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Tourney tickets sell for abnormally high prices
That's more than any event in Georgia other than concerts by Spears and Madonna and the Masters golf tournament.
The Associated Press
With good weather, an Eastern site with plenty of hotel rooms, two basketball-crazy schools that haven't been to the Final Four for a decade and a new Georgia law that makes scalping legal, demand has pushed the $140-$180 facevalue tickets to $8,500 for the best seats.
mere. "It's extremely hot," said Brett Sutton, a vice president with Empire Tickets, the city's largest broker. "And they are selling."
Upper-deck perches in the 53,250seat dome still can be had for around $400, he said, but better bring your binoculars.
ATLANTA — The Final Four is a hot ticket. Madonna hot. Britney Spears hot, even.
Unlike Minneapolis last year and Indianapolis in 2000, Atlanta's weather is mild in March, with temperatures around 70 expected this weekend. And Kansas and Indiana have some of the largest fan followings in the country and haven't been to the Final Four since 1993 and 1992 respectively. Maryland and Oklahoma are the other teams.
"Mostly what we're seeing are corporations buying," Sutton said. "And I've seen a lot of Indiana fans calling trying to pick up tickets late."
The high prices have shocked some buwers.
Jeff Brewster, a manager with Court Side Tickets in Indianapolis, said 20 to 30 Indiana fans have come calling every day this week. But with prices ranging from $300 to $4,000 for what he's got available, most turn up their noses.
"There's a lot of shopers, just not a lot of buyers," Brewster said. "I don't think a lot of Indiana people know what the Final Four brings. I think they're sort of shellshocked."
Online brokers this week listed Final
Four tickets in the first 30 rows for $4,500 to $5,500 for the three games. FinalFourTickets.com listed packages ranging from $4,500 for side court seats to $300 for "far distant view." TicketsQuick.com was offering courtside floor seats for $6,950.
Part of the reason for the demand is that all tickets - except the 4,526 made available to each Final Four school - have already been sold or allocated. There were only 14,378 made available to the general public to start with. The rest go to local organizers, NCAA officials, Division I athletic directors and basketball coaches and the media.
With the ticket demand and thousands of fans expected to pour into town without them, Final Four games will be a test for Atlanta police enforcing a new scalping law enacted last year, said spokesman Sgt. John Quigley. Peddling tickets for above face value on the street is now legal, but sellers must be licensed and stay at least 2,700 feet away from the venue.
Quigley said undercover officers will augment the usual units that try to keep an eye on scalpers on the streets outside the Philips Arena/Georgia Dome complex. So far, he said, the new law hasn't resulted in significantly more arrests.
But one ticket seller, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said uniformed police have been arresting groups of scalpers at a time in the past couple of months for violating the distance requirement.
Fans feeling lucky might wait until shortly before the games start, he said. There are usually more tickets available on the street than there are people willing to pay top dollar for them, he said.
"You might be able to get in for 100 bucks on game day, then again you might not," he said. "But history shows that it usually bombs on the walk."
Many have even taken to hawking their tickets by the highway exits into downtown, he said.
HEARD ON THE HILL What are you doing to watch the game?
"I'm getting together and watching it with a big group of friends and eat some grub."
Mitch Langley Louisburg freshman
Emmanuel Watonsi Kansas City, Mo. freshman
"We're going to be in a lock down at GSP, so I think the RAs are going to have snacks and we'll all watch the game."
"We're probably going to Buffalo Wild Wings. We'll get there early, around 2,and drink."
Anne Waddell Minnetonka, Minn. senior
Sean LaFaver Topeka senior
"We're getting wasted. We're getting a keg and watching both games. It's gonna be a battle, but I'm going to go with Kansas."
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