Born and raised in Manhattan, Marc now lives in Denver and works as a mutual fund manager. Within minutes of the Giants’ playoff win, he got online and started looking for the tickets.

“I see it as a once in a lifetime event, so the stars aligned and we’re off,” he said. “It’s not something I’m going to do on a regular basis.”

His wife and 16-year-old daughter, who is uninterested in football, are throwing a Super Bowl party at home while the boys go to Phoenix. They have, at least, agreed to wear their jerseys in support of the family team.

StubHub figures show the march higher of scalped tickets in recent years. Tickets it handled for last year’s game between the Bears and the Colts averaged $4,004. That was sharply higher than the Steelers-Seahawks in 2006 at $3,009, the Eagles-Patriots in 2005 at $2,659, the Patriots-Panthers in 2004 at $2,290, and the Raiders-Buccaneers in 2003 at $2,767.

StubHub spokesman Sean Pate said prices tend to drop as the game draws closer, and a local law in Glendale could work to the advantage of procrastinators: Ticket scalpers will be allowed to ply their wares in the north preferred parking lot, about a two-minute walk from a stadium entrance, according to stadium marketing director Scott Norton. But Gary Adler, an attorney for the National Association of Ticket Brokers, said he did not recommend that fans try to buy tickets outside the stadium.

So where are all the tickets coming from?

The NFL league office controlled 25.2 percent of the tickets and distributed 17.5 percent shares each to the Giants and Patriots for their own use and sale to their season ticket holders. The Arizona Cardinals got 5 percent and each of the other 29 NFL teams got 1.2 percent allocations.

NFL spokesman McCarthy said coaches, players and team officials are reminded every year that they can be fined if the league finds out that they scalped Super Bowl tickets they received or bought at face value. Minnesota Vikings head Mike Tice was fined $100,000 in 2005 for doing so and two of his assistants were fined $10,000 each.

But given this year’s demand for tickets at almost any cost, the temptation to cash in is there, he acknowledges: “This year we do have a perfect storm — the pursuit of perfection of the Patriots, the wonderful story of the New York Giants, the desirable location in Arizona and rabid fans around the world — all working together.”

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