MarketWatch (01/06/19) Murphy, Mike

TicketIQ reported that secondary market prices for this year's College Football Playoff title game between Alabama and Clemson dropped sharply over the last week, with the least expensive tickets offered for more than $300 less than their face value as of Jan. 6. SeatGeek said the average resale cost of a ticket declined from $1,043 to $533 in just days, while upper-deck seats, which had a face value of $475 each, were available for as low as $151.80 on StubHub and $156 on SeatGeek. “We have not seen prices this low at this point for a CFP [championship] game before,” noted SeatGeek spokesperson Chris Leyden. “The closest was the 2016 game when prices were at $783 each five days out.” Although the game is sold out, many seats were purchased by ticket brokers, with TicketIQ noting there were about 5,000 tickets still unloaded as of Jan. 6, about 1,500 less than the day before. Distance may perhaps be the most significant factor behind the price drop, as Tuscaloosa, Ala., is nearly 2,300 miles from Santa Clara, Calif., and Clemson, S.C., is about 2,600 miles away. “It's sort of a perfect storm of factors at play this year,” said TicketIQ founder Jesse Lawrence. “It's a big ask for fans to come, and that's why we're seeing the prices the way they are.”

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