TicketCity Reveals the Top 25 Hottest College Football Games for Week 8
Ticket prices reflect the changes in the polls as the first weekend in October saw the hopes of a BCS Championship run strengthen for three teams and end for four others.
Austin, TX (BusinessWire – October 5, 2009) – Florida, Texas and Alabama rule the AP rankings and fall in 6 of the top 10 hottest game tickets for the season. While the top three teams look strong heading into the coming weeks, they are also facing opponents determined to win and fans know that. Oklahoma, Michigan, Houston and California unfortunately fall short of a campaign for the BCS title, however, these teams still have the potential for major upsets in upcoming matchups. According to TicketCity’s top 25 hottest football games, fan demand for rivalries and potential upsets reign this week’s list.
Just as in the polls, SEC and Big 12 teams dominate the top 25 ticket list participating in 19 of the 25 games. “SEC and Big 12 teams typically have large fan bases that are willing to travel to support their teams,” says Randy Cohen, CEO of TicketCity. “While fan loyalty always plays into ticket pricing, this year performance is driving fan demand up. Upcoming games between old rivals will reveal the leading teams of the season and tickets for most teams in either conference will remain high.”
With USC’s loss and Cal dropping off the rankings all together, representation of the Pac-10 on the top 25 list is almost non-existent. The same can be said of teams in the ACC & Big 10. Yet two games featuring teams that have suffered losses managed to secure the number 2 and 7 spots. “The USC at Notre Dame and Ohio State at Penn State are strong rivalries between schools with loyal fans,” explains Cohen. “While none of the teams are ranked high in the polls, the affects of those games have the potential to be far reaching.”
One of the biggest games of the season occurs on Saturday between two recent BCS champions, Florida and LSU. In the last 8 weeks the average price for the game has hovered around $536 per ticket. Though Florida leads LSU by nearly 200 points in the polls, both teams are undefeated for the season and the results of this game will not only affect poll rankings but also prices for games going forward. “This has been huge game for us this season,” states Rafael Rivas, VP of Sales for TicketCity. “We’ve easily sold 30% more tickets for the matchup this year than last.”
Kansas has also remained undefeated and has slowly climbed the rankings in the last several weeks. As the season progresses, the team made the top 25 list with two games against Nebraska and Oklahoma. “Much of the demand for either of those games stems from the smaller seating capacity of Kansas’ stadium,” comments Rivas. Another game looking to leap onto the list is Iowa at Ohio State. This will be the first time in three years the Big 10 teams will go head-to-head. Currently the cost of an average ticket is $169 falling just short of making this week’s list. “At 5-0 Iowa is looking strong. That coupled with Ohio State’s massive fan base hosting the game at their own stadium, tickets are likely to jump up in price,” ended Rivas.
TicketCity releases this week's list of the top 25 hottest games of the 2009 regular college football season based on average ticket price. The list was accumulated by compiling a majority of the available tickets on the secondary market throughout the entire country. The secondary market is comprised of over 800 established ticket brokers, and fans who are listing extra tickets to sell.
Prices will continue to fluctuate throughout the 2009 season and TicketCity will continue to update the hottest games list from week to week. View the top 25 games list below or visit the TicketCity.com web site and search for Top 25.
TicketCity sells tickets for all sports, concerts and theatre event but specializes in tickets for all college sports and championship events, including college football and college bowl games. Founded in 1990, TicketCity is a trusted source for secondary market tickets to events around the world. TicketCity partners include NBC Sports, Scout and RootZoo. TicketCity has been named to Inc Magazine's prestigious Inc 5000 list in 2007, 2008 and 2009.