As of Friday afternoon, Internet ticket brokers were listing their cheapest Super Bowl tickets - upper level, Row Q - at $3,095 for two.
Devon DelloStritto / The Citizen
Rent-A-Center executive assistant manager Alan Betz turns on a 51-inch Hitachi HDTV in the Auburn store. The week before the Super Bowl typically is one of the busier of the year for large-screen television rentals.
For that same amount of money, you could buy the latest big-screen, high-definition projection TV at REX TV & Appliances in Fingerlakes Mall and enjoy the game of all games from the comfort of your own couch - sans beer spilled on your head and bleacher brawls.
And plus, who wants to miss the commercials?
According to the National Retail Federation, 1.4 million people scurried to stores this week to buy a digital, big-screen TV for Sunday's shindig, featuring the New England Patriots and the Philadelphia Eagles.
Local Rex manager Eli Delgado said in a normal week he'll sell four or five big screens. This week, he's sold 14.
"We're really seeing a lot of business," Delgado said. "It's the combination of the Super Bowl and people getting their taxes back."
Delgado sold a 65-inch digital TV this week to a soldier who recently returned from Iraq who said "he was dying to get one for the big game." Delgado's customers come from as far away as Oswego, Waterloo and the Syracuse area because the Auburn store is the only Rex in the area (there are stores in Cortland and Rome), and its prices on big-screens, he said, are some of the lowest in the business.
The last few days have also been particularly busy for companies that rent televisions.
Mike Youtt, kitchen manager at Auburn Family Restaurant, was in charge of tracking down a big-screen TV for the restaurant's Super Bowl party, which hosts more than 100 workers and friends each year. Because they only need it for one day, the owners opt to rent.
"We'll have four or five smaller TVs, but we need a big screen," Youtt said. "It just adds to the whole football atmosphere."
Youtt rented a 52-inch TV from Rent-A-Center on Genesee Street, where manager David Rustay said only one of his 10 big-screens was available for renting as of Friday afternoon. At Quality Rentals, just a few steps away, manager Chris Filoso said he had two remaining big-screens. Those could be had for $150 for the weekend, up $120 from the usual weekly rental price.
"We have to raise the prices on TVs during this week," Filoso said. "This is our biggest week for big screens."
Rustay believes the American desire to want "big" houses and cars falls in line with people's fascination with big-screen TVs.
On this most American of days, you just have to go big.
Rustay said many times, people who rent big-screens for the Super Bowl end up buying them because they're so impressed with the experience.
"It's like you're right there in the arena," he said. "The effect is magnified. It's entertaining and captivating, and it's easy to get hooked."
And plus, who wants to miss the commercials?
According to the National Retail Federation, 1.4 million people scurried to stores this week to buy a digital, big-screen TV for Sunday's shindig, featuring the New England Patriots and the Philadelphia Eagles.
Local Rex manager Eli Delgado said in a normal week he'll sell four or five big screens. This week, he's sold 14.
"We're really seeing a lot of business," Delgado said. "It's the combination of the Super Bowl and people getting their taxes back."
Delgado sold a 65-inch digital TV this week to a soldier who recently returned from Iraq who said "he was dying to get one for the big game." Delgado's customers come from as far away as Oswego, Waterloo and the Syracuse area because the Auburn store is the only Rex in the area (there are stores in Cortland and Rome), and its prices on big-screens, he said, are some of the lowest in the business.
The last few days have also been particularly busy for companies that rent televisions.
Mike Youtt, kitchen manager at Auburn Family Restaurant, was in charge of tracking down a big-screen TV for the restaurant's Super Bowl party, which hosts more than 100 workers and friends each year. Because they only need it for one day, the owners opt to rent.
"We'll have four or five smaller TVs, but we need a big screen," Youtt said. "It just adds to the whole football atmosphere."
Youtt rented a 52-inch TV from Rent-A-Center on Genesee Street, where manager David Rustay said only one of his 10 big-screens was available for renting as of Friday afternoon. At Quality Rentals, just a few steps away, manager Chris Filoso said he had two remaining big-screens. Those could be had for $150 for the weekend, up $120 from the usual weekly rental price.
"We have to raise the prices on TVs during this week," Filoso said. "This is our biggest week for big screens."
Rustay believes the American desire to want "big" houses and cars falls in line with people's fascination with big-screen TVs.
On this most American of days, you just have to go big.
Rustay said many times, people who rent big-screens for the Super Bowl end up buying them because they're so impressed with the experience.
"It's like you're right there in the arena," he said. "The effect is magnified. It's entertaining and captivating, and it's easy to get hooked."
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