NFL: Super Bowl 55 shatters record ticket prices after Patrick Mahomes leads Kansas City to win

Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes celebrates after his side booked their place in the Super Bowl. Photo / AP

Super Bowl 55 is on track to be the most expensive Super Bowl in the history of American football after Tom Brady's Tampa Bay became the first team in NFL history to play in a Super Bowl inside their home stadium.

The Buccaneers win in the NFC Championship game has combined with a COVID-19 crunch on ticket availability to drive average ticket prices to levels never seen before in the history of the sport.

Tampa Bay will meet the Kansas City Chiefs on February 8 after Patrick Mahomes set up a dream showdown against Brady with a win over the Buffalo Bills in the AFC Championship game yesterday.

Mahomes threw for three touchdowns to lead the Chiefs to a 38-24 win, booking their second straight Super Bowl appearance. He finished with 325 passing yards with 29 completions from 38 attempts with no interceptions.

Next Month's Super Bowl will be the most expensive Super Bowl to attend. Ever.

A gate of more than $USD180 million could eventuate despite just 22,000 fans expected to be allowed inside the 65,890-seat Raymond James Stadium because of COVID-19 social distancing.

The Athletic reported last week the showdown is already in record territory with an average ticket price of $US12,477.

The re-sale market is truly terrifying, with the cheapest ticket available listed at more than $USD7500

The average ticket price shatters the previous record of $9,723 per seat, set in 2015.

Action Network's Darren Rovell reported on Monday the cheapest ticket available has soared again to $USD9540.

It started to get silly once the Buccaneers-Chiefs line-up was confirmed with ticket sales exploding.

$160,000: What a Tampa Bay Buccaneers fan just paid for FOUR lower level 50-yard line seats to Super Bowl LV.

— Darren Rovell (@darrenrovell) January 25, 2021

Two seats just posted, 8 rows up off Chiefs bench for Super Bowl LV.

$70,000 for the pair.

— Darren Rovell (@darrenrovell) January 25, 2021

It's crazy to think the average price for a ticket to Super Bowl 46 11 years ago was $900.