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By KEVIN WACK
MaineToday Media, Inc. 01/30/2008

MaineToday Media, Inc.

Compared with every other offer, it looked like a steal.

A listing Tuesday on StubHub, an online ticket exchange, showed a Super Bowl ticket on sale for just $223. Most other tickets were listed at $3,000 or more. But another click revealed the reality: $223 would buy nothing more than a parking pass.

Fans who hope to see the New England Patriots finish their landmark season at 19-0, the best record of all time, in person had better be ready to pay for the experience.

"The average Joe has been priced out again, unfortunately," said Dan McCarthy, owner of Tickets Unlimited in Westbrook. "It's just a corporate event."

Internet searches on Tuesday showed that two plane tickets from Portland to Phoenix, three nights in a hotel there and two tickets to the game would cost a minimum of $6,800. That was before the cost of a rental car, meals and something to bring home for the kids. ("My parents witnessed NFL history, and all I got was this lousy T-shirt.")

If there's good news for the middle-class fan, it's that ticket prices tend to drop a bit in the days just before the big game, as sellers lower their demands.

Last year, according to StubHub, the average price of a Super Bowl ticket fell from around $4,500 six days before the game to around $4,000 in the hours before kickoff.

Another silver lining: Last year, when the Indianapolis Colts defeated the Chicago Bears, ticket prices at this point in Super Bowl week were actually higher than they are this year. Sunday's game between the Patriots and the New York Giants is scheduled to start around 6 p.m. EST in Glendale, Ariz.

McCarthy said he has sold about two dozen Super Bowl tickets this year, about half of them to people from Maine. He believes the sluggish U.S. economy is responsible for the slight drop in ticket prices.

Still, the prices are staggering: on Tuesday, $4,190 was the average selling price on StubHub. The Web site reported that last week, a fan from Florida spent $90,000 for 14 tickets.

"It's the biggest event of all," said McCarthy. "There's definitely no other event that comes close."

Prices are so high now that the Better Business Bureau issued a warning Tuesday about potential scams.

"We foresee the majority of scams being phony ticket scams, however consumers should be aware of scams even as severe as phony Super Bowl trip packages," said Paula Fleming of the Better Business Bureau in a prepared statement.

The consumer watchdog group is advising fans to get trip details in writing, buy only from established businesses, and book trips through reputable travel agents.

Denise Vigneault of Arundel is one Patriots fan who is hoping to find a last-minute deal on tickets. Back in April, she and her husband bought cheap plane tickets to Arizona. She recently posted an online ad seeking tickets, but said she has heard mostly from scammers.

Vigneault said she and her husband are willing to spend about $1,000 per ticket, but they are priced out of the market. They plan to have fun during all the Super Bowl hoopla regardless of whether they get tickets to the game.

"The icing on the cake would be the tickets," Vigneault said.

Steve Hewins, vice president of travel for AAA in Portland, said Tuesday that AAA is offering packages to the game but hasn't had any buyers yet.

"I think price, obviously, is a big factor," Hewins said.

The AAA packages, which include a Super Bowl ticket and four nights at a luxury hotel, but not airfare, range from around $5,300 per person to $6,300 per person.

Welcome to Super Bowl XLII. Leave the title to your car at the door.

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