CINCINNATI — Tickets to the Super Bowl are certainly not cheap, and Bengals fans are doing all they can to get to the big game, including winning tickets.
What You Need To Know
- Lauren Jolley is an Air Force veteran and a lifelong Bengals fan
- She entered into Colts owner Jim Irsay's contest on Twitter to win a trip and tickets to the Super Bowl
- Jolley said tickets to the game were definitely out of budget, with the cheapest ticket going for $5,000
- Jolley and her longtime boyfriend are making the trip and are hoping for a Bengals Super Bowl win
This basement is dedicated to the Bengals, and so is this family.
Lauren Jolley said she and her long-time boyfriend Brandon Lowe were hoping to go out to L.A. for the Super Bowl festivities but certainly couldn’t afford tickets to the game.
“There’s no way we would have been able to afford to go to the game," Jolley said. "We were looking to go out to LA just to party for the Bengals parties and stuff, but there’s no way we were going to get a ticket into the stadium. That's just not in our budget.”
But Jolley saw her chance. Colts owner Jim Irsay promised to send some of the Bengals’ most-passionate fans to the Super Bowl. So Jolley posted this picture:
It shows her and her sister during the 1988 Super Bowl as little girls as well as a picture recreated with her daughter and niece. Little did she know it would get Irsay’s attention.
“What is going on? I never get this much traction on Twitter so I don’t know what’s going on," Jolley recalls. "So I went and looked and I pulled it up and I was like oh my gosh, that’s a tweet from Jim, and oh my gosh, that’s my Twitter handle!”
And here’s the tweet to prove it:
“Here we go! So many deserving, wish I could send all of you. Congrats to hardcore fan and Air Force Veteran Loner Lauren," the tweet said.
And of course, it’s not just the tickets Jolley gets.
“Not just tickets but they’re paying for our airfare, our hotel, the tickets (and) a little bit of spending money," she said.
With two tickets, her toughest decision was next.
“It’s hard to pick who you take," she said.
But ultimately she decided to take Lowe, also a lifelong Bengals fan.
“We’ve been around it kind of our whole life and just this is incredible," Lowe said. "Just to go from, seeing those guys when we were young and now to be in this position to actually go to the Super Bowl, yeah, it’s definitely crazy.”
Now, the couple is prepping for a long weekend away.
“It still seems surreal," Jolley said. "I still feel like I’m dreaming!”
And, of course, hoping for a historic win.
“I’m looking forward to the Bengals winning this and bringing the trophy back to Cincinnati for the first time ever," she said.