NFL: 'We've never done this before'

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If you want to attend Super Bowl XLV at Cowboys Stadium but can't get a ticket, the league is giving some fans a chance.

The NFL will sell a $200 ticket to the game, but it comes with a catch. Fans will have to sit on the grass on the East Side of the stadium and watch the game on the huge outside HD TV screens.

"We've never done this before," Brian McCarthy, the NFL's vice president of corporate communications, said Wednesday.

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The offer has been extended to Cowboys Club Seat season ticket holders, and must be purchased in blocks of four. Those who purchase the block of tickets receive a free parking pass, four Super Bowl programs and four scarves.

Tickets to get inside the stadium start at $600 and range all the way to $1,900 for the lower level. Ticket brokers' prices are considerably higher.

Capacity for the game is still being determined, McCarthy said. The outside party plaza tickets will count toward the official attendance.

An estimated 93,000 fans will be inside the stadium. The last Super Bowl with more than 100,000 fans was in 1987 at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, Calif. The record of 103,985 was set in 1980, also at the Rose Bowl.

When the Cowboys play home games at Cowboys Stadium, they sell standing room only party plaza tickets -- located in each end zone -- on a first-come, first-served basis. Those tickets were counted among the team's official attendance.

Party plaza tickets for the Super Bowl will not have inside access to the stadium because the NFL is erecting temporary bleacher seating in the party pass areas.

Cowboys owner Jerry Jones made no secret of his desire to set a Super Bowl record when the stadium opened a year and a half ago, although the issue was out of his hands since the NFL makes all decisions regarding game operations.

Since then, the Cowboys set the NFL record for a regular season game when 105,121 watched the visiting New York Giants play Dallas. A year ago, the NBA All-Star game drew 108,713, the most ever for a basketball game.

Calvin Watkins covers the Cowboys for ESPNDallas.com. Information from The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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Calvin Watkins

ESPNDallas.com

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Calvin Watkins joined ESPNDallas.com in September 2009. He's covered the Cowboys since 2006 and also has covered colleges, boxing and high school sports.