Within moments of the wild conclusion of Georgia’s double-overtime Rose Bowl victory over Oklahoma, tickets for the College Football Playoff National Championship Game on Monday became the hottest of hot commodities. Athens, home to the Bulldogs, sits just a 70 mile drive from Mercedez-Benz Stadium in Atlanta. Hours later, Alabama – itself just 200 miles away by car – also punched its ticket, pushing prices even higher.
How high, you ask? Throughout December, the average price of a ticket sold for the playoff final was $314.54, according to secondary market data from TicketNetwork. Since the finalists were set, those sales averages have increased nearly sevenfold – with an average per-ticket sale price of $2,053.58. As of Wednesday afternoon, the least expensive ticket price TicketNews could find on the major secondary marketplaces was a whopping $1,884 for a single seat and $3,665 for a pair.
The get-in prices for the major secondary networks are as follows:
- $1,925 for a single (Sec 350, Row 21) or $3,869 for a pair (Sec 350, Row 23) available for members of TicketClub.com
- $2,071 for a single (Sec 327, Row 9) or $3,867 for a pair (Sec 326, Row 22) available on Ticketmaster (resale)
- $2,081 for a single (Sec 326, Row 28) or $3,665 (Sec 344, Row 15) available on StubHub
- $1,884 for a single (Sec 301, Row 16) or $3,714 (same) available on Vivid Seats
Probing a bit deeper, it appears that the best deal throughout most of the stadium for fans is available on TicketClub, where members can purchase secondary market tickets without paying additional fees. Comparing similar (if not identical) tickets in a pair of quality locations bears that out.
For four tickets near the middle of the field in the upper level (Section 338, Row 29 or 30), we found the following all-in prices on Wednesday afternoon:
- Vivid Seats: $9,223 (Row 30) – $2,306/ticket
- Ticketmaster Resale: $8,764 (Row 29) – $2,191/ticket
- StubHub: $9,502 (Row 30) – $2,376/ticket
- Ticket Club: $8,150 (Row 30) – $2,038/ticket – and that’s including the purchase of an annual membership ($50). Existing members can have those same ducats for $8,100 or $2025/ticket
The percentages only get better where tickets get more into the premium zone. Here’s where prices fall for a pair of tickets in the Suntrust Club – C128, Row 28 – right along the 50 yard line:
- Ticket Club: $10,415
- Vivid Seats: $11,623 (+$1,208)
- Ticketmaster Resale: $11,650 (+$1,235)
- StubHub: $13,059 (+$2,644)
It’s fair to assume that the prices aren’t going to come down much, given the fact that both teams are so close, and have such massive, dedicated alumni bases in close proximity. And weather for Monday in Atlanta is a positively balmy 49 degrees, compared to the desolate frozen wasteland that much of the country tends to be this time of year.
We’ll check in later this week with where the prices are as the game approaches – particularly if the major storm that appears ready to pounce on the east coast has any substantial impact on Georgia.
(Main image via SI.com)
