Winnipeg football fan Kelly Loewen booked his Minneapolis hotel eight months ago but he and his buddies still don’t have tickets to Sunday’s Super Bowl.
“Honestly, if there’s tickets to be had, they’re here in Minneapolis,” the New England Patriots fan told 鶹ý Channel on Saturday. “So it’s a bit of a shot in the dark, but we’re cautiously optimistic that we can make something happen.”
Leaving home on Friday morning, Loewen managed to cover the 740 km that separates Winnipeg from Minneapolis in just six-and-a-half hours. Travelling with two friends, he’s been taking in Super Bowl parties and events, even meeting some players.
“We’ve had a ton of fun so far,” he said. “We booked the hotel on a whim ... about eight months ago, just thinking, ‘Hey, we’ll see what happens.’ We had a free cancellation.”
“When it became (clear) that New England was going to be in it, it kind of became a no-brainer for us,” he added.
As of Saturday evening, tickets for the sold-out football game were listed for more than US$2,500 each on resale websites. Loewen isn’t ready to shell out that kind of dough but remains optimistic about being able to nab seats.
“We’re hoping an hour or two before the game, maybe some people get a little bit more desperate,” he said. “We’re told that we should be hopeful.”
And if he can’t find tickets, Loewen says he’ll have no regrets.
“If we wake up in the morning and we try to schmooze with people and we don’t get into the game, then we might drive halfway back to Fargo and watch the game from there, and see where the night takes us.”
While Loewen is hoping that the Patriots will win their second straight NFL championship, he says it could be either team’s game.
“I think it’s going to be a close battle,” he said. “The Eagles are a great team too.”