AUSTIN, Texas — Tickets for a coveted seat in DKR this Saturday won’t come cheap as Texas prepares to host Ohio State.
As of today, Wednesday, Sept. 9, ticket prices on SeatGeek and other third-party sellers range from a few hundred dollars to five-digit price tags.
CBS Austin found a single ticket listed on SeatGeek for over $42,000.
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A ticket on SeatGeek is listed for over $42,000 ahead of Texas-Ohio State game this Saturday (Photo: CBS Austin)
“Right now, depending upon what secondary page you’re looking at, the average secondary price on different sites is ranging between $800 and $900, with the typical buy-in price being somewhere in the $450, $500 range,” said Patrick Rishe, Director of the Sports Business Program at Washington University in St. Louis.
Rishe says it’s unsurprising that ticket prices are soaring ahead of a highly anticipated matchup.
“You could anticipate that that could spike even higher as we’re getting closer,” he said. “But oftentimes you will see prices start to come down, maybe not until hours before the game, just as secondary ticket sellers are trying to dump their inventory.”
For some UT students, ticket affordability is a frustration. Students who bought the now sold-out Big Ticket with football access paid $270, but tickets to each game are not guaranteed.
At 6 p.m. tonight, students will join an online queue to try to claim a ticket to Saturday’s game, but 6,000 students with the Longhorn Foundation add-on, an extra $140, were already able to claim a ticket yesterday.
“I really want to go to a game, but obviously costs are a big thing, and then especially for reselling it’s been so bad,” said UT freshman Ayesha Shelar. “I was looking on sites to see if I can go to any of the games, and the tickets are like a thousand plus.”
Rishe says ticket prices vary based on Texas’ opponent and other factors. If the Longhorns defeat the No. 1-seeded Buckeyes, prices for later games could rise.
“It fluctuates not only based on the opponent, but also where Texas is in their season. Certainly, if they win this game against Ohio State, that changes the trajectory of their secondary prices, really for the rest of the season until they lose that first game,” said Rishe.
Texas lost to Ohio State in both teams’ last two matchups, including a 7-point defeat in the College Football Playoff semifinal two seasons ago.
“If [the Longhorns] win this game, it’s almost- I won’t say a certainty, but they certainly are going to move very close to becoming the number one team in the nation,” said Rishe.
With seats scarce and third-party prices high, another student is calling for Texas Athletics to increase access and affordability of football tickets for students.
“Let’s make tickets more accessible to students,” said UT freshman Rafaella Merland-Roa. “There are 55,000 of us, and the student section seats 10,000 people.”