GLENDALE, Ariz. (Reuters) – Fans dressed in Kansas City Chiefs red and Philadelphia Eagles green excitedly bounced up the walkway to State Farm Stadium on Sunday, as the curtain lifted on a tough-to-predict Super Bowl 57.
Traffic snarled around the home of the Arizona Cardinals as the Valley of the Sun lived up to its name, with warm, pristine conditions prevailing three hours before kickoff. The NFL said it expected the Glendale, Arizona, stadium’s retractable roof to remain open.
It’s widely expected to be a tight matchup as the Eagles were the odds-on favourites by a slim margin over newly-crowned MVP Patrick Mahomes’ Chiefs, as Philadelphia hopes to hoist the Lombardi Trophy for the first time since 2018.
Mahomes has the benefit of experience over his 24-year-old rival Jalen Hurts, featuring in the Super Bowl for the third time in four years.
Local fans prompted a last-minute surge in ticket-buying on resale platform StubHub, where ticket sales spiked nearly 15% in the 24 hours before the NFL title game.
As traffic crawled to a standstill a mile outside the Arizona Cardinals’ home stadium, locals hoping to make a quick buck held up cardboard signs offering $80 makeshift parking spaces for those willing to make the trip on foot.
Once at the stadium, however, fans had few issues getting inside, trickling into the stands well before the two teams were expected to take the field for warmups, as cheerleaders strode around the pristine grass.
Super Bowl 57 is set to kick off at 4:30 p.m. MT (2330 GMT).
(Reporting by Amy Tennery in Phoenix; Editing by Christian Radnedge)
