Excitement building in Houston ahead of Super Bowl

HOUSTON, Texas — We are six days away from the Super Bowl, in which our Atlanta Falcons will take on the New England Patriots.

Channel 2 Action News has a team of reporters and photographers in Houston as the Falcons and fans prepare for the big game.

Fans will be arriving all week leading up to Super Bowl LI at NRG Stadium in Houston. More than 1 million people are expected to be in the city for Sunday's game.

Channel 2's Tom Jones says the excitement is starting to build.

Starting Monday, Channel 2 Action News will have special Atlanta Falcons coverage LIVE from Houston every weeknight at 6:30 p.m. 

CLICK HERE for more Super Bowl content from WSB-TV -- and be sure to follow Channel 2 Sports Director Zach Klein on Twitter and LIKE his official Facebook page for all the latest news from Super Bowl LI!

Jones spoke to a super Falcons fan for Channel 2 Action News at Noon, who called herself the original bird lady. She said fans are on the way.

“Oh, yes. We're coming in droves,” said Keisha Burns. “I mean we're going to swarm in. We're flying in. Hey, Dirty Bird Nation is going to be ready to rise up!”

New statistics from StubHub show that 14.7 percent of tickets are being purchased in Massachusetts and 13.9 percent in Georgia. Twenty percent of tickets have been purchased in Texas.

The city of Houston says it’s ready for the Super Bowl.

Ten thousand volunteers are spread around the city ready to welcome people to Houston.

“If you are in this city and you need to know something, if you can’t find a volunteer very close to you then I’m going to be very disappointed,” Mayor Sylvester Turner said.

Turner said his city is finishing up the final preparations as fans begin to trickle in before Sunday’s game.

“We love people and it doesn’t matter where you come from. It doesn’t matter what language you speak. One hundred and forty-two languages are spoken in this city,” he said.

“People have the right to lift their voices. We can do it in a very civil and respectful fashion, and at the same time we can cheer on the Atlanta Falcons or the New England Patriots,” he said.

On Monday, Channel 2’s sports director Zach Klein visited the NFL Experience, which is available for all fans who are in town for the Super Bowl.

Super Bowl Opening Night 

The teams appeared Monday night in the Super Bowl Opening Night, formerly a media-only event. Opening Night melded media interviews with a concert performance by the rock band X Ambassadors and a fan festival to create a prime-time televised event.

The event, which is the first availability with the teams during Super Bowl week, was held at Minute Maid Park, where the Houston Astros play.

While media mingled with players on the field, 10,204 fans filled the stands to get a glimpse of their favorite players.

Falcons Julio Jones said they have a lot of work to do this week to get ready for the big game.

Head coach Dan Quinn said they felt the love from fans during their send-off in Atlanta.

Cox Media Group