College National Championship Field
Workers check the progress on the midfield section of the 2015 College Football Playoff National Championship football field in the AT&T Stadium loading dock in Arlington, Texas, back on Nov. 6.
(LM Otero/The Associated Press)
Getting into the College Football Playoff national championship game is becoming more expensive by the day, with the cheapest seats to watch Oregon and Ohio State play Jan. 12 rising 10 percent in the 24 hours after the teams clinched their berths.
The data comes via secondary ticket marketplace TiqIQ, whose inventory lists the cheapest title game tickets at $724. To make the first playoff title game, the Ducks beat Florida State, 59-20, in the Rose Bowl and the Buckeyes beat Alabama, 42-35, in the Sugar Bowl on New Year's Day, the same day availability for the title game dropped by a third, according to the ticket-seller.
TiqIQ is but one way to buy tickets, of course, with StubHub listing tickets as low as $590.
Though the lowest prices are rising to see the game, the average ticket cost for AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, remains unchanged since mid-December, at $1,621, which is $700 more expensive than the average cost to see the 2014 title game between Florida State and Auburn. The current average price is less, however, than what it took to see any of the title games from 2011 -- when it cost more than $5,086 to watch Auburn beat Oregon -- to 2013, with each of those more than $2,000 per ticket.
Still, if $724 is rock bottom and $1,621 is average, then it is expected there will be jaw-dropping prices at the top. And so far, the first Football Bowl Subdivision championship game held at the home of the Dallas Cowboys — which doesn't do anything small, at a reported cost of $1.2 billion to build what it says is the world's largest domed structure — doesn't disappoint.
Per TiqIQ's data, the most expensive non-suite seat will run you at least $11,500 to sit in the first row along the 35-yard line. And suites, which come with 27 tickets, are as expensive as $133,000.
OK, on to the links:
A sneak peek at the matchup with the 13-1 Buckeyes.
Pharaoh Brown was in a low place before rejoining his teammates in Pasadena.
How the Buckeyes and Ducks share similar paths to a championship.
Ducks men's hoops beat OSU this weekend with a nod to Marcus Mariota.
A title is Oregon's to win (the Ducks are a touchdown favorite).
Oregon's all-important running game continues to charge on.
UO snagged a 2015 linebacker recruit over the weekend.
Two people have been indicted in a 2012 crash involving UO distance runners.
-- Andrew Greif
agreif@oregonian.com
503-221-8100; @andrewgreif