Scott Radley: The greatest sports deal in history happened 50 years ago at the Summit Series

At a time when the cost of living is rising, everything is more expensive and even a single night out is a pricey endeavour, let's take a minute to celebrate the greatest bargain in sports history.

Yes, the greatest.

Of course it was," says Mike Alkerton.

It was 1972. The time of the Summit Series. You've probably been hearing a fair bit about that hockey tournament between Canada and the Soviet Union lately since this month marks 50 years since Paul Henderson scored the goal that's still the biggest in our country's history.

As you likely know, the first four games of this epic showdown were played in Canada. Then the series moved to the Soviet Union where something like 3,000 or 4,000 Canadians came along for the ride - and generally drove KGB agents in the arena nuts with their cheering and yelling.

These folks had booked long in advance. Many were there for the hockey. Most, probably. But some simply wanted to see the country back when it was all rather mysterious, very much behind the Iron Curtain and otherwise inaccessible.

Alkerton was an electrician working on the soon-to-open Jackson Square - and still single - a few months before the series began. When he heard charters were being offered to make the trip, the Dundas resident dropped in on a nearby travel agency during lunch one day.

You're the first person from Hamilton to sign up for the thing," the agent told him.

He didn't care. He quickly locked in. And why not? The official tour put together by Hockey Canada was a magnificent package.

Yes, there were tickets to each of the four games. That's kind of obvious. But that was just the tip of the Saint Basil's Cathedral spire.

There was first-class airfare with an open bar. There were transfers from the airport to the hotel and pretty much everywhere else you went. There was accommodation for 10 days in what was described as a first-class" hotel.

Starting to add it up yet?

There were daily excursions - all included - to places like the Kremlin cathedrals, the Bolshoi Ballet, the Moscow Circus, the State Tretyakov Gallery, the Exhibition of Achievements of the National Economy, the Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts, Lenin's Tomb and more. All with a guide.

There were three meals a day. And you could even throw in single-day excursions to Leningrad or Kyiv for a modest extra fee.

So what do you think? How many thousand dollars did that cost? Five? Ten?

Six hundred and forty four bucks," Alkerton says.

Actually, it was $649, but close enough.

Granted, times have changed and things cost more today. Still, $649? For everything? Even with inflation that's a complete steal.

The whole thing came in for less than what Alkerton says he was making in a week with all the overtime he was doing. It was so inexpensive that RCA apparently gave away 100 of these trips to dealers all across the country to thank them for their work selling their electronic equipment.

Considering what that series became, it's difficult to imagine what the price could have been. Or should have been. Had the Soviets known a little more about capitalism, that is.

Just the first-class flights and nice hotels today could run you somewhere around $16,000 says Richard Vanderlubbe, president of TripCentral.ca.

You're going back to Soviet times when the economics made no sense," he says.

Then you throw in the most-anticipated and discussed hockey series in history. When you consider that a set of ticket stubs - just the torn ends of a few pieces of paper - to the four games in Russia is selling for over $9,000 on eBay right now, you get some idea of how crazy the ticket prices might've got. Individual stubs are going for almost $2,000.

As for a measly $649 for the whole thing? Offer that today and all of Canada is on the plane.

I couldn't believe it," Alkerton says.

Even 50 years later, it's not hard to see why.

Scott Radley is a Hamilton-based columnist at The Spectator. Reach him via email: sradley@thespec.com