Michigan’s first appearance in a college football national championship game (yes, you read that correctly) is generating record demand on the secondary ticket market. Neither the Wolverines nor their opponents from Washington have played in a national title matchup during the College Football Playoff or BCS eras. Excitement for the contest has it trending toward being the most expensive CFP final on record, according to TickPick data shared with Front Office Sports.
With the majority of purchases coming from Michigan’s side, the “get-in” price was as high as $1,200 last week before dipping, which is expected to continue until kickoff Monday night but still end up at a record high. No other national championship game has had a “get-in” price above $800. Many “get-in” prices for recent CFP championships have fallen below $200.
What Could Have Been
During halftime of Washington’s playoff semifinal win over Texas, the game was tied 21-21, and Longhorn fans—who travel well to begin with—were apparently getting ahead of themselves, with the potential for playing for a national championship in their home state on the table.
TickPick says the “get-in” price for Monday night’s title game in Houston got as high as $2,885 midway through that semifinal, and a Texas victory would have made the CFP title game far and away the most expensive matchup ever. Alas … .
Heading into the weekend, the average purchase price on TickPick was $2,201, which would also be a record for the CFP title game.