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From million-dollar private boxes to carpooling on private jets, here's how billionaires are doing the Super Bowl

Madeline Berg   

From million-dollar private boxes to carpooling on private jets, here's how billionaires are doing the Super Bowl
  • Attending the Super Bowl as a billionaire can easily cost six figures.
  • The 2024 game is expected to be the most expensive yet, with suites costing as much as $2.5 million.

The Super Bowl is always a hot ticket, but this year’s big game, which boasts exciting quarterbacks, a popular host city, and, of course, Taylor Swift, is expected to be the most expensive yet.

Including the actual tickets — the cheapest going for more than $8,000 — and Las Vegas hotel rooms and flights, it’s not inconceivable to imagine most attendees could spend five figures for the weekend in Sin City.

The ultrarich, though, are expected to spend many times that.

The Super Bowl has always been a draw for billionaires and powerful executives. There are the teams’ owners — the Chiefs are owned by the Hunt family, billionaires who came from oil money, and the 49ers are owned by Denise York, who is worth $5.8 billion per Forbes — but also business types using their corporate cards to cozy up to clients, plus the uberwealthy who simply don’t want to miss out on the fun.

Last year’s game and the parties around it attracted titans from inside and outside the sports world. Elon Musk was spotted sitting with Rupert Murdoch. Fanatics’ Michael Rubin's annual party attracted billionaires like Apollo’s Josh Harris and the Patriots' Robert Kraft. Even Goldman Sachs CEO David Solomon reportedly performed a DJ set at the 2022 Sports Illustrated party.

“They want to be where their counterparts are,” Elisabeth Brown, a client manager at travel and lifestyle concierge company Knightsbridge Circle, told Business Insider. “The Super Bowl is always a draw. It’s an excuse to see the best of the best in terms of sports, parties, and entertainment.”

Las Vegas is turbo-charging that.

The location of where the Super Bowl is being held obviously dictates how much it'll cost attendees, Barnabas Carrega, the CEO of luxury travel firm GR8 Experiences, told BI. “It also dictates the type of clientele that wants to attend, especially on the corporate side.” So, Sin City may be more of a draw to some than, say, Tampa, Florida — and they're prepared to pay more for it.

The first expense is the game itself, with many wealthy football fans opting for suites. While some of the smaller boxes, which seat about eight people, can go for about $400,000, Brown said, many suites are going for over a million.

“Price points in Vegas are ludicrous,” Carrega said, adding that he’s seen suites priced as high as $2.5 million.

Many of those springing for the top-dollar boxes are sponsors and corporations, Carrega said, adding that he is exclusively working with corporate clients for this year’s event. (The one private client who inquired about tickets decided against it when they learned the price of seats at the 50-yard line: $80,000 a head.)

Included with the suites — and even some ticket packages — are food and beverages like top-end liquor and champagne, as well as a private entrance with enhanced security. For an extra $10,000 to $250,000, Carrega arranges in-suite meet-and-greets, pre-game huddles, and photo ops with former Super Bowl champions or commentators.

The game is just the start for the budgetless

Seats to the game are just a jumping-off point for spending.

“Everything is bigger and shinier in Las Vegas,” Brown said. “It is just so well suited to keep the party going even a little bit longer than you would at other destinations, and it's fun for members to lean into that — especially when budget is not an issue.”

She’s helping her clients get on the list for invite-only parties or secure VIP tickets to events like the annual Maxim fete, which, this year, boasts performers 50 Cent and 21 Savage, as well as five-figure minimum spends for the highest level of access.

When it comes to accommodations, Vegas is proving easier than many other Super Bowl destinations, Brown said. While a Super Bowl in a smaller town may require renting out a private residence and bringing in staff, Vegas is full of luxury options.

For those who don’t gamble, there are suites at the Waldorf Astoria — the presidential ones go for more than $15,000 a night — and the Four Seasons, which is offering an $18,000 per night “big game” rate. Casino fans may prefer the Wynn, whose suites are sold out, but started at about $3,000 per night, Brown said.

More in demand than a suite or hot table, though, is private jet parking. With only about 500 spaces available across Sin City’s four airports, the rich are having to take cars in from airports hours away.

Charter service VistaJet, whose private flights cost between $14,000 and $25,000 an hour, recorded a 25% increase in flight bookings over last year’s Super Bowl.

“The Super Bowl in Vegas has been, if not the biggest, will be one of the top events that we've seen as a company,” VistaJet US president Leona Qi told BI, adding that demand has eclipsed events like the World Cup and Davos.

For each of the plane ride requests, the company will cater to clients' needs. These can include the brand of water they prefer at their preferred temperature, Nobu meals, cupcakes, and even balloons in their favorite team’s colors.

But if you didn’t remember to reserve your plane in advance, don’t fret: Many ultra-high-net-worth individuals are "carpooling" on jets this year. And most of the time if you’re hitching a ride, you won’t have to chip in.

“At that level, I don’t think they ask friends to pay half,” Qi said. “It’s a future flight you can ask your friends for in return.”



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