After talking about basketball and baseball, it’s time to talk about American football, another super popular sport here in the United States. The Super Bowl – the final game – is one of the most famous sporting events in the country – who watched the Lady Gaga’s performance? Who remembers the Beyoncé show? Well … For this post, I counted on the help of the reader Geison Paschoal, true passionate about the sport.
Calendar – there are three seasons. First, the Off-Season, that runs from February to August and includes the famous Draft Day where College Football boys are selected to play for NFL teams. Then, we have the Season (regular season), which starts in September and runs through December. During the Season, there are games every Thursday night (Thursday Night Football), Sundays with several games and also the Sunday Night Footlball, and Monday evenings (Monday Night Football, or simply MNF). Some of the games that stand out most during the Season are those that happen on Thanksgiving Day, where Americans stop in front of the TV to watch the games and eat with the family. On Christmas day the games are also common, but not with the same importance of Thanksgiving, because the season is already practically defined in December. In January, the Playoffs begin (which are the best games). In the playoffs, there are only 16 teams out of 32, with the two best teams from each conference (American Conference and National Conference) resting in the first week of the WildCard. In the second week of the Playoffs, the resting teams are back in contention for the Divisional Card against WildCard winners (this is the best week ever in the NFL), from there, the winning teams face up to the title challenge of the Week following.
This year, New England Patriots won the American Conference and the Atlanta Falcons won the National Conference. The champions of each conference face each other in the Super Bowl. This year, Super Bowl was in Houston, TX, on February 5. It is the most important game in the United States. It usually happens on the first Sunday in February and each year hits a record television audience (so, it has the most expensive advertising time in the world). To get a ticket to watch the Super Bowl, you will have to buy a lot of advance or pay a very high price. To get an idea, for the Super Bowl LI, which happened on February 5, tickets were being sold for between $ 4,500 and $ 10,000. It is worth remembering that the Halftime Show of SuperBowl which is a spectacle apart. This year, we had Lady Gaga. In previous years, Super Bowl have performed epic concerts with Bruno Mars, Beyoncé, Katy Perry, Coldplay and others.
New York Teams – New York has the privilege of having two Football teams in the NFL, the New York Giants (which belongs to the National Conference) that recently won Super Bowl XLII (in 2008) and Super Bowl XLVI (2012), and the New York Jets (New York Giants).
New York Stadium – the league team’s stadiums are the most incredible you can imagine. Full of technology, you will not be disappointed. The stadium where the New York teams play is MetLife Stadium, which is located in East Rutherford, New Jersey, 30 minutes from Manhattan. It is the second most modern stadium in the United States. In addition to the American football games, it is a constant stage of other sporting events and also major musical concerts. If you have time, you can also go to Boston at Gillette Stadium to see the New England Patriots play, or even Philadelphia, at the Lincoln Financial Field (home of the Philadelphia Eagles) in Baltimore at M & T Bank Stadium Ravens) or even in Washington at FedEx Field to watch the Washington Redskins.
How to get to MetLife? it looks complicated but it is not. Besides being fun, it does not take long. The stadium is in a sports complex called the “Meadowlands”. The starting point is Penn Station, in Manhattan. Arriving there, look for the “NJ Transit” signs that will take you to where the trains depart. Go to one of the vending machines or the ticket counter and buy the ticket for “Meadowlands Complex”. To find the gates, you do not even have to look for, just follow the thousands of fans who are going to the same place as you. The train is full and the fans are partying and drinking, but all very quietly. After 20 minutes, the train stops at Secaucus, a major station in New Jersey. From there you have two options: follow the crowd or the “Meadowlands Complex” signs. On game days, the Seacaucus to Meadowlands trains leave every 10 minutes, the ride takes 15 minutes and literally leaves you at the door of the stadium. There, you will present your ticket, go through the security check, and look for your seat (which is very easy to find). If you have difficulties, there are several employees to help you. Inside the stadium, you will see a huge variety of eating establishments, offering everything from hot dog to sandwiches. Also, a wide range of beers, and the price is not even that expensive. It is worth mentioning that the state of New Jersey prohibits by law the sale of alcoholic beverages after the second half of the game begins. This measure aims to avoid car accidents. So do not be surprised if you see fans with 5 or 6 cans of beer in hand …
Prices and seats – the prices vary greatly from one team to another, as it depends on the capacity of the stadium, the performance of the team, the place of the seat among other things. So the choice may depend on it. Keep in mind that it is not very easy to get tickets, as each team plays only 16 times on average throughout the season and fans do not let leftover … The price of admission can vary from $ 50 to $ 10,000. As soon as the official game schedule is released on April, teams start selling tickets. Therefore, between February and April there are no tickets available. (Except for SuperBowl). On the seats, the visibility of the bleachers is very good from anywhere, even if you sit up there. But the most recommended is to get a place down. It’s more exciting.
Where to buy? The website for checking the game schedule and redirecting to the ticket purchase site is www.nfl.com. But here’s a tip for any sport event in the United States: Stubhub acts as a resale ticket for those fans who bought the tickets and put them for resale, either because they gave up or because they bought the card for the entire season and can not go to some specific game. It is easy, cheap, and you can still choose the seat by analyzing the view you will have from the field.
Obrigada Geison pela super ajuda com esse post! Espero que as dicas ajudem vocês!
Laura Peruchi is a Brazilian blogger, author, and entrepreneur. She has lived in Manhattan with her husband since 2014. Since then, she has shared on her blog varied content about the Big Apple. From travel tips, including unusual things to do, shopping tips, etiquette, restaurants, and a lot more, her blog has become a reference in Portuguese (also available in English) for anyone planning a trip to New York City.
