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An intriguing financial trend is developing in the second year of the expanded, 12-team College Football Playoff.
Like last season, resale ticket prices for the CFP quarterfinals at neutral-site bowl games are lower than the cost to attend first-round home games at schools’ campuses.
Here are the cheapest tickets available for each quarterfinal matchup on New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day (data comes from each bowl game’s official ticketing marketplace as of Tuesday):
- Sugar Bowl: Ole Miss–Georgia, $181
- Rose Bowl: Alabama-Indiana, $109
- Orange Bowl: Oregon–Texas Tech, $70
- Cotton Bowl: Miami–Ohio State, $28
The Sugar Bowl, the most expensive CFP quarterfinal to attend, is also being played in the closest proximity to its participants’ home markets.
Money Matters
The average “get-in price” for the four CFP quarterfinal games is $97, compared to $165 for first-round games in the days leading up to those contests earlier this month.
Last season, the get-in price for the Rose Bowl was nearly $200, but the cheapest seats for the other three games all cost less than $40. However, first-round games in 2024 were much more expensive, with resale prices for Indiana–Notre Dame nearing $1,000 at times.
More CFP Home Games?
The relatively low resale prices for the CFP quarterfinals come as fans, and even some coaches, have bemoaned moving from on-campus games in the first round to neutral sites for the remainder of the Playoff.
“In my opinion—we’re really excited to be going to the Orange Bowl—but this game should be played at Texas Tech, the higher-seeded team,” Oregon coach Dan Lanning said last week.
The No. 5 Ducks hosted No. 12 seed James Madison in the first round, winning 51–34 in front of a home crowd of 55,124 fans at Autzen Stadium in Eugene. The No. 4 Red Raiders had a first-round bye.
