The Superbowl is always an exercise in excess. It's very name implies that it's going to be a giant, grandiose event. Every year we're treated to stories about how much one commercial costs or how much a local area reaps from hosting the event... but this year, there's a story about some excess that we all paid for. A flyover by the Blue Angels that cost nearly a half million dollars of taxpayer money.
Now, flyovers are nothing new. This certainly is the the first Superbowl or sporting event that it's happened, in fact it's fairly common. But personally, I never considered what it cost. Obviously there was some expense, but I never realized it was this much.
A Dallas TV reporter estimated that the flyover cost the Navy a total of $450,000. His total includes gas, operational costs and air time for the four F-18s, which traveled from Virginia to Texas for the event. The Navy told CNBC that its official records only tallies the amount spent on gas, which came out to $109,000 for the Super Bowl flights.
Either way, it's a lot of money for something that is over within a few seconds. In fact, don't know that I even remember seeing it on TV. So is this worth it? Is this one tradition that might be better to let go?