MetLife Stadium. Photo credit: Flickr/Gabriel Argudo Jr
Football is big business. It's one of the few areas where advertisers have the nearly undivided attention of a much sought-after demographic. Because of this, companies are willing to fork over upwards of $4 million just for a 30-second spot at this weekend's Super Bowl.
Overall, advertisers spend millions to reach sports fans each year. Not only are fans bombarded with ads during the game on TV, but those attending the game see branding no matter where they look. Companies like Ford (F 0.30%) and FirstEnergy (FE 0.20%), for example, want to ensure fans associate their brands with the teams they love by spending millions on stadium-naming rights.
Unfortunately, when it comes to this weekend's big game, insurance giant MetLife (MET 0.62%), which holds the naming rights for the stadium hosting this year's Super Bowl, is facing an unexpected foe. Cold weather and plunging temperatures on the East Coast are causing game tickets to attend this week's Super Bowl XLVIII to also plunge. Some fans would rather see the game from the comfort (and warmth) of their own home than sit in the near-freezing weather that is expected at this year's game. Because of this, approximately 20% of the roughly 82,000 seats were still available as of Monday.
For many of America's most faithful football fans, this is a head-scratcher. These fans live in some of the coldest cities in America, and have no problem attending games even when the temperature drops. To salute these fans, we've put together a slide show of America's 10 coldest pro football cities. These are cities where fans would gladly endure winter's chill in order to see their team claim victory in the big game.
