WESTBROOK – Super Bowl-obsessed fans will have to dig deep – very deep – if they want a seat in Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis, Ind., on Sunday, Feb. 5.

Two Westbrook ticket agents – Dan McCarthy, owner of Tickets Unlimited, 591 Bridgton Road, and Shawn McCurdy, owner of Mainely Tickets, 28 Stroudwater St. – each have tickets available for purchase this week to Super Bowl XLVI, when the New England Patriots face New York Giants.

Prices range from about $2,500 up to about $15,000.

And buying a ticket is just the first expense in kicking off a trip to the Super Bowl.

This week, both ticket agencies cautioned fans about buying from scam artists.

“It’s a buyer-beware situation,” McCurdy said.

The Super Bowl, McCarthy said, is the No. 1 event where people could be taken advantage of if they are not vigilant.

“Be very careful who you purchase them from,” McCarthy warned.

The NFL Ticket Exchange reported on the league’s website Tuesday that it has 1,086 ticket listings offered from $2,613 to $14,207 each.

According to the site, “Super Bowl tickets are the Holy Grail for die-hard NFL football fans. To help eliminate the sale of fake tickets, the NFL has incorporated several security devices built into official Super Bowl tickets.”

Those include holograms, custom laser cutouts, thermachromic ink and a specially made gloss varnish.

The site warns, “Buying online from a non-NFL affiliate may be risky since there is no way of knowing if a ticket is real until game time. Even if a ticket looks real, it may be one that has been reported lost or stolen, which means the person holding it will not be granted entry into the stadium.”

Lucas Oil Stadium, which opened in 2008 and is home of the Indianapolis Colts, features a retractable roof and has seating for 67,000.

The Patriots and Giants teams each get 17.5 percent of the tickets; the Colts, as host team, receive 5 percent; the 29 other NFL teams receive a total of 34.8 percent; and 25.2 percent, representing 16,884 seats, are distributed to fans, players, media and others.

But even if you spring for a Super Bowl ticket, there is still the matter of getting to Indianapolis and finding a place to stay.

Travel agent Charlene Marinaro of AAA Northern New England in South Portland said hotel space is extremely limited within a 10-mile radius of the stadium and “pretty expensive.”

Marinaro said one night at a Super 8 five miles from the stadium is $399. A Comfort Inn, also five miles away, is $500 per night. Compare that to the rates for Monday, Feb. 6: the Super 8 price drops to $50 and the Comfort Inn, $90.

Transportation to the Super Bowl also comes at considerable expense. According to Marinaro, roundtrip airfare from Portland to Indianapolis Feb. 3-6 is listed at $1,727.