The Ram rush has begun on Houston.
Three charter planes are almost fully booked for Virginia Commonwealth University alumni and fans heading to Texas this weekend to watch the Rams play in the NCAA Final Four for a chance at the national title.
"We're down to the last 50 or 60 air seats," said Ken Bruce, executive vice president of Premiere Global Sports, which is selling sports travel packages for the VCU and MCV Alumni Associations and the VCU athletic department.
Not bad for a package priced at $2,159 and up for tickets to the semifinal games on Saturday and the championship on Monday, as well as air fare, four nights at the Westin Galleria in Houston, ground transportation and the VCU Pregame Party.
"What we're hoping is our fans don't have to worry about anything but cheering on the Rams," said Gordon McDougall, assistant vice president for alumni relations at VCU.
The VCU sports travel packages also include options without air fare, but McDougall hadn't seen the results yet for those sales on Monday night.
"To tell you the truth, it's insane," he said. "Every time we put the phone down, it rings."
AAA Mid-Atlantic still had about 1,000 Final Four travel packages available on Monday afternoon, with prices ranging from $1,775 to $3,660 a person, depending on how many people stay in a room at the St. Regis Houston.
But AAA hasn't seen a big demand yet for help with travel or accommodations for the games, said spokeswoman Martha Meade. "We have not been flooded with calls by people who want to go to the Final Four."
VCU is offering 200 students tickets to the Final Four, including bus transportation and lodging, for $25 each through a lottery on Tuesday.
The university also will offer a limited number of students game tickets and lodging, without transportation, on a first-come, first-served basis on Tuesday night.
Students must register for the lottery by noon today. Students who attended the regional games last weekend are not eligible for the full package.
Meanwhile, tickets to three games alone are selling for an average price of $631 on StubHub, the San Francisco-based ticket broker that was bought by E-Bay four years ago.
Buyers have paid as little as $95 per ticket to as much as $7,500 each on the exchange, which doesn't own the tickets or set the prices.
Tickets to the Saturday semifinals — including VCU's matchup against Butler University — have averaged about $404 on StubHub, with Virginians accounting for about 4 percent of Final Four purchases through Monday and paying an average of $319 per ticket. (Texans have made half of the purchases).
"I would expect that percentage to increase," StubHub spokeswoman Joellen Ferrer said.
The biggest opportunity for tickets may be fans of college teams no longer in the tournament, including the University of Kansas, which VCU defeated on Sunday.
One Kansas rooter advertised four tickets to all Final Four games for $300 each Monday afternoon on the Richmond site for craigslist.
"Sad Jayhawk fan here looking to sell my tix to a VCU fan," the post said. "You deserve them."
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