College Football Playoff ticket prices continue to plummet for the quarterfinals, and the market is basically making the NCAA's next move for them.
On the first day of Econ 101, the lesson is about how prices are set. That point where the supply meets demand, which determines the price. Certainly, there are several factors to that, but ultimately, the market will tell you the price.
Well, in year two of the 12-team college football playoff, the market is telling a story that College Football does not want to hear.
Ticket prices for the second round of the playoffs are historically low for three of the four games that will take place on New Year's Eve and New Year's Day.
Ohio State vs. Miami has a get-in price of a whopping $32. To fly down to Texas from Ohio and go to the game would cost in the range of $500. It's a jaw-dropping number for a game that has so many implications and so many storylines.
Texas Tech and Oregon check in second to cheapest game this week for the two teams having to travel the farthest. Oregon Duck fans would be required to go cross-country, while Texas Tech fans have more of a doable flight across the Gulf. The get in price for this one is just $45.
Ohio State Touches Down in Dallas | Changes on the OL | Miami Preview | Keys To VictoryThe Ohio State Buckeyes are officially in Dallas two days away from their Cotton Bowl Matchup with the Miami Hurricanes. Ohio State is 9.5 point favorites on...Look away if you're a college football historian nerd like myself.
Out in Pasadena at the Rose Bowl, the historical range for get-in ticket prices for the "Granddaddy of 'Em All" is between $300-$700. Last year for Ohio State and Oregon, the Gameday get-in was $372. On Wednesday, you can get into Indiana vs. Alabama for $107 as of the writing of this article.
Lastly, the Sugar Bowl in New Orleans has normal ticket prices attached to it. With two teams that are regionally close to the Superdome, the get-in price is $185 for fans of Oregon and Ole Miss. While this is still low, they are at least in the range of a normal price.
To me, this should be a major red flag for College Football.
While I am in the camp that the College Football Playoff is a good thing, I do acknowledge that it is not perfect. Certainly, there are changes that they need to make in who gets in, but I also believe that there needs to be locational changes, as well.
The first and second rounds should absolutely be held at the home campuses of the higher seed. Home campus environments are no less than 1,000 times better than neutral site locations, and not to mention, this current format requires fanbases to travel to at least three neutral sites.
That's three flights, three hotel stays, three premium tickets as the baseline for the budgeting conversation.
The quarterfinals this year are proving that fans are going to have to save up for their team potentially playing in a later game than seeing an earlier game.
Changes need to be made, and this would be one of the first ones that I would make in the future.
Category: General Sports
