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    World of Sport

    Fans charged £125 to stand outside Super Bowl

    The Super Bowl is probably the largest annual sporting event in the world so getting a ticket is next to impossible.

    However, you might think that you can still experience a lot of the atmosphere by turning up at the stadium and milling around outside to watch American football's biggest game.

    No problem — that will be $200 (£125) please.

    This year's event is being held at the Dallas Cowboys' new stadium and the Cowboys owner Jerry Jones is said to be determined to break the Super Bowl attendance record of 103,985 which happened in 1980.

    The only problem is that the capacity of the stadium will be limited to around 93,000 for the match, so the Cowboys have come up with the novel idea selling extra tickets for 'a party plaza' where fans will be able to sit on the grass on the east side of the stadium and watch the game on the huge outside HD TV screens.

    "We've never done this before," Brian McCarthy, the NFL's vice president of corporate communications, said after announcing the deal.

    What's more, the tickets for the plaza are only initially available in blocks of four, meaning you have to splash out a total of $800 (£500) to take the NFL and the Cowboys up on their offer. 

    Those who purchase the block of tickets do receive a free parking pass, four Super Bowl programs and four scarves, but unsurprisingly the move has been met with an angry response by fans.

    "$200 to watch the Super Bowl from outside the stadium? Jerry Jones is an eye-patch away from being a Bond villain," wrote Alex Waldhour on Twitter.

    Yahoo Sport! US blogger Chris Chase added: "How people standing outside a stadium counts as attendance is beyond me. If you're standing next to an unplugged TV, does that mean you'll be tallied in the Nielsen TV ratings?"

    While Yahoo! Sports user The PatsFan joked:  "Hey, I'm only charging $100 to stand outside my house in New Hampshire and watch the game on my big screen through the bay window. What a deal!"

    Ticket prices to actually get inside the stadium start at $600 (£375) and range all the way up to $1,900 (£1,188) for the lower levels of the stadium, with touts charging way above that amount.

    The match itself takes place on February 6th, with the Championship games to decide who plays in the Super Bowl taking place on the weekend of January 22-23.

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