The College Football Playoff National Championship game promises to be a classic, pitting Alabama against Clemson in a battle between the consensus two best teams in the country. But while plenty of people will be watching the game from home, it’s not clear how many are interested in traveling to see it in person.
According to a report by the Associated Press, ticket prices for the National Championship game have been falling on the secondary market over the past week, with a number of factors contributing to a lack of interest from fans.
Bay Area Not a Hotbed for College Football
The biggest issue might be the location of the game. While both Clemson and Alabama have massive, enthusiastic fan bases, they’ll have a long way to go if they want to watch their teams face off at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, California.
Located an hour outside of San Francisco, the home stadium of the 49ers is inconvenient to get to even for many Californians, let alone for those traveling across the country to watch a single game. Between transportation and lodging in one of the most expensive areas in the United States, the trip itself could be unaffordable for many even before factoring in ticket prices.
Locals aren’t likely to pick up the slack, either. While there are parts of California, such as Los Angeles, which do tend to strongly support college football, that’s not really true in the Bay Area, where professional teams are better supported.
Tickets Available Far Below Face Value
That’s a combination that has sent ticket prices down over the last few days, after an initial spike over the excitement of seeing two undefeated powerhouses face off against each other. On TicketIQ, tickets for the game started at $126 on Friday night; StubHub had tickets priced as low as $120. That is far below the $475 face value of each ticket.
“It’s sort of a perfect storm of factors at play this year,†TicketIQ founder Jesse Lawrence told the AP. “It’s a big ask for fans to come, and that’s why we’re seeing the prices the way they are.â€
Given the historic lack of interest in college football in the area and at Levi’s Stadium in particular, others have taken a cynical view of the NCAA’s decision to host their single biggest game of the year in Santa Clara.
“It’s lack of foresight and just grabbing the cash. It’s a money grab,†Fox Sports’ Tim Brando told Sporting News. “Some thought needs to be given to these locations, instead of just going with the highest bidder.â€
Fans who do make the trek out to California should be in for an exciting game. The Alabama Crimson Tide (14-0) opened as a six-point favorite, but betting on the Clemson Tigers (14-0) had brought the line down to 4.5 points at the Westgate Las Vegas SuperBook by Friday afternoon. This marks the 53rd consecutive game in which Alabama has been favored by bookmakers, and only the fifth time in the past three seasons that Clemson has entered a game as the underdog.
