Will 49er Faithful make the road trip to Atlanta?

SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) -- The 49ers are preparing to head to Atlanta for the NFC championship game, and there are fans who are going to make the road trip to the Georgia Dome. But unless things happen at the last minute, many people are not.

Saturday's game was a thing of beauty and the fans were ecstatic, but as the 49ers take that next step on the road to the Superbowl, are the Faithful heading there too?

The game is being played in Atlanta and Stuart Kesselman, also known as Mr. Ticket, says he hasn't sold a single one.

"I haven't had a person call up right now that wants to travel to Atlanta. If the game had been played here, probably $100,000 worth of tickets I would have got," Kesselman said.

He's not alone. StubHub shows more than 10,000 tickets for sale, and there are lots of direct flights from SFO to Atlanta.

So what's the problem? It's a long way to go on short notice. "If you have to work you can't really travel there, but I would love to go, if I could," said fan Ken Goodsell.

One Canadian couple, disgruntled hockey fans, went to Saturday's 49ers game and plan to head to Atlanta as well. "I'm not independently wealthy. I have to get a second job when I get home, but that's okay," said Matthew Barton.

Josh Knighton, a lifelong 49er fan, plans to get to the game anyway he can. "Just connecting ride share to ride share to ride share, barely with no money starting out. But it's about faith in your team," he said.

For those who can't make it all the way to Atlanta, sports bars like Perry's will be packed on Sunday. "When any of our teams are doing well, it's just extra fun to be in a place that you like," said owner Perry Butler.

It's customary for the mayors of the competing cities to have a little friendly wager. San Francisco's Ed Lee and Atlanta's Kasim Reed have agreed to bet, although they haven't decided yet exactly what is on the table. Since San Francisco beat Green Bay, Wisconsin cheese curds are on the way here.

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san francisco 49ers, san francisco news, carolyn tyler

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