With 10,000-plus hotel rooms and 10 major attractions within walking distance of Mercedes-Benz Stadium, Super Bowl LIII is touted as the most walkable NFL championship in history.
While veteran NFL reporters have told me that New Orleans and Indianapolis offer more compact layouts, I must salute Atlanta’s Super Bowl Host Committee. Instead of the usual NFL Winter Carnival that sprawls several miles between attractions, everything is nearby. Instead of having to budget every minute to maximize one’s Super Bowl experience, one can go from here to there on a whim and still have time to get back for lunch.
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The NFL Experience, NFL Live, Media Center and Mercedes-Benz Stadium are connected like a giant outdoor mall — separated by a few city streets and barricades. One-stop-shopping. Convenient. Appreciated.
The NFL should mandate Super Bowl hosts to make their experiences as walkable as this one - opposed to the demands created by sprawling sites in Minnesota last year. Or, San Jose/San Francisco/Santa Clara. Or, East Rutherford/Newark/New York City.
Cheers to Atlanta for creating the best Super Bowl “village” I’ve gotten to attend!
*****
Like any Super Bowl, It costs an arm and a leg to get into the game Sunday. But, unlike every other Super Bowl, one won’t have to mortgage other body parts to get a meal or buy souvenirs.
Sure, one can pay top dollar for whatever the NFL is selling at its kiosks around Atlanta’s Super Bowl village, but, one can find the same items cheaper elsewhere.
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A trip to Target for protein bars and snacks yielded several scores of licensed Super Bowl merchandise. T-shirts and long-sleeve shirts cost under $25 — around half the price from what’s being sold near the stadium and in hotels. Great-looking Super Bowl LIII caps are below $20. The Super Bowl LIII mini-helmet that costs $50 downtown is $40 at Target, which has turned out to be a Super score.
While I smiled at the disparities on the otherwise identical price tags, I frowned at another label on both packages: MADE IN CHINA.
While I will buy more Super Bowl LIII merchandise to bring home to friends, colleagues and family. But, I won’t buy it until the day after the game. Traditionally on Monday, all Super Bowl items (aside from those that indicate the Super Bowl champ) get reduced to 50% off. The price of the official game ball will deflate (like a bad joke about Brady) from $209 to around $105.
As for cheap eats, everybody here in Atlanta is talking about the concession prices we will see Sunday. Self-service unlimited soda for $2. Pizza, pretzels, popcorn and beer for $5 or less. Hopefully, the rest of the American sports world takes notice and adopts this plan: treat customers with respect.
Hear Jared Max sports reports every weekday morning on Fox News Headlines 24/7 Sirius XM Channel 115.
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