Finding fight tickets possible

You're a big boxing fan. However, you've become disillusioned with the sport over the years. Yet here is the biggest fight in a long time and you have to be there.

One problem: You don't have a ticket to get inside the MGM Grand Garden to watch Oscar De La Hoya and Floyd Mayweather Jr. duke it out Saturday night. Even most of the closed-circuit venues in Las Vegas have sold out.

Sure, you can stay home and order the fight on pay per view. But being in your living room isn't quite the same as being inside the arena, where the atmosphere figures to be electric.

Don Vacarro says not to worry. He'll help you get in.

Vacarro is the head of TicketLiquidator.com, a Connecticut-based company whose purpose is to find tickets for people who want to go to big events. He said despite high ticket demand for Saturday's WBC super welterweight championship megafight, getting in is not impossible.

There is one caveat, however: It won't be cheap.

"This fight is probably the biggest ever in terms of tickets," said Vacarro, who started his company in 2002 and has been in the ticket-broker business since 1980. "Even the closed circuit has created a demand. I mean, who would go to Vegas just to watch (a fight) on TV?"

As of Thursday, Vacarro's inventory for De La Hoya-Mayweather was 680 tickets. He had seats in all locations, from the prime ringside seats to the upper reaches of the Grand Garden. Face value for the tickets range from $150 to $2,000 apiece. Vacarro's tickets are going from $1,400 to $30,000 a pair.

Vacarro is not alone. On Stubhub.com, a popular Web site for moving tickets, there are more than 100 postings, with prices ranging from $767 to $18,478 apiece.

A $50 closed circuit seat inside the MGM ballroom or at Mandalay Bay was going for $219.

According to Jennifer Swanson, a spokesperson for TicketsNow, De La Hoya-Mayweather is turning into an event on par with the Super Bowl as far as prices and availability. Tickets to the fight range from $860 to $18,975.

"(The fight) is ... a very big deal not only for boxing fans but for those interested in rubbing elbows with VIPs. This event transcends the sport," Swanson said. "As the Kentucky Derby and Super Bowl lure fans who normally wouldn't watch horse racing and football, this event is attracting legions of viewers because of its sheer magnitude."

Vacarro said he receives his supply of tickets from brokers who get them from hotel guests who decide they're not going to the fight or from those fortunate few who were able to purchase one of the 16,700 seats the day they went on sale back on Jan. 27. The fight sold out in two hours.

The closed circuit, which is being made available at seven different MGM-Mirage properties, has sold 15,700 seats.

"We get seats from 40 different brokers," Vacarro said. "We serve as the clearinghouse for these tickets."

The tickets go through a markup each time they change hands, which is why by the time a fight-going fan purchases the ticket, the cost has gone up several times.

So why go through someone such as Vacarro? Why not take a chance with a scalper?

"We guarantee the authenticity of the product, and we guarantee delivery in time for the fight," Vacarro said. And unlike buying from a scalper on property at the MGM, which is against the law in Clark County, it is not illegal to purchase a ticket over the Internet from a broker.

"People who are going to the fight want their tickets before they come to Vegas," Vacarro said. "They don't want to run the risk of being shut out."

Still, there are those individuals who are going to wait until the last minute to try to score a seat. Vacarro admits the closer it is to the first bell, the more likely the price of the ticket will come down.

"I think you'll start to see prices drop as early as Thursday, and certainly (today) and Saturday," he said. "But the last minute is always tricky. Sometimes, there's tickets available at the last minute from people who decide they don't want to go. But once our inventory is exhausted, that's it."

The ticket resale business is supply-and-demand economics at its most basic. Fewer tickets and greater demand results in higher prices. But should demand dwindle or a glut of tickets suddenly become available, the prices will drop dramatically.

"There's an inherent risk on both sides," Vacarro said. "Nobody wants to get stuck with worthless tickets."

Vacarro said he's not surprised at the interest this fight has generated for tickets. Between De La Hoya's marquee appeal, Mayweather's undefeated status and the promotion of the fight, there is renewed interest in boxing.

At least for one night.

"Oscar is such a great character," Vacarro said. "He's polished. He's handsome. He has cross-appeal to race and gender. He's great box office.

"I also think that HBO show (De La Hoya-Mayweather 24/7) was phenomenal. Week in and week out, it sold the two fighters and the fight."