Ohio State fans pride themselves on making every game their football team plays in feel like a home affair. And even though the Buckeyes play in the exact same location for their bowl game as they did last season, ticket sales are going "extremely well" for the College Football Playoff, according to a university spokesman.
“Response from season ticket holders and students was very strong,” Brett Scarbrough told Eleven Warriors in an email on Friday. “We also opened a public waitlist the day of the announcement and had good response on that as well.”
Ohio State season ticket holders and other donors received an email on Nov. 14 with ticketing information and how those priority requests could be submitted. Ordering for those groups concluded Dec. 9 at 5 p.m. Available tickets for faculty, staff and student ticket became available the following Tuesday, Dec. 13.
Those tickets for No. 3 Ohio State's game against No. 2 Clemson started at $120 plus service charges and the university received approximately 13,000 tickets to sell. Only about 12,500 are available for the public, though, Scarbrough said, since 500 are reserved for band members.
“We were able to fill all orders and are currently down to only a few hundred remaining,” he said.
The University began to promote on social media Friday afternoon that fans planning to head to Arizona need to act fast to ensure their seat. Price for an upper-level ticket remains at $120.
This quite a contrast to last season when the Buckeyes also stood at 11-1, did not play for the Big Ten Championship but missed the Playoff due to a late-season home loss to Michigan State. The Fiesta Bowl represented a consolation prize for Urban Meyer's team and fans felt the same way. Roughly two weeks before kickoff against Notre Dame—so around the same time this story was published—Scarbrough told Eleven Warriors that only around 9,000 of the school's allotted 12,500 tickets had been sold.
Round-trip flights from Columbus to Phoenix on Dec. 30 and returning to Ohio Jan. 1 are still hovering above $800, similar to a year ago. But fans are willing to shell out the coin to see Ohio State have an opportunity to win the program its ninth national championship. Should the Buckeyes defeat the Tigers, they will advance to the title game on Jan. 9 in Tampa to face the winner of top-ranked Alabama and No. 4 Washington.
The Crimson Tide and Huskies face off in the Peach Bowl in Atlanta in the other national semifinal also on New Year's Eve. Kickoff for that game is set for 3 p.m. ET. Kickoff between Ohio State and Clemson is scheduled for 7 p.m. ET on Dec. 31.
On the morning of Dec. 5, not even 24 hours after fans learned the Buckeyes made the College Football Playoff, you could purchase a ticket for the Fiesta Bowl for as low as $72 on StubHub. On Vivid Seats, there were tickets available for only $64. A spokesman for StubHub told Eleven Warriors earlier this week the median price for Fiesta Bowl tickets is $165. For the Peach Bowl, it is $250.
“I think the difference in demand has a lot to do with location,” Cameron Papp said in an email. “The Peach Bowl is almost down the street for Alabama fans and we’re seeing it in our sales.”
Papp said the state of Alabama is responsible for 29 percent of sales for the Peach Bowl on StubHub, while Georgia is second at 22 percent. Facing a cross country flight as well as lodging and tickets for the game, patrons from the state of Washington are only responsible for 6 percent of sales on StubHub.
By comparison, Ohio State fans from the home state have bought 27 percent of tickets for the Fiesta Bowl on StubHub. California is responsible for 15 percent, while South Carolina—the home state of Clemson—has scooped up just 3 percent of them.
Papp said it is clear Ohio State fans are willing to travel to Phoenix again but Fiesta Bowl sales are not on the same level as the Peach Bowl overall. That makes sense considering Ohio and South Carolina are located on the opposite end of the country from Arizona, whereas Georgia is right next door to Alabama.
Either way, it is clear that if you are an Ohio State fan and want to go to Phoenix to watch your team in the College Football Playoff, time is running out.
