The Super Bowl is Recession Proof

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In Steelers Nation, anyway.

Steelers Nation isn’t about to let a recession ruin a chance at witnessing a possible record sixth Super Bowl victory.

By mid-day yesterday, less than 24 hours after the Steelers vanquished the Ravens in the AFC championship game, fans had snatched up all 50 three-day Super Bowl packages, at $4,895 a person, being offered by AAA East Central.

The trips sold out about as rapidly as they did in 2006, the last time the Steelers made the Super Bowl. But that time it involved a less expensive motor coach trip to Detroit, not a plane ride to Tampa, Fla.

“This probably parallels the type of response we had in previous years, which is a pleasant surprise given the economic circumstances,” said Jim Lehman, AAA East Central senior vice president….

The Travel Authority, an Indiana-based agency teaming with the Steelers to offer trips to the Super Bowl, had 75 orders by noon yesterday for its highest-priced three-day package deal, starting at $1,725 per person, based on double occupancy. The package includes hotel accommodations, air fare, a welcome reception and tailgate party, but no game tickets.

Add to the price of these packages the price of tickets, which are currently going on stubhub.com for $1,800 each. All of those tickets will sell, believe me, despite the fact that a family of four might pay over $10,000 for the whole experience.

Oh, and by the way. Here we go, Steelers. Here. We. Go!

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We need to start raising significantly more in donations from our online community of readers, especially from those who read Mother Jones regularly but have never decided to pitch in because you figured others always will. We also need long-time and new donors, everyone, to keep showing up for us.

In "It's Not a Crisis. This Is the New Normal," we explain, as matter-of-factly as we can, what exactly our finances look like, how brutal it is to sustain quality journalism right now, what makes Mother Jones different than most of the news out there, and why support from readers is the only thing that keeps us going. Despite the challenges, we're optimistic we can increase the share of online readers who decide to donate—starting with hitting an ambitious $300,000 goal in just three weeks to make sure we can finish our fiscal year break-even in the coming months.

Please learn more about how Mother Jones works and our 47-year history of doing nonprofit journalism that you don't elsewhere—and help us do it with a donation if you can. We've already cut expenses and hitting our online goal is critical right now.

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