The falling U.S. economy and the size of Detroit's Ford Field are driving down ticket prices for the NCAA Final Four by 30 to 40 percent in the online resale marketplace, say executives from ticket services.

Fans looking for seats to Saturday's sold-out national semifinals and Monday's championship game can find relative bargains compared with last year in San Antonio.

The 71,000-seating capacity -- largest in NCAA history for this event -- is helping create a glut of inventory, says Scott Roback of RazorGator, the NCAA's official ticket and hospitality package provider. The crowd for last year's final at the Alamodome was 43,257.

The average selling price for Final Four Tickets on StubHub through Wednesday was $445, down 41 percent from $753 at the same point in 2008, says spokesman Sean Pate. Tickets for the championship game were going for $292, off 34 percent from $442 at the same point last year. Those are the lowest average prices since StubHub began tracking them five years ago.

"The economy is unquestionably taking its toll on the Final Four this year," Pate says.

The average selling price for a pass to all three games in Detroit on RazorGator.com through Wednesday was $1,148, down 18 percent from $1,408 last year.

Ticket prices might have tumbled to face-value levels if not for strong demand generated by the presence of the Michigan State Spartans in this year's Final Four. "They're (about 90) miles down the road (in East Lansing). There hasn't been a 'home school' playing in the Final Four since Duke at Charlotte in 1994," Roback says.

Many corporate customers who used to wine and dine clients are missing in action, notes Don Vaccaro of TicketNetwork.com. The average selling price for title-game tickets on the site through Tuesday was $274, down 19 percent from $338 last year.

"The corporate buyers are gone. Gone," Vaccaro says. "They'll be gone for a long time due to all the scrutiny over how they're spending their money."