Sporting events these days have turned into a whole different animal, from pyrotechnics to visual effects, and contests that can make a fan thousands of dollars richer. However, even with all of the fun perks, nothing will take away from the pure atmosphere of a major sporting event. So what is the best sporting event to attend these days? Let's take an in-depth look at the best sporting events in the world today.
Each event will be judged on four categories: cost, atmosphere, fans, and overall fun. The cost of the events will include flight, hotel, food, and ticket to the event. Each category will be based on a one to ten scale, one being the worst and ten being the best. Each event will receive an overall score based on the average score from each category. Let the games begin.
The Super Bowl
The first event that I will judge is America’s biggest sporting event, the Super Bowl. The Super Bowl has turned into an all-American holiday, where everyone gathers around with friends and family, eats junk food, debates about which company has the best commercial, and of course, cheers on their favorite team to win the big game. Last year, the Super Bowl became the most viewed TV event in American history with 114.4 million people tuning in to watch. Watching the game on TV is nothing compared to actually attending the game, but going to the game will cost a pretty penny. One ticket for a lower level seat on the 50 - yard line will cost $15,950 according to StubHub.com.
To sit with celebrities in the box seats will cost around $100,000. The cheapest ticket on StubHub was $3,500. In those seats, it may be wise to bring some tissues in case your nose starts to bleed. Along with tickets, a parking pass will be $220 unless you want to walk a country mile to the stadium and miss the first quarter of the game. Also, don’t forget you are going to have to find a place to stay, the cheapest hotel you will find will be around $200 a night. With money aside, the Super Bowl is one of the most exciting events to attend in the world. The days before the game are complete with many events that fans can attend. There is the Pro Bowl, which features the best players from the NLF who face off in a game against one another five days before the Super Bowl. Also, there are golf tournaments, a fan fest, and many chances to meet NLF players from today and past years. With football being a game full of exciting moments, big hits, and big plays, the Super Bowl is always a game for the ages.
Along with the game, the fans are treated to a halftime show that includes one of the biggest music stars of the year. The halftime show is a full spectacle of lights, sounds, and sometimes a little controversy. The event has a great atmosphere but because it is at different stadiums each year, it makes it a challenge for super loyal fans to be able to support their team in the game if it is held in another state because it is timely and costly. That said, if a person stayed in the cheapest hotel, ate the cheapest food, and sat in the cheapest seat, it would cost around $5,000 to attend. If someone did the exact opposite, it could cost them above $100,000 (!) to attend this event.
The Super Bowl should be something on every sports fan's bucket list but it takes a pretty penny to attend.
Cost: 5 ($5,000 - $103,250 per person)
Atmosphere: 9
Fans: 8
Fun: 9
Score: 7.75 / 10
FIFA World Cup
The FIFA World Cup is the biggest event in the sport of soccer. 32 teams from 32 different countries all meet to duke it out and crown a champion as the best soccer country in the world. Soccer is the world’s game and every country strives to win a World Cup. The fan support from even the smallest of nations in enormous. Fans from every country flock into the city where the World Cup is held and let everyone know why their country is the best.
At the last World Cup in 2014, which was held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, over 3,400,000 million fans attended with an average of 53,000 people at each game. Lasting for a whole month, there is plenty of action for soccer fans who attend the World Cup. The ticket prices vary for each game. If you are a resident of the host country, the tickets are very cheap. The cheapest ticket bought in 2014's World Cup was $20 by a Brazilian national. Ticket prices depend on the teams playing and the stage of the tournament. The tickets for the group stage of the event will be cheaper than the last stages of the cup such as the semi-finals and final. For the group stage game in the last World Cup when the U.S. and Germany played, the average ticket for someone traveling from another country was $637. For the U.S. vs. Portugal game, tickets were going for $90-$220. These tickets were lower priced because the game did not feature one of the top tier teams like Germany or Brazil.
For a quarterfinal matchup between two top tier teams, it cost between $1,500-$1,600 in 2014. To attend the World Cup final in Brazil, which featured Germany and Argentina, the average ticket was $7,100 and could soar as high as $20,000. For hotel cost, in the smaller cities of Brazil like Manaus, a fan could have found a decent hotel for $150 a night and the food was cheap all around the city. However, if a fan wanted to go to a major city like Rio or Sao Paulo to stay the duration of their trip, it would have cost them upwards of $500 a night and the food was way over priced.
To attend the World Cup in Brazil, it would cost someone around $2000 if they wanted to go to the low-level group stage games, stay in one of the jungle cities, and pay a minimum price for food. If a fan wanted to attend the final game with the best seats, stay in Rio, and eat at all the finest restaurants, it could have a price tag of $24,500. The World Cup being in Brazil made it more affordable than ever for people to attend because some of the host cities were deep in the jungle and the cost of the hotel and food was low, but the next World Cup is in Russia, and all the host cities will be major cities. This will make the prices sky rocket. Besides the pricing of the event, the atmosphere of the World Cup is second to none. Being a world-wide event, it is a melting pot of culture. People from 32 different nations all converge in one country to cheer on their national teams. Each fan base has its own unique songs and outfits, which makes each game its own individual experience. Since the World Cup is a traveling event, if a fan were to attend each World Cup it would give them the chance to explore the world. The World Cup is an event of culture, sport, and overall national pride.
Cost: 8 ($2000 - $24,500 per person)
Atmosphere: 9
Fans: 10
Fun: 9
Score: 9
Summer Olympics
Just like the World Cup, the Summer Olympics is a clash of nations, but instead of 32 countries participating, over 200 countries will compete in the Olympic Games with more than 10,000 athletes showcasing their skills. Unlike any sporting event, the Olympics does not just showcase one sport, it holds events for 28 sports. Fans from over 200 countries will flock to where the Olympics is held and will not be shy about showing pride for their country. Attending the Olympics is a dream for any sports fan. With 28 sporting events to choose from, there is no time for boredom and there is something for everyone to choose from. Ticket prices for the Olympics vary for each event. For the top events like swimming and track, the face value of a ticket could be anywhere from $94 to $700 dollars, but most of the time the resale value pushes the tickets up to double their worth.
The most in-demand sports from the London Olympics were swimming, track and field, men’s basketball, tennis, beach volleyball, and soccer. A person could find a ticket for a soccer game for $94 to $178, but the most demanded event was swimming where tickets started at $200 and could fetch prices as high as $750. The lower level events like archery, marathon, cycling, and weightlifting could be purchased for $70. The best way to go would be to get tickets for the preliminary of an event because the tickets are much less than the semi-final or finals of an event. The average hotel price in London, which was the site of the last summer games, was $230 a night, so for a week, a person should look to pay around $1,600. Stores and restaurants around the town will hike up their prices because of the large amount of tourists coming into town.
Overall, no event can beat the atmosphere of the Olympics. With everyone cheering for their respective country in multiple events, the city, and the surrounding areas has a certain buzz about it. That same buzz can be felt in each individual country that is competing. Like the World Cup, the Olympics is a traveling event which changes cities each time the event is held, therefore giving fans the chance to travel and experience new things they could not find at home. For 17 days, the world stops and looks towards the Olympics as something to cheer for in a world that desperately needs hope. If a person went to the Olympics for a week and stayed in the cheapest hotel, ate the cheapest food, and went to the smallest events, they could expect to pay around $5,000 per person. If a person wanted to stay in a nice hotel, eat at nice restaurants, and go to all the top-level events, they could expect to pay around $15,000. Going to the Olympics would be worth every penny.
Cost: 7 ($5,000 - $15,000)
Atmosphere: 10
Fans: 10
Fun: 10
Score: 9.25
