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.

For the first time in years, Arpaio, who likes to be called America’s toughest sheriff, will let the 8,500 inmates watch the Super Bowl on televisions throughout the jail.