Want to go to Detroit? Better pack a credit card

Published 9:00 pm Monday, January 23, 2006

There are as many as seven World Series games every year.

There could be seven NBA Finals games and Stanley Cup Finals games, too.

But there is only one Super Bowl, and that’s what makes it the hottest ticket in the nation.

It’s in Detroit in February, when the average high temperature is 27 degrees. But that hasn’t cooled the demand for tickets and travel packages for Super Bowl XL on Feb. 5 between the Seattle Seahawks and the Pittsburgh Steelers.

So how do you get your hands on them?

First, dig deep into your pockets.

Then, warm up to a longtime Seahawks season ticket holder, start searching online and dig further into your pockets.

The Seahawks are making three-fourths of their Super Bowl ticket allotment available to season ticket holders selected in a raffle. Each of the participating teams gets 17.5 percent of the tickets in the 65,000-capacity stadium.

The fans who get their names pulled will have the chance to buy two tickets at face value: $1,240 for the pair.

Entries in the raffle were weighted to give longtime season ticket holders an advantage.

Fans will get one entry for each season ticket they hold, and one additional entry for each year that they have owned season tickets. For example, a fan who has had a pair of season tickets in each of the Seahawks’ 30 years would get 32 entries in the drawing.

The raffle was held Sunday and the lucky fans will be notified by today.

But there’s apparently no shortage of tickets and packages available for those willing to shell out huge amounts of cash.

Kathy DeTuerk, owner of Sunrise Travel in Everett, fielded calls all day Monday from fans ready to pay to see the Seahawks’ first Super Bowl appearance.

The company was offering a package that included end zone tickets to the game, roundtrip airfare on a charter flight, hotel and transportation from the airport and to and from the game for about $9,500 per couple.

To upgrade those tickets to club-level seats, it cost another $5,000 per person.

For people willing to fly to Detroit, go to the game and fly back all on Super Bowl Sunday, packages started at $3,700 per person.

DeTuerk said the fans she heard from weren’t balking at the prices. Most already had looked at options online and were ready to pay big.

“I don’t know how much will be available (by today),” DeTuerk said. “They’re selling out.”

Demand is high online, as well. As of Monday, StubHub.com, which provides a place for fans to buy and sell tickets, had a high sale price of $6,500 for a seat in Section 106 – that’s on the 50-yard line – of Ford Field.

As of Monday, tickets had sold at prices from $1,795 to $6,500, an average of $3,054 on StubHub.com.

Pacific Northwest Ticket Services listed tickets online Monday from $2,500 to $6,000.

“I’m expecting the Seattle market to really explode (today) when a number of season-ticket holders are notified by the Seahawks” if their name was pulled in the drawing, said Sean Pate, a spokesman for StubHub.com.

Fans from Pennsylvania are already representing, having bought 22 percent of the Super Bowl tickets sold on StubHub.com as of Monday.

Washington residents made up 4 percent.

“The Steelers have a long, storied franchise history, as well as Super Bowl history,” Pate said. “Seattle is a newbie to the big dance, so this might be an opportunity for Seahawks fans to show the NFL that when they play in the big games, they’re going to show up and really make a difference.”

If you’re lucky enough to get a ticket to the big game, finding an available flight and hotel room on your own is still a challenge.

As of midday Monday, Southwest Airlines had only a few choices left for flights between Seattle and Detroit on Feb. 3 or 4. Nearly all cost $300 each way for one person.

On the travel Web site Expedia.com, it was possible to find a flight, hotel room and rental car all with a click or two of the mouse.

For example, an American Airlines red-eye flight, taking off just before midnight Feb. 3 and arriving in Detroit at 9:16 a.m. Saturday, was available. Packaged with three nights in the Days Inn of Ann Arbor, Mich., and a Hertz rental car for three days, it could all be had for $708.43 per person, excluding rental car taxes and fees.

Ann Arbor is 45 minutes away from Detroit “if there’s no traffic,” said Hassan Yatim, manager of the Days Inn there.

He said he had 45 rooms available as of midday Monday, but that number was changing fast as Seattle and Pittsburgh fans booked rooms and disappointed Denver and Carolina fans canceled reservations.

Yatim said the hotel is only a few miles from the University of Michigan, so his staff is used to hosting large crowds of football fans, especially when Ohio State visits Ann Arbor to play the University of Michigan.

For this big game, Yatim said, “I’m with Seattle all the way.”

The question now is how much of the “12th Man” will be.

Reporter Victor Balta: 425-339-3455 or vbalta@heraldnet.com.