Here’s a price guide to a trip for the Sweet 16 and Elite Eight in Arlington:
• Plane tickets, leave Thursday and return Monday: $430.
• Driving: About $136 in fuel cost for the roughly 1,000-mile round trip in a vehicle that gets 30 miles per gallon.
• Game tickets: $220 average price for three-game passes.
• Hotels: Cheapest Arlington hotels running for about $60 per night, or $240 for a four-night stay.
• Total cost flying: $870.
• Total cost driving: $596.
* Plane and hotel prices taken from Orbitz.com.
While last weekend’s ticket prices to see the Jayhawks in the men’s NCAA Basketball Tournament were the most expensive of the first couple rounds, things have changed for the Jayhawks’ trip to the South Regional at Cowboy Stadium in Arlington, Texas.
“These tickets are as cheap as we’ve ever seen for a NCAA Tournament regional since 2011, so fans shouldn’t have any trouble getting into the building at an affordable price,” said Will Flaherty, a spokesman for SeatGeek, a ticket brokerage business that monitors ticket prices.
Thrifty Jayhawk fans can get passes for the Sweet 16 and Elite Eight games for as low as $110 on ticket websites such as seatgeek.com and stubhub.com. Average prices for the three-game “strip” are averaging about $220, less than half the cost of East Regional tickets.
Even when you consider that Cowboy Stadium will house 80,000 fans — and let’s face it, bad tickets mean you’re just paying to be in the building — the South regional is still a bargain hunter’s delight, Flaherty said.
For instance, a strip of front row seats in lower sections at the South Regional in Arlington can be had for under $900, compared with more than $3,000 in other regionals.
But there’s also the cost of traveling to the Arlington area to consider. According to a recent analysis of hotel, game ticket and driving costs, the trip could be made for under $600.
If you’re looking to catch the KU women play in their Sweet 16 game March 31, and potential Elite Eight game April 2, tickets start at about $25. If you choose to avoid the 37-hour roundtrip drive, flights and hotel packages from March 30 to April 3 start around $900.