Irish Super Bowl fans sneak into arena for seats worth $25,000
Paul McEvoy and Richard Whelan were unable to find affordable tickets from touts around the stadium in Glendale, Arizona
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.A pair of Irish Super Bowl fans got the experience of a lifetime after they managed to sneak into the final and blag seats valued at $25,000 each.
Paul McEvoy, from Cahir in Tipperary, and Richard Whelan from Dublin, were unable to find affordable tickets from touts around the University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale, Arizona. So they walked straight through the front door and sat down.
Whelan did an interview with the NFL Network in an attempt to find legitimate tickets, to no avail.
Later he tweeted: "I fu**ing made it!! Snook in straight through the front door! NOW LET'S GO HAWKS!."
Whelan told RTE Radio One Morning Ireland that the game plan was to be "super confident".
"We just thought if we pretend we belong there, nobody will question us," he said.
"Between one layer of security and another we just walked in behind these 20 first aid workers, straight up to the front door and hid in behind them.
"We walked past another security guard that just wasn't paying attention. We could see the field then, the stadium and the atmosphere was insane."
The two young men walked around the stadium, not looking back in case they were being followed by security.
"I remember looking at Paul's face, we just couldn't believe we got in," Richard said.
The pair ended up hopping seats for the first part of the game as fans went to stock up on hotdogs and nachos, before they had a real stroke of good luck.
"We spoke to this guy and told him we had sneaked in," Whelan said. "He told us the girls beside him were in the halftime show and so wouldn't be coming back to their seats after halftime.
"So we ended up in the fourth row, sitting beside a former Super Bowl champion, Lawyer Milloy, who gave us a play-by-play of the game."
In a perfect end to what must have been a perfect day, the pair skipped the queues and hopped on a VIP bus which brought them back to the street of their hotel.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments