Apparently, ticket prices are plummeting for The College Football Playoff game per an article in USA Today this morning. Tickets for CFP title game available for cheap
Yeah I saw that. I would be tempted to go but airline tickets are around $1000 and lodging in the $300 to $400 per night range I just can't justify it.
Don't take your wife! Now you know I did not mean that! Seriously how many Tide fans do you think will make the trip?
Don, seriously my wife is not a big football fan so she doesn't want to go. My daughters might go with me. I don't know how many are going. I know a lot of people RV to games and they show up en masse to Dallas and Orlando and Miami. Santa Clara is a little too far I guess.
I'm a little bit surprised I guess, sure there is a long distance from Clemson SC and Tuscaloosa Al to Santa Clara but still I'd have expected tickets to remain in high demand. And it's expected to be a hell of a game. Also I don't think that Stadium is too big at 68,500. which while not small is significantly smaller than the home stadiums of either Clemson or Alabama. You might say that fans spent their money on the Cotton Bowl and Orange Bowl and are tapped out, and maybe that is a factor. Maybe it's just that it's in California, and local demand is nil. I'm pretty sure previous games at the Georgia Dome and Tampa Bay were sold out, well attended. I know the Super Bowl sells out and the ticket prices never dip no matter where it's played and who is playing.
College and Professional sports are so entrenched in the money game that the average football fan anymore can't afford the trips due to the cost of tickets and hotel rooms as pointed out by kp. That to me is the downside anymore. I know I would not be willing to part with that kind of money to see my beloved Buckeyes! Even closer to home is still very costly.
Well only the NFL has a playoff game (SuperBowl) that is not at the home field of one of the participants. So NFL fans only have to pony up one time. NBA, MLB, etc are 100% at the home field of the participants so that helps. If they go to 8 teams the whole travel thing will be even more of a problem, fans tapping out their funds for possibly 3 games. Which is why I think the 1st round will have to be at campus locations, even if that means Midwest in Dec, there will be complaints, but lower divisions do it, I've seen playoff in FCS in Montana in the snow, and certainly NFL teams have no problem playing in bad/cold weather in Jan. We're still so consumed with maintaining the traditional bowls that is the problem. With 8 teams we should do campus sites and then have the college Super Bowl at a neutral site like the NFL. That would be much easier on the fans.
I'm am old sailor that traveled all of his life. I'm not dying to jump on an airplane and fly all the way across the country for the "gameday" experience in Santa Clara, CA. The view from my chair in the den is much better. I usually go to 2 or 3 games a year in Tuscaloosa but I am getting picky and only go to games I really want to see, so I didn't go to any this year.