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As a subscriber you can listen to articles at work, in the car, or while you work out. Subscribe NowThe Super Bowl Host Committee will take a loss on its much-anticipated zipline attraction in the Super Bowl Village, despite the $10 per ride fare and the potential for more than $100,000 in revenue.
“The $10 cost to ride will not cover the expense of providing this wonderful experience to our visitors,” said Dianna Boyce, spokeswoman for the Indianapolis Host Committee. “Our goal was to keep it affordable so that many people could enjoy it. We view it as an investment in the fun factor of the Village.”
The attraction opens to the public at 3 p.m. Friday and will be in operation for about 100 hours over 10 days. Boyce declined to reveal the attraction’s total cost to the committee.
(In the video below, IBJ provides a point-of-view, first-person video of the zipline ride.)
The host committee contracted with Canadian firm Ziptrek Ecotours to install the ride, which spans some 800 feet along Capitol Avenue in front of the Indiana Convention Center.
Riders ascend a 100-foot temporary structure, are attached via harness to one of four parallel ziplines, and then speed to an landing platform about 40 feet above street level.
Ziptrek brought 30 employees to Indianapolis, including a 12-man crew to install the ride, according to Jay Conroy, the firm’s operations manager for the Super Bowl Village zipline.
The attraction can handle more than 100 riders per hour, Conroy said. The ride itself lasts about 15 seconds.
Given those parameters, the ziplines should be able to provide more than 10,000 trips over the 100-some hours of operation, generating more than $100,000 in revenue.
It appears likely that the attraction will be running at capacity over its hours of operation. Organizers made available a portion of the total available tickets in the weeks before Super Bowl festivities started, and they sold out. Walk-up tickets will be available for purchase every day through Feb. 5, Boyce said.
Conroy told IBJ that waits for the zipline ride at previous events have ranged from two to nine hours. Ziptrek has operated temporary installations at the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, British Columbia, and the 2010 Canadian Football League Championships in Edmonton, Alberta.
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