Nearly Half of Super Bowl 2014 Sponsors Are Wall Street Firms

The 2014 Super Bowl is going to be an expensive one, with top ticket prices double what they were last year, and banks and financial firms taking almost half of the top sponsorship spots.

This year, 12 out of 29 host sponsors are from Wall Street – just a 30-minute drive from MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, N.J., where Super Bowl XLVIII will be held on Feb. 2.

Bank of America Corp. (NYSE:BAC), Citigroup Inc. (NYSE:C), Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (NYSE:GS) and JPMorgan Chase & Co. NYSE:JPM) join Budweiser and Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) as host sponsors this year, each contributing at least $1 million.

"If the game is in Houston, you're going to see a lot of companies related to gas production, and when it's in the Los Angeles area, there's a lot of entertainment money, and there will be a lot of tech when the game comes to San Francisco," Tony Knopp, who works at Spotlight TMS, which advises Fortune 500 companies on buying sports tickets, said to The Record. A quarter of sports tickets in the U.S. are bought by banking and finance companies, he said.

Thanks to Jersey's typically cold February weather and other factors, this year's event could be the most costly yet. Officials estimate the cost could be double that of the 2013 event in New Orleans and 2012's event in Indianapolis -- topping out at nearly $60 million.

Just last month, the NFL announced that tickets will cost up to $2,600, whereas last year the top-tier spots cost $1,250.

"The uniqueness of the Super Bowl in the New York/New Jersey area is driving unprecedented demand and buzz," Brian McCarthy, an NFL spokesman, told the Wall Street Journal.

McCarthy said the league is hoping to capitalize on the value of its tickets that fans might be reselling. "We are looking to close the gap between the face value of the ticket and the true value of a ticket to what has become the premier sports and entertainment event."

Here's a list of all 29 host sponsors of Super Bowl 2014, according to the New York/New Jersey Super Bowl Host Committee.