Women's basketball proves a hot ticket

April brings Opening Day for the Red Sox. There is no denying that fundamental truth of life in Boston. But before this year's ritual, another major sports event will come to the Hub: the NCAA Women's Final Four.

The women's college basketball championship will be held this year at the TD Banknorth Garden, and the event is expected to bring upward of 30,000 visitors to Boston. The semifinal games are scheduled for Sunday, April 2, the day before the Red Sox begin their season in Texas, and the finals will take place on April 4.

Boston beat nearly two dozen other cities for the right to host the event, which is expected to pump at least $20 million into the local economy. But fans hoping to stroll up to the Garden's box office and purchase tickets in the coming weeks are out of luck: For the 13th straight year, all three games of the Women's Final Four are sold out. On eBay, tickets to the three games are being sold for as much as $342 apiece, which is nearly 2 1/2 times the $140 face value.

Nearly all of the Garden's 19,334 seats will be filled by students and others affiliated with the competing schools, other NCAA Division I universities, and corporate sponsors and muckety-mucks. About 6,000 tickets to the games were sold to the general public last August after a random computerized drawing. About 22 percent of them went to Massachusetts residents, second only to the 26 percent that went to Connecticut and its rabid UConn fans.

Nevertheless, there is still a way to attend the games -- but it will cost you.

Tickets are still available through the Boston Local Organizing Committee, but they are part of VIP packages that cost between $6,400 and $100,000. Don Stirling, CEO of the committee, said those pricey passes help pay for the transportation, marketing, and cosmetic touches the NCAA requires of its host cities -- not to mention a Saturday night party.

Fans shut out of the games can watch the team's practices for free, meet the players during autograph sessions, or participate in ''NCAA Hoop City" at the Hynes Convention Center. The event is billed as ''an interactive experience that showcases college basketball."

''The model doesn't allow for a huge number of tickets sold at face value to local citizens," Stirling said. ''But it's economic impact, it's cachet for Boston. It's the premier women's championship in the country. It's worth bringing to Boston."