Tickets to the Super Bowl might cost you a pretty penny, or 270,000 of them, but you can certainly find a good deal on a hotel room. The game billed as so big it needs two cities might have bitten off more than it can chew – or sell.

With the big game fast approaching, local hotels are looking to make sure they’re full this weekend by dropping rates, The Star-Ledger reports.

When excitement for the Super Bowl was building this summer (and the temperature was above freezing), hotels were advertising rooms for as much as $1,300 a night with a three-night minimum. Today, the same room is listed at $400, bringing a total three-night stay to $1,380.

And don’t think the good deals are relegated to hotels an hour away from the stadium. The Hilton Meadowlands, less than a mile from the stadium, has rooms listed for $386 a night for a three-night stay.

Officials with Grand Hotel in Summit, New Jersey say the game isn’t proving to be the goldmine most in the hospitality industry thought it would be.

Hotels near Met Life Stadium are currently reporting a 45% vacancy rate for this weekend. Last year, New Orleans reported only a 4% hotel vacancy during Super Bowl weekend.

There are two reasons for the lower rates and high vacancy at area hotels – below freezing temperatures predicted for the game and a rather saturated hotel market.

New York’s metro area has about 115,000 rooms – triple the inventory seen in the last 10 Super Bowl host cities, the Star-Ledger reports. More options mean consumers are shopping around for the best deals and that leave less room for hotels to increase their rates.

So it you’re looking for a good deal and always wanted to go to the Super Bowl, this might just be your year. Or you could fork over the amount you’d spend on tickets and lodging to just buy a new TV for the big game.

Super Bowl hotels: Rooms open, rates drop ahead of big game [The Star-Ledger]

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