A.J. Lipp, Hard Rock Stadium, CC BY-SA 4.0

Let the games begin. Airbnb and its Miami-area member hosts have been accused of price gouging ahead of the upcoming Super Bowl 2020.

According to a new report released by AirbnbWATCH, which calls itself an “affordable housing advocate and consumer watchdog group,” Miami-area listings during the face-off between the Kansas City Chiefs and San Francisco 49ers on the weekend of Feb. 2 have skyrocketed by as much as $8,250 per night.

The group says the majority of the price gouging hosts are commercial operators running multiple listings for rentals.

Examples include a 1-bedroom Miami apartment, normally rented for $60 a night, advertised for $3,691 per night during Super Bowl LIV; a Brickell home normally rented at $315 per night advertised at $3,752; and a $600-per-night Miami villa advertised at $7,000 a night.

“Airbnb’s price gouging squeezed football fans during last year’s Super Bowl and now again for this year’s game,” said AirbnbWATCH’s spokesperson Mike Lux. “More egregiously, these hosts are squeezing affordable housing stock out of their communities.”

But Airbnb has gone on the defense, saying AirbnbWATCH is actually a group sponsored and funded by the hotel industry. This is more about sour grapes than looking out for football fans, the company contends.