BYU, Utah football: 'Cheap seats' going for $1,600 for big game

Move over, Hannah Montana. Step to the side, David Archuleta. An even hotter act with harder-to-get (read: pricier) tickets is coming to town this week.

And, no, this isn't a story about a "Mitt Romney in 2012" fund-raising soiree for uber-rich Republicans.

It's about a football game.

Actually, to borrow a phrase from longtime Ute announcer Bill Marcroft, check that, it's about THE football game: BYU vs. Utah, of course.

If you think this backyard brouhaha and brotherly battle is tough on families and friends with divided loyalties, wait till you see the effect the costly rivalry is having on some people's wallets.

Just how hot are tickets to Saturday's sold-out showdown at Rice-Eccles Stadium?

Ute fans, of course, might say they're "red hot." Another way to put it: Those party-hearty AIG executives might even consider them expensive enough for their lavish ways — and they might need to use some taxpayers' bailout money to afford them.

On StubHub alone, the cheapest of the 300-plus available tickets being hawked are going for $110 apiece, the average price for tickets sold so far is $198, and a pair of seats in Redzone N 23 Row 40 are going for $3,200. Business majors at both schools might marvel at the capitalism in process here — all perfectly legal according to the Utah General Attorney's office, too — seeing as the face value of tickets for this game range between $35-$60.

"It's probably the biggest game in the series. Tickets are going crazy, and it's understandable," said Greg Keough, who works at the U. box office. "They're going for more than I've ever heard them go before, so I'd say they're extremely hot."

But $1,600 apiece HOT?

Keough, who's also a sophomore at Utah, laughed about that extremely inflated price for cheap-seat tickets he said normally sell for $35. BYU student Steven Roberts, who's looking for affordable tickets, got some sticker shock when he heard somebody was asking for that much without putting a "LOL" after the requested dollar amount.

"Sixteen-hundred dollars per ticket? What are they giving away for that price?" Roberts asked in awe. "It had better include unlimited hotdogs and hamburgers, a signed football from each team, an opportunity to participate in the (halftime) show, and come with recliners. Anything short of those items would seem like a rip-off."

Or a jackpot, depending on which end of the deal you might be on.