Cheering on the Irish might cost a lot of gold

FORT WAYNE, Ind. (WANE) - It's been 24 years since Notre Dame last won a National Championship. Now, fans from across the country are dropping big bucks to see their team play Alabama's Crimson Tide on January 7 in Miami.

"Just kind of disbelief really that Notre Dame is actually going to a National Championship," said Jacob Benedict, the president of the Notre Dame Club of Fort Wayne.

The game's more than a month away, but Fort Wayne travel agencies have already received quite a few calls from people interested in going. However, few have followed through because of the price involved with the trip.

"Five star hotel, three night package, it includes game ticket, and the game tickets are pretty good seats, and they come with taxes and tips and everything else, and it starts at $2700, per person," said Mike Smith, a travel agent at Advance Travel in Fort Wayne.

As of Monday, the cheapest airline ticket to Miami from Indianapolis, comparing Airtran, American Airlines, United Airlines, Delta, and Southwest, was just under $500.

However, then you still have to find a place to stay and get tickets. On Stub Hub, the cheapest ticket is nearly $1400.

"What you have to understand about the university is that they have a ton of fans, diehard fans. And, it is the diehard fans that are willing to pay this much," Benedict said.

The school was allotted around 17,000 tickets which it offered for sale through a lottery-style system to donors, long time university supporters, and students.

"There was actually an anonymous donation from some alum," Benedict said. "I think around $300,000 that allowed the student prices to be cut in half, so pretty neat thing that happened."

Notre Dame fans say they're excited just to be going to the championship, despite what the outcome may be, and for those who can't make the trip, the alumni club of Fort Wayne might hold a watch party but are still ironing out details.

"I think everyone's just proud of the university," Benedict said. "They're ranked number one in graduation rates, and now, they're ranked number one in the country in football. So, to show that that can be done says a lot about the university and its character, but we definitely hope we can win when we play Alabama on January 7."

The university's ticket office hopes to have sold all the lottery tickets by next Wednesday, December 12.