The College Football Playoff National Championship Game between Georgia and Alabama brought out the scalpers. If you waited for the last moment to get your ticket, you likely paid thousands of dollars more than you would have through official channels.
Before the game kicked off, ESPN’s Darren Rovell tweeted that StubHub tickets for at $4,700 for a pair with fees.
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The get-in price to the title game keeps going up.
Cheapest pair, with fees, on StubHub right now is $4,700!
— Darren Rovell (@darrenrovell) January 8, 2018
ESPN’s Arash Markazi also noted that ticket prices reached new highs on the secondary market, since fans could easily drive to Atlanta. Mercedes-Benz Stadium is only about 200 miles from Tuscaloosa, Alabama and 72 miles from Athens, Georgia.
It’s 72 miles from Athens, Georgia to Atlanta and 202 miles from Tuscaloosa, Alabama to Atlanta. The national championship game hasn’t helped Atlanta tourism much with most fans driving in today but it as boosted ticket prices on the secondary market to record levels.
— Arash Markazi (@ArashMarkazi) January 8, 2018
Back on Jan. 2, after the title game was set, Fortune reported that the prices on StubHub were already jumping. After the Bulldogs scored their championship game berth, the cheapest ticket on the site was $2,480.
Suites cost over $114,000 on Subhub and lower level seats along the 50-yard line were going for $12,000.
On Saturday, a man selling nosebleed seats told CBS Sports he wanted $1,500 per ticket.
“You kind of weigh the fact that can you get this much money, or do you want to go to the game? One of the two,” the man said. “That’s really what it comes down to. I guess I’d rather have the money than go to the game.”
Another concern for fans was avoiding fake tickets. The Atlanta Journal Constitution reported last week counterfeiters have gotten better, but the College Football Playoff organizers came up with a solution. Digital tickets helped lower the number of printed tickets.
That would “minimize the counterfeit tickets and people getting taken advantage of,” CFP Chief Operating Officer Michael Kelly said.
Photo credit: Jamie Schwaberow/Getty Images
