Advertisement

LEAGUE MORE CAREFUL WITH EXTRA SEATS

 
Published Jan. 25, 2012|Updated Jan. 25, 2012

Times wires

INDIANAPOLIS - The NFL is trying to avoid another super gaffe.

A year after hundreds of ticketed fans were left without seats at Cowboys Stadium, organizers have added only 254 temporary seats to Lucas Oil Stadium for the Feb.5 game between the Giants and Patriots.

League spokesman Brian McCarthy said officials decided in March the capacity for a stadium that normally seats about 63,000 for football would be expanded to roughly 68,000 for the Super Bowl - with most of the additional capacity coming from standing-room only tickets.

The league still could add padded seats to camera platforms among other options, but no more tickets are going on sale.

Hours before last year's Green Bay-Pittsburgh game, league officials said about 1,250 temporary seats were deemed unsafe. The league scrambled to find about 850 seats, forcing the rest to standing-room only locations to watch. Two days after the game, the displaced fans sued, alleging breach of contract, fraud and deceptive sales practices.

TWO KINDS OF DRAMA:Chris Mara, son of the late Giants owner Wellington Mara, has had quite a week. He saw his team win the NFC title Sunday in San Francisco. In the crowd at Candlestick Park were Chris' daughters Kate and Rooney - yes, the same Rooney Mara nominated Tuesday for Best Actress at the Academy Awards for her role in The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo. "I was sitting home by myself watching the broadcast and I gave a pretty big yell after I heard her name," Chris Mara said. "Then I cried a little and went to church and lit a few candles on the way to work and called her."

MIND YOUR BUSINESS: Making a rare mid-week address, Giants QB Eli Manning told teammates to take care of personal business early so they can focus on preparations for the game. "I just told them a little bit how to prepare for this," said Manning, one of 15 Giants who played in their Super Bowl XLII win over New England. "...We have to have great preparation. Prepare this week like you are playing the game this week."