2017 National Championship Game Tickets Topping $3,500 On Average: Ticket IQ

TAMPA, FL – With the 2016-17 College Football Playoff National Championship Game hours away from kickoff, the secondary market for tickets continues to skyrocket.

According to TicketIQ, a secondary ticket market aggregation site, the average resell ticket has topped $3,500 as of this morning. The game is scheduled to kick off at 8:30 tonight at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa.

Jesse Lawrence, the founder and CEO of TicketIQ, said tickets on the Clemson side are 30 percent higher than the price on the Alabama side.

“It’s more expensive because there are less tickets on the market on the Clemson side and there are more Clemson fans looking for tickets,” he said.

According to TicketIQ’s real-time data, the cheapest tickets remaining are just less than $1,800 for the sold-out championship game. The most expensive tickets, which are in the first row behind the Clemson bench on the 50-yard line, currently have an asking price of $27,650 each.

Last year’s game in Glendale, Ariz., only averaged $610 per ticket on the secondary market, and the market started to decline as time went on, according to TicketIQ. The rematch of Alabama and Clemson in the National Championship Game created somewhat of a perfect storm for the secondary ticket market, Lawrence said.

The fact that both schools are within driving distance of Tampa has contributed to the high demand for tickets, Lawrence said. Because the game is sold out, the secondary market is now the only place to purchase tickets for the game.

As early as Wednesday, Jan. 4, tickets on the secondary market for this year’s National Championship Game broke the record for most expensive college football championship ticket dating back to 2011, when TicketIQ began tracking stats.

Last week, Lawrence said the safest bet for people looking to purchase legitimate National Championship Game tickets on the secondary market is to always use a reputable website that offer a money-back guarantee.

The Tampa Police Department said if fans purchase tickets from private sellers to make the exchange in public for safety’s sake.

“Fans who are buying from private sellers should arrange to meet at a police department or public place where there are surveillance cameras,” the agency suggested.

Lawrence said TicketIQ will continue to sell tickets on the secondary market until kickoff.

For real-time updates of the current secondary market for the 2016-17 National Championship Game, visit https://www.tiqiq.com/ncaa/college-football-championship-game-tickets.

Graphic courtesy of TicketIQ; image via the Hillsborough County Government Facebook page