Fans cross country for football

Oakland Raiders fans

(CNN) -- Chris Manos lives in the middle of Dallas Cowboys territory, just outside Big D.

But the location hasn't stopped him from supporting his favorite team. Manos grew up a Raiders fan in Hayward, California, and nowadays he flies back for every home game to watch his beloved silver and black.

This time of year, it's his life -- and his wife has come to accept that.

"I think she's used to it," says Manos, 34.

He’s not the only one. During the fall, thousands of fans make weekends a blur of highways and runways, tailgating and cheering their pigskin favorites.

The Travel Industry Association of America says traveling to sporting events is growing in popularity. From 1995-1999, TIA estimates that over 75 million adults in the United States traveled more than 50 miles from their home to attend a sporting event.

Baseball has traditionally been the most popular sport for luring fans to new horizons; football is second, according to the association.

Pay to see plays

Some fans use their own devices, traveling on their own and cadging tickets however possible. Others use services like Massachusetts-based Sports Travel and Tours, a service that focuses on all the major sports.

During football season, founder Jay Smith says his company can send a football fan to any game, providing transportation, hotel accommodations and tickets -- for a fee, of course.

Philadelphia Eagles fans bundled up for game day.

"If you want to sit on the 50-yard line, 20 rows off the field, we'll put you there," says Smith. "It's ease and hassle-free. They don't have to deal with it themselves."

Smith estimates that he sells between 3,000 and 5,000 football packages a year. Some football fans just attend Sunday's professional games. Others will make a college game Saturday and follow that with a pro game the next day.

He's not the only one catering to this niche. Delta Air Lines, for instance, offers the highly popular Fan Fares program. This time of year, its Web site is a popular place.

Last week, Delta offered a $198 roundtrip ticket from Atlanta, Georgia, to San Francisco, California, where the cities’ professional football teams were playing on September 9. This week's big deal is a $218 roundtrip from New York to Oakland, California, site of the Jets-Raiders game.

On the road for alma mater

College games are not followed by Fan Fares, but that doesn't mean there's any less of a traveling audience. In fact, college football has its own breed of fanatics willing to cross the country to witness gridiron battle.

Count Brad Jones of Atlanta in that crowd. A graduate of Florida State, he attended eight of 13 FSU football games last year. He's been to Tempe, Arizona, New Orleans, Louisiana, and Miami, Florida, for FSU bowl games.

He plans more of the same this year. And he doesn't do it for football alone.

"I think part of you just enjoys seeing your friends week after week. You enjoy the atmosphere," says Jones, 27.

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One of Jones' big trips is the FSU-Clemson game in South Carolina on November 3. Jones and his FSU-loving compatriots have built a Web site enlisting travelers for the game.

So far, 47 'Noles fans have signed up to hop on a bus on game day, ride 120 miles to Clemson (using the two hours on the road to start work on three kegs of beer), watch the 3:30 p.m. game, then drive back home that night.

It's not something Jones would do for any football team.

"I have nothing against pro football and I think it's a lot of fun, but when you went to a school and spent four or five years there, there's much more of an allegiance to that school," says Jones.

Steel-hard fan

Tell that to Matt Kovacs. A Steelers fan by birth, he grew up in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, but now lives in Los Angeles, California. About four times every football season, he travels to see the Steelers -- two games at home, two away.

This year, he's headed for Tampa, Florida, to watch his Steelers take on the Buccaneers on October 21.

"I do it to see the cities and the United States," he says. "We pick the cities that make sense. It's always location that tends to add to the trip."

When he's in a different town, he looks for those wearing black and gold.

Green Bay Packers fans enjoy the game.

"We do look for Pittsburghers and other Steelers fans, because it makes the experience so much better," Kovacs, 30, says. "You're on this pilgrimage to see the Steelers."

Manos, meantime, has big plans this Thanksgiving weekend. No, he won't be eating turkey with a bunch of relatives in front of a TV. He's taking his wife and two kids to New York.

Reason: The Raiders are playing the Giants on Sunday, November 25. But there will be more to the trip than a loud afternoon in The Meadowlands, he says.

"We're doing the Thanksgiving Day Parade (on Thursday, November 22) and on Friday (my wife) will shop … (We'll) bring our children to sit on Santa's lap. Then Saturday, (they're) flying back, and I'm staying one more day to see the Raiders," Manos says.

What happens if the Raiders lose after traveling all the way across the country?

"You have fun and you get depressed if they lose," says Manos. "But we have fun prior to the loss."