Every Super Bowl leaves behind more than a final score.
Long after the confetti is swept up (sometimes we don't even wait) and the postgame quotes fade into trivia, what remains are the physical echoes of the game itself. Things you could hold in your hands. Just think of all the collectibles born in this single moment. The game-winning touchdown ball is the pinnacle of Super Bowl lore. We might also think of game worn jerseys and signatures penciled straight over the fences and onto anything the fans provide.
Among the most overlooked, yet increasingly meaningful, of these artifacts are Super Bowl Game Programs. Once sold for a few dollars outside the stadium gates, they have quietly become some of the most emotionally resonant and historically important collectibles in professional football.
An old Super Bowl program is no longer just a guide to that specific day’s events. It is a snapshot of a moment when the future was still undecided. The rosters now list players before they became legends. The ads reflect a culture frozen in time. The editorials speak with optimism, never hindsight. To flip through a program from Super Bowl I is to step into a world that had no idea it was witnessing the birth of the most dominant sporting event in American history.
At GoCollect, we maintain a complete database of every Super Bowl Game Program ever produced -- from the AFL-NFL World Championship Game in 1967 to the modern, meticulously designed editions of today. What that data shows is clear and easy to tackle: interest in these programs is rising, and the earliest issues are leading the charge.
Early Super Bowl programs, especially those from the first decade, are scarce. Many were discarded, damaged, or simply forgotten. Truly, they weren’t meant to be collectibles. They were meant to guide you through a very specific, and rowdy day. That scarcity, combined with their historical weight, has driven steady increases in demand and value.
Any collectible that has ties to a massive yearly spectacle should most certainly be expected to flare up as the event approaches, and Super Bowl Programs have zero exception to that rule. In the past month, we've ingested 35 CGC-graded sales covering dozens of Super Bowls; 7 sales over just the last 2 days. I expect a dozen or so more to occur over the next several days leading up to kickoff.
Huddle Up: Price Action You Should Know
Two very recent sales for the Super Bowl I Game Program should be examined closer for better understanding. A CGC 8.0 and a CGC 7.5 both sold for $1,100 apiece, the lowest sale price recorded in each of those grades. While this downward trend may seem alarming, many higher grade copies have been discovered since those early sale prices were set, including two 9.8s, two 9.6s, and a bunch more in every grade below. All new collectible assets suffer volatility while the population report fills in, and these respective grades have filled in the most. Don't hold back if you want this now. Just make sure you run the right play.
Super Bowl III. A must have for any Jets fans. A 7.5 sold for $550 during the blitz of sales occurring at the end of January. That sale tracks well, and is also dwarfed by a CGC 9.2 that sold in April of 2025 for $1,350. There are 5 others in the 9.2, 2 9.4s and 2 9.6s. I have to wonder what some of these top condition copies will realize when we see them offered to the public.
Super Bowl IV. Chiefs over the Vikings in Louisiana. 1970. We had 2 sales occur over the last month in CGC 8.5 grade. The first sold for $532 and the most recent for $650. Another 8.5 sold back in August for $450. The 8.0 grade is trending up as well. The highest sale was $1,350 for a 9.2 almost a year ago to this day. There is one other at that grade and none higher.
Super Bowl VI. This was the first game program to feature the Vince Lombardi Trophy on its cover, a symbol that would soon become a defining visual element of Super Bowl programs in the decades that followed. Over the years, the trophy would be reimagined, stylized, and embellished. Here, it appears restrained and believable, presented not as an icon yet, but as a prize on a shelf. An 8.5 sold on January 31st for $298. And a 7.5 in December went higher for $336. Top price paid was $840 for a 9.4.
Super Bowl VII. Dolphins and Redskins. Collectors must be loving how much this cover plays into the era’s graphic vernacular, with chunky, shadowed lettering and retro pop design. It sells frequently. 1 of 2 CGC 9.4s (the highest grade found for this program) sold during last year's Super Bowl frenzy in February for $960. There have been 6 sales between kickoffs. The most recent was an 8.5 that sold for $250 a day ago.
Super Bowl VIII. The 2nd straight appearance and victory for the Miami Dolphins. What an absolutely gorgeous cover. A 9.0 sold a few days back for $525. This one is trending up in every grade.
Super Bowl IX. The first of 6 total Super Bowl victories for the Pittsburgh Steelers. They would win Super Bowl X as well the following year. Whoever placed the only bid and nabbed the top of pop 9.0 for $600 in August of last year in an eBay auction is a big winner too. Hold onto that and don't fumble.
Super Bowl XXXVIII. Don't bother trying to decipher those numerals. The only thing that matters here is Tom Brady and the New England Patriots securing their 2nd Championship ring in 3 years. There are 2 recorded sales for this program, a CGC 9.0 that sold for $275 in August, and more recently, a CGC 9.4 that auctioned for only $44 on eBay in early December. There are no graded sales for Super Bowl XXXVI where Brady and the Patriots won their first. In fact, there are no graded sales for their 3rd Championship, or any other ring, either. For fans of this dynasty, could this prove to be a lucrative project if you've been looking for early entrance to a new collectible sports trend?
Just because there is little sales data on some issues does not mean interest is confined to those early issues. We have sales coming in for Super Bowl LVII, Super Bowl LVIII, and even one graded sale for last year's Super Bowl LIX. A CGC 9.4 sold for $120, and there are already 6 9.8s amongst 16 total Universal copies.
There was also 1 PSA-graded 9.6 sale on January 6th of Super Bowl XIX Game Program for a Best Offer of $225. When we update this article for Super Bowl 2027 I anticipate there is going to be a far higher amount of PSA-graded sales to be discussed, and we'll hopefully have seen some sales on the highest graded copies of those earliest issues.
As the upcoming Super Bowl approaches, attention naturally turns to legacy. Records will be discussed. Dynasties will be debated. Careers defined. Yet quietly, collectors are also looking backward, searching for tangible connections to the games that built the foundation for what we celebrate today. For fans who were there, or who watched with family members now gone, these programs might serve as vessels of great memories.
The rise in collectibility of Super Bowl programs mirrors a broader trend in sports memorabilia -- a shift toward items that tell complete stories. These programs don’t isolate a single play or player. They contextualize an entire event.
What was once an inexpensive sports souvenir is slowly become another valuable historical document.
