Between questions about protests, security and economic impact, Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner deftly fielded some queries about … the football game.
“I think it’s going to be a thrilling game,” the host city’s mayor said of Sunday’s Falcons-Patriots matchup in the Super Bowl. “I think the offense on both teams is going to be dynamic. The defense for the Patriots is awesome – sometimes they’re underrated defense-wise. But Atlanta has a very potent offense.
“I think when you put the two together, there should be a lot of excitement. I think in the end the fans and all the people that will be watching will be the ones that will benefit from this football game.”
Turner wouldn’t predict a winner, and he expressed a fondness for both teams. He praised the Patriots’ “history of winning” but added: “Atlanta has just been playing some darn good ball.”
“My preference would have been for the Houston Texans to be (in the game), but in the absence of the Houston Texans being in the Super Bowl, I’m very delighted to have the New England Patriots and the Atlanta Falcons,” Turner said. “I know both mayors and have a great deal of respect for them. We just want to make sure we give them a Super Bowl experience when they come to this city.”
Where the buyers are
StubHub reports that purchasers from Massachusetts have bought slightly more Super Bowl tickets on the online ticket exchange than have buyers from Georgia.
Fifteen percent of sales have been to Massachusetts buyers and 13.5 percent to Georgians, StubHub said.
The most sales — 20 percent — have been to buyers from Texas. That’s partly because the game is in Houston and partly because of early buying on the secondary market by Cowboys fans who were optimistic their team would reach the Super Bowl.
Almost eight percent of purchases have been made by international buyers, StubHub said. That includes buyers from 18 different countries as far away as Australia, Japan and South Africa.
The average re-sale price to date for the Falcons-Patriots game has been $4,439, down almost 12 percent from the same point before last year’s Denver-Carolina Super Bowl, according to StubHub.
Blank name-drops Trump for Kraft
In a joint interview on NFL Network, Falcons owner Arthur Blank and Patriots owner Robert Kraft were asked to name the most famous person in their cell-phone contacts.
Blank answered first: Kenny Chesney.
Then, before Kraft answered, Blank pointed to him and interjected: “Donald Trump over here.”
That was a reference to Kraft’s well-known friendship with the president.
But Kraft offered a different answer: Elton John.
Later, Kraft told reporters Blank is “one of my favorite owners.”
“After he decided to buy the team,” Kraft said, “(then-commissioner) Paul Tagliabue asked him to sit with me, which I did, and he asked me for advice. I tried to give him the best advice about thinking strategically in the long term and what it means for community if you put it all together. And I know how important that Atlanta community is to him.
“And it’s pretty cool we’re here together.”
Different questions, different answers
While the nation’s football fans want the Falcons to win the Super Bowl, they don’t expect them to do so.
Those are among the findings of a new poll by Public Policy Polling.
Roughly twice as many people polled said they will root for the Falcons to win, 53 percent, as said they will pull for the Patriots, 27 percent.
“Americans are divided about a lot of things these days, but there’s one thing our new national poll finds they can come together on: wanting the Patriots to lose the Super Bowl,” PPP’s report on its findings states.
Alas, most fans nationwide expect to be disappointed by the game’s outcome: 52 percent said they think the Patriots will win, while 36 percent believe the Falcons will win.
The poll also asked fans for their favorite and least favorite NFL quarterbacks. The Patriots’ Tom Brady prevailed on both counts, being named favorite QB by 22 percent of respondents and least favorite by 24 percent.
The Falcons’ Matt Ryan was named favorite quarterback by 7 percent of respondents and least favorite by 2 percent.
Boos for Patriots, not for Falcons
In another measure of the teams’ relative popularity, the introduction of the Patriots’ team captains onstage at Monday’s Opening Night (formerly Media Day) event was greeted with boos from the crowd in Minute Maid Park.
The Falcons’ captains were introduced to applause.
Although not referring specifically to the booing or the poll, Kraft made a comment that could reflect on either: “You know what, I’ll just leave you with this thought. Jealousy and envy are incurable diseases. And … if you’re going to play in that field, it’s nice that people have some reason to look at you and play it. But that’s the way of the world, and we’ll try to take it in and turn it into something that’s an advantage.”
Numerology
$5,000,000: Reported cost of a 30-second commercial during the Super Bowl
140,000: Out-of-town visitors expected to come to Houston for the Super Bowl and related festivities, almost double the number of seats in NRG Stadium
5,000: Media members expected to cover Sunday's game
Sound bites
“Arthur (Blank) asked me for some advice about being in (the Super Bowl). I told him, ‘Don’t let anyone ruin these two weeks for you. … Focus on how lucky we are to be here.’”
— Patriots owner Robert Kraft
“I never set out as a one-year plan or a two-year plan or a three-year plan or any of that. I don’t think that far ahead. I way more enjoy in the moment.”
— Falcons coach Dan Quinn
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