PHOENIX — When the Super Bowl begins Sunday, 70,000 fans will ease into their seats and suites at University of Phoenix Stadium, munch on hot dogs and pizza, and wash them down with soda and beer.
About 15 miles to the south, a few hundred other fans will make do with pink-hued popcorn and sit on metal stools in an enormous room to watch the New England Patriots play the Seattle Seahawks on a flat-panel television mounted to a cinder-block wall.
And according to Sheriff Joe Arpaio, who arranged the viewing at the Maricopa County Jail, the inmates should feel lucky to get even that much.
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“If I went to the game, I would probably have to pay $2,000, and if I took a freebie, it would be national headlines,” he said.
He will be keeping an eye on the jail, too. If anyone gets out of control, the television will be turned off. “You never know what the prisoners will do,” he said. “If we have any problem, we’ll just put them in lockdown.”
A version of this article appears in print on February 1, 2015, on page SP8 of the New York edition with the headline: At This Party, You’d Better Keep It Down. Order Reprints| Today’s Paper|Subscribe
