INDIANAPOLIS -- For the first time, fans will be allowed to attend Super Bowl Media Day.
The NFL announced Wednesday that 5,000 people will be allowed into Lucas Oil Stadium on Jan. 31, when reporters interview players from the two teams. They will join roughly 3,000 accredited media members in an event that usually has comedy mixed in with traditional interviews.
Frank Supovitz, the NFL's senior vice president of events, says the league has considered allowing fans into the event for the past few years. Super Bowl XLVI will be played on Feb. 5.
Tickets will be available in early December. Prices have not been announced yet, but Supovitz says they will be "affordable."
Fans will receive a gift bag, including a radio that will allow them to tune into NFL Network and hear individual interviews from the podium microphones.
The league also announced that for the first time fans will have free access to the Super Bowl Media Center where NFL players, celebrities and other athletes are interviewed on various television network sets and on Radio Row as well as access to behind-the scenes tour of Lucas Oil Stadium in the run up to Super Bowl XLVI.
Copyright 2011 by The Associated Press