After a lackluster weekend on the field – but a pretty impressive weekend in the stands – the college football playoffs are moving off-campus and back into the big-city stadiums they’re used to.
All of the higher-ranked seeds won this weekend, with Notre Dame, Ohio State, Penn State, and Texas all moving on to the next round. While tickets in places like Happy Valley were reported to be going for less than $10 on resale sites, the upside was that the stadiums were full, both with home and visiting fans. The estimate of 30,000 Tennessee fans descending upon Ohio Stadium was proof that college football’s first-round move to on-campus stadiums was a pretty big success.
But now it’s on to the second round, which will find teams squaring off in the more traditional college football playoff venues. The Rose Bowl in LA, Mercedes Benz Stadium in Atlanta, State Farm Stadium in Phoenix, and the Superdome in New Orleans will all host games next week.
Here’s the schedule:
FIESTA BOWL
Tuesday, December 31: Penn State (6) vs. Boise State (3), 5:30pm MT
PEACH BOWL
Wednesday, January 1: Texas (5) vs. Arizona State (4), 1:00pm ET
ROSE BOWL
Wednesday, January 1: Ohio State (8) vs. Oregon (1), 2:00pm PT
SUGAR BOWL
Wednesday, January 1: Notre Dame (7) vs. Georgia (2), 7:45pm CT
As of Sunday night (12/22), here are the get-in prices on Stubhub for each bowl (including fees) for a pair of tickets:
Fiesta Bowl: $267 each (1450 listings)
Peach Bowl: $98 each (1700 listings)
Rose Bowl: $238 each (1200 listings)
Sugar Bowl: $230 each (1750 listings)
We’ve cited Stubhub because it typically has the greatest quantity of tickets. But don’t forget to check Seatgeek, which is the primary ticketing provider for the Fiesta Bowl and Sugar Bowl, and TickPick, which often has lower prices for many of the same tickets that are available on the other platforms because of their lower fees.
Regardless, if you’re just looking at the get-in price for each game, it’s quite reasonable, especially in Atlanta, where Peach Bowl tickets are cheap (likely due to the limited number of ASU fans who will trek across the country for a game that opened as a 13.5 point spread). We think that game may get cheaper in the coming days.
The Fiesta Bowl may also see falling prices, since Phoenix is a harder location to get to than LA or Atlanta. If people haven’t already booked a flight, those options will dry up and demand may stay flat.
The Rose Bowl has the smallest supply of available tickets, and an Oregon fanbase that can easily make its way down the coast to LA. We’d suggest buying those tickets on the early side before supply dries up.
The Sugar Bowl could see late-decision fans drive from Atlanta to New Orleans since it’s just a seven-hour drive. If you’re heading to the Superdome and prices start to fall, we wouldn’t wait too long to purchase yours.
