As political tensions rise between Canada and the United States, Canadians travelling south of the border continue to fall.
But many British Columbians are making an exception for the Seattle Seahawks, playing in Super Bowl 60 against the New England Patriots.
“I’m not very thrilled about what’s going on here, but I will say that there are not as many Canadians here, though,” said Roxy Ellis, Agassiz resident.
Ellis is a B.C. native and Seahawks superfan. She attended a handful of home games at Lumen Field in Washington state, including the NFC Championship game.
She says that she could not waste an opportunity to support her favourite team in the big game, even without a Super Bowl ticket at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, California.
“I really wanted to come see what it was like here, and the fact that our Hawks team was going to be here, I had to go, I had to experience it,” Ellis said.
Statistics Canada reports that Canadian land travel to the U.S. fell 30 per cent last year and that air travel continues to decline.
But according to the Seattle Seahawks, their marketplace north of the border grew; over 4,000 Seahawks season ticket holders are Canadian, with the majority of those being British Columbians.
“We are not season ticket holders yet, but we just got news, actually, that we have been accepted for the Blue Pride ticket builder list, and hopefully we will get tickets for this coming season,” said Terry Dickson, North Vancouver resident and Seattle Seahawks fan.
Dixon says that he refused to go to a game in person this season due to the current political climate.
But being a Seahawks fan his entire life, a Super Bowl was the only thing that warranted a trip to San Francisco.
“It is the Super Bowl, and they haven’t been in it in a very long time, and they might not be in it again during our lifetime, so this is a different type of scenario,” he said.
