The Super Bowl LVIII matchup between the Kansas City Chiefs and the San Francisco 49ers may have been a thrilling game that ultimately ended in a double-overtime victory for the Chiefs, but it certainly didn’t lead to massive attendance numbers.
As Ben Fischer of the Sports Business Journal points out, Super Bowl LVIII actually had the lowest attendance of any Super Bowl in the history of the game, not including the game that followed the 2020 pandemic season.
“This is the smallest announced attendance in Super Bowl history, except for pandemic season.
1. 61,629, SB LVIII (Vegas, ‘24)
2. 61,946, SB I (LA, ’67)
3. 62,417, SB LIV (Miami, ’20)
4. 63,130, SB XXVI (Minn., ’92)
5. 67,603, SB XXXVII (San Diego, ’03),” Fischer said in a post on X, the social media website that was formerly known as Twitter.
This is the smallest announced attendance in Super Bowl history, except for pandemic season.
1. 61,629, SB LVIII (Vegas, ‘24)
2. 61,946, SB I (LA, ’67)
3. 62,417, SB LIV (Miami, ’20)
4. 63,130, SB XXVI (Minn., ’92)
5. 67,603, SB XXXVII (San Diego, ’03)— Ben Fischer (@BenFischerSBJ) February 12, 2024
Obviously, this is pretty shocking news and it led to a lot of reactions on social media.
As I noted a couple weeks ago, Allegiant stadium is smaller than the 70k minimum the NFL has said you must have to host a Super Bowl. Honestly though, who cares. Vegas is a great place to play the game. Could have it there every year imo. https://t.co/DIybVN2g8v
— Will (@GAWillStewart) February 12, 2024
Maybe shouldn’t have priced tickets so high. https://t.co/G1yFduyvWW
— Nancy Armour (@nrarmour) February 12, 2024
More than 3,000 below the stadium’s official capacity… https://t.co/bQp9hfOfH1
— Matthew Zimmerman (@Zimmsy) February 12, 2024
Wow. LA Memorial Coliseum was two-thirds filled for the first Super Bowl. Full house tonight. https://t.co/cuJ9EfV5O5
— Illinois Golfer (@IllinoisGolfer) February 12, 2024
Because no one wanted to see these 2 teams https://t.co/zA1ZsG2k0N
— Clit Dempsey 🇵🇸 (@thotzekage) February 12, 2024
Sky-high prices…and stadium design. https://t.co/RNWwgYATu4
— OGhoopsprguy (@exhoopsPRguy) February 12, 2024
MIGHT be that the nose bleeds were $8,000-10,000. A bottle of water is $11, the cheapest beer is $17, best beer is $29, a small slice of pizza is $19, a regular hamburger is $22, cheeseburger is $26, small bag of popcorn is $19. How is it fiscally responsible to go??? https://t.co/g0kU3mZKKF
— Amish With An iPad (@mhmiller) February 12, 2024
It’s worth noting that a big reason for this is that Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas has a capacity of just 65,000, which is far smaller than most venues that have hosted the Super Bowl in the past. But it’s still not exactly ideal for there to be thousands of empty seats in the stands for the biggest game of the season.
