Super Bowl seats have always been pricey, but this year the math borders on surreal: the going rate for a pair of tickets rivals the value of a solid, late‑model used car. In fact, new pricing data shows at least four popular vehicles on American roads are now worth less than what fans are shelling out just to get through the gates. For drivers sitting on one of these models, the choice between keeping the keys and chasing a bucket‑list game has suddenly become very real.
Those four cars span mainstream crossovers, a bread‑and‑butter sedan and a luxury sedan, capped off by a 2022 Subaru Crosstrek that brings the comparison right up to the current model cycle. Their values come from a fresh analysis of trade‑in prices, while separate tracking of Super Bowl listings shows how far ticket costs have climbed. Put together, the numbers sketch a strange snapshot of American priorities, where a few hours in the stands can outweigh years of daily transportation.
The wild new baseline for Super Bowl prices
To understand how a car ends up cheaper than a game, start with the ticket market itself, which has reset expectations for what fans will pay. Pricing data for the Upper Level at Levi’s Stadium for the Super Bowl shows that on a recent Monday, the typical cost for two seats in that upper bowl sat between $12,500 and $15,000. That is not for a luxury suite or a club box, but for standard seats high in the stadium, the kind of spots that used to be the “cheap” way in.
Separate tracking of listings for the Patriots‑Seahawks matchup shows that fans Looking for the most affordable way to attend with a friend are still staring at four‑figure totals. Using a “best value” filter on major resale platforms, the cheapest pairs of tickets are described as having a get‑in price that has fallen from earlier peaks but still sits in the same ballpark as a five‑figure used‑car budget, according to live ticket tracking. That is the backdrop for the car comparison: a world where “nosebleeds” can cost as much as a down payment on a house in some markets, or the full value of a family’s only vehicle.
How analysts matched cars to ticket prices
On the car side of the equation, the key numbers come from a new Edmunds analysis that looked at what dealers are actually offering for trade‑ins on some of the most common vehicles on the road. Rather than guessing at resale values, the researchers pulled real‑world appraisal data to calculate the Average trade‑in value for specific model years, then lined those figures up against the going rate for a pair of Super Bowl seats. The result is a clean, if slightly shocking, comparison between a depreciating asset in the driveway and a one‑day experience in the Upper Level at Levi’s Stadium for the Super Bowl, all grounded in the same market reality that sets both car and ticket prices.
The study zeroed in on four models that are both widely owned and relatively new, so their values still matter to households juggling budgets. According to the Edmunds analysis, the list includes a 2018 Toyota RAV4, a 2020 Toyota Camry, a 2019 BMW 5 Series and a 2022 Subaru Crosstrek, each with an Average trade‑in value that can be stacked directly against that $12,500 to $15,000 ticket range. Once those numbers are side by side, the headline practically writes itself: for some owners, their car is literally worth less than a night in Santa Clara.
2018 Toyota RAV4: the family hauler vs. the big game
The first model in the spotlight is the 2018 Toyota RAV4, a compact SUV that has become a default choice for families who want space, reliability and decent fuel economy without going full minivan. In the used market, that reputation has helped it hold value better than many rivals, yet the Average trade‑in value for this specific year now sits at $12,609. That figure is barely above the low end of the current Super Bowl ticket range for two people, which means a fan could, in theory, hand over the keys to a dealer and walk away with just enough to cover a pair of seats in the Upper Level.
What makes that comparison sting is how central a 2018 Toyota RAV4 still is to daily life for many owners. This is not a beater limping toward the scrapyard, it is a late‑model crossover that can comfortably handle school runs, road trips and commutes for years to come. Yet the market has decided that the Average trade‑in value of $12,609 is roughly equivalent to a few hours of football, halftime entertainment and traffic jams around Levi’s Stadium, as highlighted in multiple breakdowns of used‑car pricing. For a family weighing whether to upgrade or cash out, the idea of swapping a reliable Toyota for a single night out suddenly feels like a very loaded call.
2020 Toyota Camry and 2019 BMW 5 Series: sedan values under pressure
The list does not stop at crossovers. The 2020 Toyota Camry, long the poster child for sensible sedans, has also slipped into Super Bowl territory. Despite its reputation for longevity and low running costs, the Average trade‑in value for a 2020 Toyota Camry is now pegged at $13,091. That puts it only slightly above the lower bound of the $12,500 to $15,000 ticket window, and well within the range where a soft market or a few extra miles could erase the gap entirely.
Then there is the 2019 BMW 5 Series, a car that once carried a sticker price deep into luxury territory and signaled a certain status in the office parking lot. In the used market, however, depreciation has done its work, and the Average trade‑in value for this BMW Series sedan now lines up with the same five‑figure band that defines the going rate for a pair of Super Bowl seats, according to aggregated trade‑in data. For owners, that means a decision to sell might cover a weekend in Santa Clara, but it will not come close to replacing the car with a new equivalent, a reminder that luxury badges do not always protect against the harsh math of depreciation.
2022 Subaru Crosstrek: a nearly new SUV in the same price lane
The most eye‑opening comparison may be the 2022 Subaru Crosstrek, a subcompact SUV that only recently rolled off showroom floors. You can start this week and still find it on new‑car lots, yet the used market has already assigned it a trade‑in value that fits neatly inside the Super Bowl ticket band. Listings that break out the 2022 Subaru Crosstrek by name show it among the four popular models whose Average trade‑in value now trails or barely edges the cost of a pair of seats, a detail highlighted in consumer‑facing model breakdowns.
For drivers, that is a jarring benchmark. A 2022 Subaru Crosstrek still feels new, with current‑generation tech, safety features and styling, yet its resale reality is already colliding with the entertainment economy. Owners who bought in expecting to keep the car for a decade now face a scenario where trading it in might barely cover the cost of two tickets, a hotel and some travel, depending on how aggressively they shop. That tension is underscored in guides that tell You that you can start this week if you want to cash out, while also flagging the Crosstrek in lists of 2022 Subaru Crosstrek values that may soften further.
What this says about priorities, and how owners can respond
Stacking these four cars against Super Bowl prices is more than a party trick, it is a snapshot of how Americans are being forced to rank experiences against essentials. When the Average trade‑in value of a 2018 Toyota RAV4 is $12,609, a 2020 Toyota Camry is $13,091 and a nearly new 2022 Subaru Crosstrek sits in the same band, all while two seats in the Upper Level cost $12,500 to $15,000, the trade‑offs become painfully clear. For some households, selling a car to fund a once‑in‑a‑lifetime trip might feel tempting, but it also means giving up daily mobility in exchange for a memory that cannot be driven to work the next morning, a point driven home in side‑by‑side comparisons of car values and ticket costs.
There are practical takeaways buried in the sticker shock. Owners of these models who are not planning to attend the game can treat the comparison as a reminder to keep tabs on their equity, especially as some guides flag three Car Models Expected To Plummet in the near future and urge drivers to Learn More about timing a sale. For those still determined to be in the stands, the same ticket trackers that show prices for Patriots‑Seahawks falling also highlight strategies for finding slightly better deals, from using “best value” filters to watching for late dips on resale platforms. Either way, the new reality is hard to ignore: in 2026, the line between a dependable used car and a pair of Super Bowl tickets has never been thinner.
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