$400,000 seats can ensure a warm Super Bowl

For those willing to pay enough, this year’s Super Bowl need not be outdoors.

The NFL is selling access to MetLife Stadium’s luxury suites during the U.S.’s most-popular sporting event with prices starting at $400,000, according to Brian Lafemina, NFL vice president of club business development.

It’s the first time in years that suites have been available for the NFL championship, thanks to about 220 skyboxes built into the $1.6 billion East Rutherford, N.J., stadium, which opened in 2010 and is shared by the New York Giants and Jets, Lafemina said. In previous years, the teams, host committee and league sponsors have used up the inventory. The Superdome in New Orleans, the site of last year’s NFL title game, has about 150 suites.

“MetLife, being a beautiful, brand-new building, has enough suites to satisfy all those needs and more,” Lafemina said in a telephone interview. “It doesn’t happen very often that we have the opportunity to offer suites to the general public.”

Lafemina declined to comment on how many suites the NFL was selling.

Robert Tuchman, president of the sports and entertainment marketing company Goviva, said he’s seen suites available on the secondary market for as much as $600,000, a price that may increase with each winter storm that rolls up the U.S. East Coast between now and game day on Feb. 2. This is the first Super Bowl to be held in a cold-weather city without a domed stadium.

“I think they’re banking on the fact that people are going to want to be inside,” Tuchman said in a telephone interview. “It’s New York. It’s a huge corporate market. It’s Wall Street. When push comes to shove, people will spend those kind of dollars.”

MetLife Stadium’s suites were designed by David Rockwell, who has designed several Nobu restaurants, along with the Tony- nominated sets for the Broadway musical Kinky Boots. The suites are available in a variety of sizes and configurations, many with leather easy chairs indoors and heated seats outside.

There are wet bars, refrigerators and flat-screen displays, along with access to the stadium clubs. The 10,700-square-foot Commissioner’s Club has hardwood floors and two fireplaces.

Food and beverages are included in the price of the suite, along with the NFL’s service staff, Lafemina said. Game day will feature visits from gridiron heroes to be named later, he said.

“We’ll have NFL legends coming to the suites purchased through this program and taking pictures and all that stuff,” Lafemina said. “You’re not just buying for the Super Bowl, this gives you access to all sorts of Super Bowl events.”

Those include the warm-up question-and-answer session known as “media day,” as well as the NFL House, a VIP drop-in location for the league’s business partners located this year at the Marriott Marquis on Broadway and 46th Street in Manhattan. Amenities there include shoe shines, hot-towel shaves and spin classes.

“It’s more than just a game — you’re buying a package of experiences that includes a suite,” Lafemina said.