The Super Bowl Report: Can you spare $10,000 for a Super Bowl ticket?

Howdy, I’m your host, Houston Mitchell. Let’s get right to the news.

Bill Shaikin on the Super Bowl: The Los Angeles Rams have not won the Super Bowl, either in their current residency or in their first run in town. Now the Rams are in the 2022 Super Bowl, the game is at Sofi Stadium, and Los Angeles fans have a chance to witness history without getting on a plane.

Yes, you can be there. No, tickets are not sold out. And, gulp, this would put a dent in even the thickest of wallets.

The average ticket price on the free market, as of Monday morning: $10,540, according to TicketIQ.

You could spend that amount of money on four nights — Super Bowl weekend and Valentine’s Day on Monday! — on a suite at the Burj Al Arab in Dubai, often called “the most luxurious hotel in the world.” You could spend that amount on a box seat at Dodger Stadium — on the field level, for all 81 games. You could spend that amount on a double-double at In-N-Out every day for the next six years, with money left over for fries.

But this is the hometown team in the hometown Super Bowl, and you still want to go. The NFL, not the Rams, controls the supply of tickets. The NFL takes 25% of tickets for its use, some of which go to league officials, partners and sponsors, and some to On Location Experiences, a luxury ticket provider in which the NFL holds an ownership stake.

That is why the game is not sold out. Those luxury tickets are on sale, all with amenities from “elevated tailgate fare” to “top-shelf open bar and cuisine,” and with prices Monday ranging from $5,737 to sit in the upper deck to $36,125 to sit on the 50-yard line. Buy a package with four seats on the 50, add in the 18% “service fee” for tickets delivered to your phone, and the grand total comes to $166,498.

On Monday morning, StubHub listed four seats on the 50-yard line at $46,681 each. For four seats, the sale price was $234,814.69, including a service fee of $48,081.68 and a “fulfillment fee” of $8.

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New Raiders coach Josh McDaniels hopes for success in second stint

AND THEN, WHERE TO PARK?

Tickets for on-site parking are on sale now. The prices are:

Standard size automobile: $120

Limousine and Sprinter van: $240

Mini-bus: $300

Bus: $360

For more tips and tricks on where to park and what time to head to the stadium, click here.

WILL TYLER HIGBEE PLAY?

Gary Klein on the Rams: Rams tight end Tyler Higbee suffered a sprained knee ligament in the NFC championship game victory over the San Francisco 49ers, and his status for the Super Bowl is uncertain, coach Sean McVay indicated Monday.

“We’re working through some different avenues,” McVay said during a videoconference with reporters. “He’s such a tough guy, we’re going to do everything in our power to try and get this guy back and ready to go.

“But we are working through some things.”

Cooper Kupp said Monday that “it didn’t look good” when he saw Higbee leave the field, but he did not rule out that he might return to the game.

“Higbee’s so tough, he’s played through so many things, you never know if you’re going to see Big-Rig Higs trotting back onto the field again,” Kupp said.

Kendall Blanton stepped into Higbee’s role and caught five passes for 57 yards.

SOME TAKEAWAYS

There were some key takeaways from Sunday’s win over the 49ers, but here was the key one:

Sean McVay is walking a tightrope with some of his game management decisions

McVay had made some questionable choices in the divisional-round victory over the defending Super Bowl champion Tampa Bay Buccaneers, but the Rams still emerged with a victory despite four lost fumbles.

Against the 49ers, failed challenges by McVay left the Rams with no timeouts with about 10 minutes left. Once again, the Rams escaped.

That’s not a situation the Rams want to repeat in the Super Bowl.

For the rest of Gary Klein’s takeaways, click here.

SUPER BOWL: WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW

Super Bowl Sunday
Feb. 13
at SoFi Stadium, Inglewood

Rams vs. Cincinnati, 3:30 p.m. PT, Rams favored by 4 1/2 points

TV: NBC and Telemundo.
Radio: Westwood One radio (AM 570 in Los Angeles), SiriusXM NFL Radio, NFL GamePass.
Streaming: NFL app (iOS, Android), Peacock app (iOS, Android), Telemundo app (iOS, Android), Yahoo Sports

To buy tickets (after mortgaging your house to afford them): Ticketmaster, OnLocation, HOFExperiences, VividSeats, SeatGeek

Halftime show: Recording artists Dr. Dre, Mary J. Blige, Snoop Dogg, Eminem and Kendrick Lamar are scheduled to perform in the Super Bowl halftime show. The NFL has yet to announce who will sing the national anthem before the game.

Coronavirus guidelines if you attend: Under Los Angeles County’s coronavirus health and safety guidelines, all fans in attendance must be vaccinated. Fans attending the game will be required to wear masks and will be given KN95 masks.

BEST PRO FOOTBALL TEAM TOURNAMENT

Just for fun, over the next two weeks we will be running a tournament to determine the best Super Bowl/NFL/AFL champion of all time. The teams have been seeded 1-64 (using a combination of regular season record, regular season point differential and playoff point differential) and put into four regions, just like the NCAA men’s basketball tournament. Using the Second And Ten computer game, we will run the games to determine the best team of them all. Since there are only 55 Super Bowl winning teams, we chose nine teams from before the Super Bowl era to compete, all champions of either the NFL or the AFL. They are: 1950 Cleveland Browns, 1951 Los Angeles Rams, 1953 Detroit Lions, 1960 Philadelphia Eagles, 1961 Houston Oilers, 1962 Green Bay Packers, 1963 San Diego Chargers, 1963 Chicago Bears and the 1964 Buffalo Bills.

We start with the first round results from the Jim Brown Region:

Jim Brown Region
First-round results

No. 1 1972 Miami Dolphins d. No. 16 2011 New York Giants, 24-7
Mercury Morris ran for 93 yards and two touchdowns and the Dolphins defense held Eli Manning to nine of 24 passing, with two interceptions, one by Jake Scott, the other by Curtis Johnson.

No. 2 1962 Green Bay Packers d. No. 15 2010 Green Bay Packers, 36-30 (OT)
Bart Starr outplayed Aaron Rodgers at quarterback, passing for 345 yards and three touchdowns, including the game-winner to Boyd Dowler with nine minutes remaining in overtime

No. 3 1986 New York Giants d. No. 14 2001 New England Patriots, 33-7
Tom Brady tossed five interceptions in a game the Giants thoroughly dominated.

No. 4 1973 Miami Dolphins d. No 13 2015 Denver Broncos, 17-16
Dick Anderson returned an interception 68 yards for a touchdown for the Dolphins as both offenses struggled,

No. 5 1977 Dallas Cowboys d. No. 12 2008 Pittsburgh Steelers, 27-7
Robert Newhouse rushed for 88 yards and a touchdown and Tony Dorsett also rushed for a touchdown. The Cowboys’ defense held Ben Roethlisberger to 5-of-16 passing for 27 yards and an interception before he was knocked out of the game bu an injury.

No. 11 1993 Dallas Cowboys d. No. 6 1970 Baltimore Colts, 23-21
Emmitt Smith rushed for 81 yards and a TD and Troy Aikman passed for 202 yards as the Cowboys raced out to a 23-7 lead before holding off a furious rally by the Colts in the fourth quarter. Johnny Unitas passed for 253 yards and a touchdown.

No. 10 2000 Baltimore Ravens d. No. 7 2013 Seattle Seahawks, 26-10
Trent Dilfer passed for 173 yards and two touchdown and Matt Stover kicked four field goals for the Ravens, who stopped Russell Wilson and the Seahawks.

No. 9 1963 San Diego Chargers d. No. 8 1990 New York Giants, 27-0
Tobin Rote passed for 219 yards (111 to Jacque Mackinnon) and the Charger defense held Phil Simms to 68 yards passing (7 of 20).

Tomorrow: First-round results from the Walter Payton Region. The teams:

No. 1 1985 Chicago Bears
No. 2 1998 Denver Broncos
No. 3 1978 Pittsburgh Steelers
No. 4 1975 Pittsburgh Steelers
No. 5 1963 Chicago Bears
No. 6 1953 Detroit Lions
No. 7 1994 San Francisco 49ers
No. 8 2017 Philadelphia Eagles
No. 9 1969 Kansas City Chiefs
No. 10 1997 Denver Broncos
No. 11 2002 Tampa Bay Buccaneers
No. 12 1974 Pittsburgh Steelers
No. 13 2006 Indianapolis Colts
No. 14 2018 New England Patriots
No. 15 1952 Los Angeles Rams
No. 16 2007 New York Giants

SUPER BOWL POLLS

Two Super Bowl polls for you to vote in: Which team will win, and who will be named the game’s MVP? Click here to vote. Results will be announced on Super Bowl Sunday.

WHO IS YOUR FAVORITE FOOTBALL PLAYER?

I asked you to send me the name of you favorite football player and why, and I was deluged with answers. Answers will be printed starting today. Keep sending them in by emailing me at houston.mitchell@latimes.com. Include a couple of sentences explaining why that player is your favorite. It’s your chance to be read by the tens of thousands of people who subscribe.

David Berge of La Palma: I grew up watching Fran Tarkenton steer the Minnesota Vikings with his amazing ability to scramble out of danger. He led the Vikings to three Super Bowl losses, an admittedly questionable accomplishment. Also, I share a birthday with him.

Been Boever of Coarsegold: Deacon Jones. The head slap would bring assault charges in today’s NFL. For good reason, a bygone era where the health and well-being of the players gave way to the sheer brutality of the game. No one knows the exact damage that signature move did to the future health of the opponent. But the vision of it in my mind still makes my ears ring to this day.

Alfred Plummer: Daryle Lamonica. Just loved the way he opened up the passing game with deep passes. So accurate.

David Scardino of San Pedro: Though I’m a Jets fan and revere Joe Namath, the clear choice is Jim Brown, by far the greatest I ever saw (and I’ve been an NFL fan and have watched games since 1958.)

And finally

Highlights from Super Bowl I. Watch and listen here.

Highlights from Super Bowl II. Watch and listen here.

Highlights from Super Bowl III. Watch and listen here.

Highlights from Super Bowl IV. Watch and listen here.