The Top 25 Hottest Tickets in College Football Week Seven



Several weeks into the 2007 college football season and a glance at the hottest college football tickets reveals which teams are on the rise and which are falling. The Top 25 List began posting ticket prices a few weeks before opening games. Comparing current ticket demand to prices posted weeks ago, this week's Top 25 List exposes which game tickets have had the greatest changes in price over the past month, which games are fans wishing they had purchased a month ago and which games are fans wishing they had waited to buy.

"The hottest tickets are LSU and USC right now," says Rafael Rivas, Vice President of Sales for TicketCity.com. "Bama is close behind them, but the demand for LSU games and USC games is really heating up. Florida is in there too, particularly for their game against LSU."

The average ticket price on the LSU versus Florida game is currently at $723.00 per ticket . That is just slightly down from its peak last week at $772.00, but up 70% from its price on August 10th. Then, the average price for LSU/Florida was only $426.00 per ticket . For USC, both their Pac 10 rivalry games against UCLA and Cal have crept up 20% over the past month. The average price on the USC/UCLA is currently $518.00 per ticket up from $440.00 and Cal is at $405.00 per ticket , up from $328.00.

So what is driving these prices up so fast And when is the best time to buy tickets for the big game

Rivas says, "It's a supply and demand business. When the top teams are winning, people want to get out to see them play. And when you put two top teams together, it can send the demand through the roof like we're seeing with LSU/Florida. That game could help decide who is going to play in the National Championship, so people want to be there (Tiger Stadium) to see it live."

Randy Cohen, CEO of TicketCity.com advises, "There isn't an exact science to knowing the precise best time to buy tickets for a hot game. When teams are winning big, it can send the prices higher. But that isn't always the case, and there other factors involved that can influence the price of a ticket."

The principle factor is the demand from the fans, which can be adversely affected not just by losses, but by poor performance on the field. Explains Cohen, "If a team continues to squeak out games they should be winning easily; sometimes the fans unhappiness causes them not to turn out as strong for future games." And conversely, if an underdog wins some games against higher ranked opponents, it can raise the bar on their future match ups.

Other factors that can have an affect on the price of tickets are the size of the stadium, the number of tickets available on the market, the weather forecast for game day, the date and time of the game. "More people turn out for a game when the sun is shining and temperature is perfect," says Rivas. Those 'perfect Fall Saturdays' make the experience at a game just that much better."

But with some games peaking in price, some others have dropped significantly over the past month. The price of the Notre Dame versus USC game in South Bend has steadily declined over the past month. On August 10th the average ticket price was $950.00 per ticket , and today it is at $527.00 per ticket . Similarly the price of the Notre Dame versus Boston College game has dipped from $661.00 per ticket , a month ago, to just $297.00 per ticket today.

Even the prices for the huge rivalry game between Ohio State and Michigan are down significantly. In early August the price per ticket hovered near $1000.00 per ticket , and today it is half of that price at $526.00 per ticket . This is the game that last year was the #1 hottest ticket in college football.

"Notre Dame and Michigan's early struggles have really dampened the market on their games," says Rivas. "And Florida State's loss to Clemson has had a similar affect on them. I still expect the games involving these teams to be big, because they are all big time programs. But the prices definitely won't come close to where they would have been if the teams were still undefeated."

"If you've never been, this might be the year to finally see that Ohio State/Michigan game," adds Cohen. Assuming Michigan doesn't turn it around and run the table in conference."

TicketCity.com releases this week's (September 17th) list of the top 25 hottest games of 2007 based on average ticket price. The list was accumulated by compiling a majority of the available tickets on the secondary market throughout the entire country. The secondary market is comprised of over 800 established ticket brokers, and every fan who is listing extra tickets to sell.

Prices will continue to fluctuate throughout the 2007 season and TicketCity.com will continue to update the hottest games list from week-to-week. View the top 25 games list on the TicketCity.com web site at



The Top 25 Hottest Tickets in College Football Week Seven