This is a new feature this year where I track the secondary ticket market, because I'm a cheap bastard who doesn't buy season tickets. This Big House vagabodry dates back to childhood, when my dad had a lot of friends with tickets, and a son who always answered "yes" when one of them called to offer. I of course got tickets as a student, but since graduating, I've had my ear to the ground. This does not make me an expert, but I've enlisted some readers plus our ticket partners TiqIQ and a Futures analyst to talk tickets and give some away.
If you would like to give away some tix to an MGoBlogger, leave a comment here.
YESTERDAY'S TRADING
We are now past the pre-season demand spike, which this year saw amazing $100/ticket average climb from last year. You knew last year was bad because you were getting phone calls from my dad's friends too. But the numbers revealed in Brandon's Lasting Lessons were staggering: an average of 9,000 tickets per game were given away by the athletic department alone. Typically the ticket market for any sports team is going to be high with expectations at the beginning of the season—and last year most expected Michigan to win 8 or 9 games—but 13,000 were given away for the Horror II. That was because of the opponent, yes, but also a screaming bear of a market which would only get worse after the pasting at Notre Dame.
Michigan did right itself but the effects linger, and that showed in the Oregon State ticket market. Even with a Pac12 opponent, the first Harbaugh home game, and the home opener, there were still guys standing outside Crisler offering free tickets and getting no takers. A reader reported he got two tickets at $5 each from the Stadium & Main melee. You could get tickets the morning of the game for $20-$30 on the ticket resale sites, though a lot of people were still holding out for face. This is typical for a 1990s mid-September MAC opponent, not a home opener.
Losing to Utah was the big thing—losses always bring down ticket prices, and the first one does the most. I think we also overestimated how quickly the hole of 2014 could be filled in. While the tailgaters (and the M-14 traffic congestion after 8 a.m.) were back en force the sense of scarcity is taking its time to climb back. That's unfortunate for all those who got season tickets, but good news for secondary buyers.
By the way the student section did get pretty full even if it looked like the top was empty. Back in the day student tickets were easy enough to resell to people who actually plan on sitting in their seats. Students pack in with their friends lower down, and that's why you'll see empty spots at the top. You could tell when Grapentine welcomed the freshmen to the stadium and freshmen all over the student section went woo while all the upperclassmen to have lived through Brandon had their arms crossed and eyes rolled.
THE NEXT GAME
If you were looking for an opportunity to bring the whole family on a budget UNLV should be the cheapest ticket all year. If the opener on a beautiful day against a P5 opponent on Harbaugh's first home game still didn't fill, a high school team from Nevada that dresses like the Buckeyes and uses a mascot from losing side of the Civil Rights Movement is going to make a lot of fans go meh. And then there's this (via Weathertap):
When they say 50% that means a front is probably coming but they don't know when it will clear out by. Even if it turns out sunny, storms Friday night or Saturday morning will mean a lot of stay-homes. You can get four in Row 11 on the 50 yard line for $50 each right now. You can probably get two people in for free on Game Day, and a decent seat for $20/ticket on your walk to the stadium.
CURRENT RATES
The seller's season became a buyer's season with Michigan's first loss, then more so as scarcity effect was undermined badly by the lackluster Oregon State fill.
Again, my process is I spend a week of tracking prices on TiqIQ (which collates all the smaller markets), Stubhub, and Craigslist (Ann Arbor and Metro Detroit), then post a price per ticket for two or more seats together:
| Game | In Aug | Now | Dips | Buy? | Reasoning |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| UNLV | $45 | $30 | free | at game | See above. Buy only if you desire good seats/have a big group. |
| BYU | $72 | $70 | $65 | at game | Already below face ($80-$100) now. This stock's a dog |
| @Maryland | $85 | $85 | $60 | Now | M fans still driving up the market. |
| Northwestern | $80 | $66 | $60 | wait. | If M beats BYU start shopping. |
| MSU | $194 | $225 | $118 | Now | State fans will drive up. |
| @Minnesota | $78 | $66 | - | wait. | No idea how the Minnesota secondary market works now—last time I went was Metrodome, which had unlimited seats. Help? |
| Rutgers | $43 | $45 | $12 | Now | People are dumping them in protest. Jump. |
| @Indiana | $63 | $56 | - | wait. | Hoosiers will dump tix when they start losing. |
| @Penn State | $145 | $108 | $80 | Now | I was wrong before. Get 'em now while PSU sucks. |
| Ohio State | $217 | $144 | $130 | Now | I believe in Harbaugh. |
The games close at hand took a big dip, and MSU hit a low—remember the face on those start at $95 and that's not counting PSLs. By mid-October State fans will notice. If you see tickets near $120 and you really want to go to that game, jump.
I was so so so wrong about Penn State so please don't get mad at me if I'm wrong about the rest. I thought PSU had such an easy schedule they'd be romping to 9 wins by the time Michigan came to town, and their unreasonable fans would take that to mean they're good. Then Temple happened. I say buy now because they'll eventually have something to get excited about and prices were really high during a bad season when we went there last time.
CHEAP TIP
I never buy from the ticket hucksters around town. They're way too good at their jobs and love to lie about bad seats. If you find yourself having to use the scalpers, don't ever buy the first tickets they show you, and catch them when you're walking FROM not TO the stadium—you'll have a better gauge of the market by that point. Whenever possible try to find another fan going to the game since they're motivated to get rid of those tickets and get in the building.
BEST DEAL RIGHT NOW (that I can find on the sponsor's site because let's support people who support us okay?)
The MSU ticket market is volatile right now. Leave a window open here (1 ticket for MSU) and you'll come across singles around $150 each here and there, and sometimes in the same section.