Little Chance For Last-Minute Fans

By Frank Abderholden, Sun-Times News Group
fabderholden@scn1.com
January 27, 2007

Just forget about it.

Even if you could get a ticket to the Super Bowl, could you afford the airfare and hotel accommodations?

"I had some people a couple of months ago thinking about it," said Marc Hanau, co-owner of Triangle Travel and Tours, but the cost threw cold water on their idea pretty quick.

"For a moderate hotel expect to spend about $250 a night. The airfare right now is limited by availability, and the tickets are $1,000 and up," he said, noting that normal airfares to Miami are about $200 to $400.

"The flights are already full from leisure travel. And if the demand continues they will charge more. There's no control on the price," said Hanau.

You can say the same for tickets.

Prices for a ticket start at $3,000 at www.RazorGator.com, and it seems like if you don't care about the money, the possibility is there because other Internet sites offering tickets from $1,800 to $6,900 include TicketsNow, MyTopSeats.com , WeHaveSeats, StubHub, Ticket Liquidator, Barrystickets and GreatSeats.

Hanau said there are some packages where you can get tickets and hotel accommodations, but you still have to get to Miami. There is the 2007 Super Bowl Wyndham Ft. Lauderdale Airport package with prices starting from $5,805. The Sea View Bal Harbour Resort package and the Miami Beach Resort & Spa special are sold out.

If you are one of those people who just want to go down there to soak up the atmosphere and say you were at a Super Bowl, Hanau says you better think about driving. There are no seats to Ft. Lauderdale and just a few to Miami (starting at $1,500 on Thursday) and a couple to Palm Beach.

"If you don't care about driving, you can find a hotel in the greater Miami area for under $100 a night," he said.

Greg Petry of Waukegan is a season ticket holder. He does not own a Club Personal Seat License, he's just a regular ticket holder.

The Waukegan Park District director had his fingers crossed, but no such luck. He was notified he didn't make the ticket lottery cut.

"My wife called me at work to say 'You're not going to the Super Bowl,'" he said.

"None of the people I know got tickets," he said, noting that those with the licenses had more of chance in the lottery than a regular ticket holder. Those lucky fans picked up their tickets Thursday.

"I know about 20 people, here in town and people that sit around me," Petry said.

So he did what a lot of those other fans did and that is to make alternate plans for Super Bowl Sunday. Actually, he is going to do what he usually does for the big game.

"I'm just going to go to St. Anastasia Church's Super Bowl Party. It's always a lot of fun," he said.