The Super Bowl is over, but many were left with a bad experience. A large issue has come to attention and that is that 1250 temporary seats that were not useable due to fire hazards.
This year’s Super Bowl was played at the new Cowboys Stadium in the Dallas, Texas area. The stadium boasts a large seating area with room for nearly 100,000 fans. Unfortunately for 400 of them they were left without a seat to see the big game due to the Fire Marshall not being able to approve of the temporary seating that was put in place. These fans were instead shuffled throughout the stadium to the Club level and standing room only areas.
The Super Bowl is an event in which not just the game but the entire day and week leading up to the game is an experience that is never forgotten. To get to the stadium in Texas and have officials tell you your seat is unavailable for today’s game is heartbreaking to any fan of the game. After thousands of dollars are spent just getting to the Super Bowl it makes it even worse that all that money is basically “thrown down the toilet” since they don’t get to witness the spectacle of the game and all that surrounds it.
But there is a glimmer of hope for these few fans who were ousted of their rightful seats. They have been offered by the NFL the ability to attend any future Super Bowl of their choice and triple refund of their ticket face value which is estimated at around $800 so they will receive $2400. While watching the game without a seat these fans were also given free food, drinks and merchandise for their unfortunate loss.
All of that is nice, but for those Cheese-Heads from Wisconsin and the Steeler fans from Pittsburgh, they did not get to see the game that they desperately wanted to see. They watched it on TVs yes, but it is not the same experience and those rosters will never be the same as they were in that game. When they attend their future Super Bowl of choice they will not see the same 53 men that trotted out onto the field in February of 2011. The team they will see will be different, that is if their favorite team even gets back to the big game. Many fans could be stuck watching two teams that they have no interest in at all. The chances are small but the Green Bay Packers and Pittsburgh Steelers may not get into the Super Bowl for a while or even ever again, although it is likely that they will be playing on Super Bowl Sunday sometime in the future.
No matter how much the NFL gives to these fans, they will never be able to take back the troubles they caused them. It must seriously be put into question as to how much planning the Cowboys did in creating these extra seats for more fans. If it comes down to a planning error, then the Cowboys and NFL should be ashamed of themselves greatly; they ruined many fans’ experience, yet they consider themselves a professional organization in a league of 32 professional franchises. A mistake like that should only happen once in a lifetime for anyone, it really should never happen at all.
A very forgetful day for the Dallas Cowboys and the National Football League.