard said. “It’s like a forced multiplier effect.” Airbnb and VRBO rentals, meanwhile, can cost up to $2,000 per night on average, according to Hotel Planner. He predicted that the hotel industry will continue to thrive for years in Phoenix as newcomers to the Valley for the Super Bowl make future plans to return to the city for other events and sightseeing opportunities. “The Super Bowl is a high holiday for most Cha-Ching! from p 17 Macayo’s can dish out chips and salsa, which is the favorite Super Bowl Snack in Arizona. Macayo’s >> p 20
