Biggest draws and the hottest tickets in college football

The biggest draws in college football and the hottest tickets for the 2019 college football season.

College football attendance has been a growing concern over the last couple of years with more fans choosing to watch on their HDTV from their homes vs. in a sea of humanity with 100,000 of their closest friends.

While the powers that be in college athletics try to get more butts in the seats, the demand for certain programs remains high as shown by the prices fans are willing to pay to see a game in person.

According to no-fee secondary ticket marketplace TickPick, Georgia is the most expensive draw this season with an average listing price of $389.95, which is 28 percent more expensive than the next hottest ticket — Michigan at $279.27. Notre Dame and Ohio State check in at No. 3 and 4, respectively with average prices of $273.92 and $266.48. Defending national champion Clemson checks in fifth at $228.34 and Alabama, again trail the Tigers, with an average price of $203.01.

Most expensive games

Now when it comes to the most expensive games, Georgia and Notre Dame fans will have to open up the purse strings a bit if they want to attend the matchup between two teams hoping to return to the College Football Playoff.

The Sept. 21 game between Georgia and Notre Dame at Sanford Stadium in Athens, GA is the biggest draw of the year with the cheapest ticket going for $600, which is nearly double the second most expensive ticket for the Texas vs. LSU game, which has a $339 get-in price.

A national brand like Notre Dame really spikes the ticket value, but the common theme for the most expensive tickets are for the perennial powers of college football with the biggest fanbases who aren’t averse to traveling to see their team on Saturdays.

Below you can find the 20 most expensive games, courtesy of TickPick, which doesn’t have any secondary fees to raise the cost of getting in the door.

After the top two games, which are non-conference games between prestigious programs and naturally drive up the price, a pair of rivalry games check in at No. 3 and No. 4.

The Red River Rivalry between Texas and Oklahoma is annually one of the biggest games and most attended games. This year will be no different. The Iron Bowl between Alabama and Auburn has been the best rivalry in college football for at least the last decade so it’s no surprise to see it’ll cost a more than $1000 for a family of four to attend.

SEC and Big Ten teams make up the majority of the list with the notable exceptions for Clemson and Miami from the ACC and Texas and Oklahoma representing the Big 12. But it’s notable that there isn’t a single Pac-12 game on this list. There isn’t even a single Pac-12 team represented, which is another example of how far the conference has fallen in recent years. It would appear football west of Texas and Oklahoma isn’t driving the needle and fans aren’t willing to pay to see teams like USC, Washington, Oregon and Stanford in person compared to their Power 5 counterparts.