I can't find tickets for Ohio State! I'm freaking out! Wait, let's go back a bit to understand my play here, and how it blew up in my face, in the latest installment of this secondary ticket article I write that you apparently find useful even though you can do a lot of this research yourself and at times it's a total bald face plea for seats. Two. Any section.
Yes I emailed our sponsor, TiqIQ already. He said it'll cost:
UM/OSU currently averages $420.33 on the secondary market, and that's with a 3% price drop this week. It's the most expensive matchup between the two of the past 6 seasons in either building.
Current get-in is $230 for a single seat & $300 for a pair (each after fees).
2012 in Columbus had a nearly identical average price ($419.21) but much lower Get-in ($150)
- Highest average was on 11/4 ($432), Lowest was 9/17 ($296).
- Highest get-in was on 11/9 ($243), Lowest was 9/8 ($117).
Let me know if you want any other data.
Yeesh. The singles right now are about $220. I'm betting they stick.
YESTERDAY'S TRADING
Michigan's been on the road for the most part since I last checked in, and those went as planned. Emailers reported they got their Minnesota tickets for $20 outside the game, and Indiana there were a lot of free ones available despite the nice weather.
For Rutgers everything online was face right up until the time I had to leave for Ann Arbor, and around the stadium people were asking for $50 and watching buyers walk away when I went in. I had to cast around to find someone to use my other seat—I was planning to go with Demorest until he got sick, and then my brother was sick, and my friends were either sick or moving, and then I had to explain that I can't move couches because it's my job to go to a Michigan-Rutgers game. This was a common tale; there were a ton of last-minute single seats open, a thing that happens during flu season and when the weather's bad.
CURRENT RATES
I ended up taking Ace's press pass for Penn State so I'm out of that market, but I've been watching it closely and, like Penn State, it performed pretty much as expected…until this week:
| Game | In Oct | Now | Dips | Buy? | Reasoning |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| @Penn State | $110 | $75 | $75 | Now | See discussion below. |
| Ohio State | $181 | $225 | $225 | Now | Once OSU beats State, the Bucks are comin' |
That dip was sudden and dramatic, and took place almost entirely with big groups of tickets becoming available in the northwest end zone:
Let me zoom in:
I'm not sure but I'm pretty sure those are Michigan's allotment that suddenly made available huge swaths of unused seats. I'm basing this assumption on the fact that these were where the away fans sat in 2013 when we went. This was their Wisconsin game in 2012 to show it better since their red sticks out:
See the strip of Badgers on the upper-left/two-decker side?
This is just a total guess but if there's a reason Michigan group tickets suddenly fell back into the pool it's probably because basketball plays Xavier at 9 p.m. tonight, then Penn State at noon tomorrow, so going to both would require either a constitution that doesn't require sleep or a private jet. My hypothesis is people in position to snatch up these tickets early did so, and now they can't use them.
Then there's The Game. I expect Ohio State to crush Michigan State on Saturday. If that occurs, the Buckeyes will rush to buy seats and single seats will jump $250. If Michigan loses that will put more tix on the market, but it's a market that will be moving so fast the price will stand. I think that's about the limit; the Big House has too many seats to fill to cruise over $250. If you MUST go and you can't afford that, you can try to find some greedy bastard who waited too long to make a profit 10 minutes after kickoff, but expect to end up watching in a bar.
CHEAP TIP
If your friend offers to let you use his seats but he's out of town and his tickets are at home—have your buddy call the ticket office and release them to you. This can be done online as well. Sometimes folks don't realize the paper tickets they left in a drawer don't have to go unused.
BEST DEAL RIGHT NOW (that I can find on the sponsor's site because let's support people who support us okay?)
Wanna see the ONLY good non-conference game that'll be in Crisler all year? There are a bunch of mid-court upper deck seats available for under $20 right now.
You won't be able to see Doyle's sweat bubbles from there, but I can confirm Robinson's threes look sweet from 225.
P.S. Said sponsor has an app now in case you're on your phone reading this and don't have microscopic fingertips. If you're using them use the code MGOBLOG and they'll give you 10% off certain listings.