I am not one to point fingers, but Jerry Jones, I blame you.
Dallas had one shot to show off to the world, and quite frankly, Arlington disappointed many.
Football was not the problem on Sunday. The game was exciting and emotional, as it would come down to the final possession before the Packers emerged victorious.
Many fans traveled across the country to Dallas for the Super Bowl experience, and while most of them enjoyed the game as planned, 1,250 fans were told just before the game that their seats were not available for the game.
Jones decided to add seats to the stadium in order to maximize profit and break the attendance record at a Super Bowl. His plan was genius – like always – but his execution failed.
The seats all were added but were not all safely installed in time. Unfortunately, the railings, risers and steps in some sections were deemed unsafe. Jones was able to relocate 850 of the 1,250 to equal or better seats, but 400 fans were unable to attend the game in a seat.
That’s 400 fans who were left out of the game. That’s completely ridiculous.
This is would be bad if it was any game, but it was not just any game. It was the biggest sporting event in America.
This gaffe was as big as Jerry World itself and made all of Dallas and Texas look bad.
The weather didn’t help, as it played a role in delaying the installation of the seats. It also ended up blocking off four of the 10 entrances into the stadium. This caused mass confusion as fans were herded around the stadium to other entrances. Many fans were understandably upset when it took some people more than an hour and a half to get into the game. Fans who hadn’t arrived early even missed the kickoff.
For the most part, I always have been a fan of Jerry Jones. However, this weekend Jones just disappointed me. I am not sure the next time Dallas will host a Super Bowl, but when that day comes, hopefully no fans will be left out in the cold.
Don’t feel too badly for the 400 fans though. It turns out, they eventually were brought into the stadium and allowed to watch the game from a plaza-level T.V. screen. They received a refund of three times their ticket value and got to walk on the field after the game. If that wasn’t enough, the NFL announced today that they will give all 400 fans tickets to next year’s Super Bowl.
In my opinion, Jones’ embarrassing Super Bowl gaffe turned out to be a pretty good deal for those fans.