The great Phoenix-Scottsdale Super Bowl myth: Locals will rent their houses & condos out for big bucks

One of the great myths of this Phoenix-Scottsdale Super Bowl - and probably every Super Bowl - is the buzz about locals being able to rent out their homes or golf condos for major cash during the week.

You couldn’t pick up the Arizona Republic in the months leading up to The Game without hearing some fanciful story, reported with Jimmy Olsen earnestness, about some schmuck who figured he’d be clearing 10 grand to let a few Patriots fans spill cheese dip on his couch for six days. It got to the point where even those with a condo about the size of one of those spider holes that Saddam Hussein slithered around in - on a bad golf course no less - envisioned endless bidders rolling up to their front door with stacks of crisp $100 bills.

Now, game week’s arrived … and well, everyone’s staying in plush hotels or real-estate company-owned condos and homes that are rented out every other week of the year too. It’s like everyone forgot they were living in Scottsdale, one of the great tourist destinations long before the NFL discovered it. There are plenty of rooms, people.

“Nah, I don’t know anyone who rented out their own place,” said Anthony Trapani of Arizona Golf Packages. “You heard all the stories, but …”

But they turned into what a lot of the Super Bowl is: Just stories and overhype. If Trapani doesn’t know anyone as well connected as he is in the area, you can bet it’s only happening in very isolated cases.

If you’re one of those late-stragglers who decide to pop into town last minute in a blaze of Super Bowl hysteria, I’d give Trapani a call (866-444-0992). I’m not sure that he could help you land in plush digs so late, but I know that he’d try. And he could definitely help with the golf.

Of course, you could also just go around a Scottsdale neighborhood with a suitcase with at least ten one dollar bills scattered in it and maybe come across one of those reeling fools who expected a big pay day.

Yes, the Super Bowl’s in your town. That doesn’t mean your little hole is Super.