Ticket Watch Overreacts to Everything Comment Count

Seth

We’ve got two games left before we’re into the totally murky waters of a possible B1G Championship Game and playoff. Anything after this weekend is bound to be a high get-in price, and I’ve been steadfastly reporting here that the relative scarcity of chances to see this Michigan team before it’s off to the NFL will drive up the price for Senior Day.

But things happen. Thing one: the loss to Iowa will depress that “I gotta see this team before it’s gone” effect somewhat. I believed there was an untapped market hanging around of Michigan fans waiting for the right moment to turn to the spouse, point to the kid who hasn’t taken off her Jumpman hoodie since she got it, and say “We can’t miss this.” Fans overreact to losses, though, and this was an edgy proposition to begin with.

The second thing is the thing that can happen to any game in November:

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Grandpa’s gotten away with some shit in his time, but if you return him soaked and frozen because Indiana’s defense turned out to be way more legitimate than those two words have meant in his lifetime, you’re going to be paying more than the price of admission.

Anyway after hitting a peak of $80 prices are back down to $57, particularly in the Lower Endzone. That’s longtime season ticket holders who didn’t fork up when Brandon raised the price of PSDs past their pricepoint. Ralph Garcia of TiqIQ said they’re now relatively on par with the 2013 seat prices for Indiana at this time. That game was the ridiculous “we’re not covering Jeremy Gallon no sir” game where it literally hailed before the band got in the stadium.

Gm Jul Aug 9/16 9/30 10/7 10/24 11/8 Now Buy?
IU $65 $40 $55 $57 $55 $65 $78 $59 Friday
@OSU $250 $282 $275 $311 $349 $298 $320 $345 Next week

GETTING INTO THE SHOE

Ohio State singles are as low as $268 for way top of the upper deck of the endzone, and trading at $400 for places where you can see the game. Lower bowl is $1000.

Those seats were all put on sale by Ohio State fans, who still see this as the biggest game since 2006. Michigan has some stakes still, so a win over Indiana will see some of those tickets moving finally. If Michigan struggles with the Hoosiers, or god forbid loses again, expect those prices to drop by $100 or more. It’s still The Game.

On the other hand, the prices were about the same last year at 11 days out. Ohio State then lost to Michigan State and the prices dropped 40%. I wound up getting a cousin’s ticket for $100. Had the Buckeyes not turtled against MSU I expect they would have remained where they’ve historically been, which is in the $250-$300 range.

Anyway if your plan is to get in the building I’d target $250 and start looking now. Michigan fans who wanted to make sure they get in already jumped on something. The next full-market drop won’t come until late next week, if it does at all. I’m not seeing enough tickets trading to be certain they’ll be available.

If you’re trying to get good seats, definitely wait till Friday, when those holding them give up on getting $1000 for them and they meet the market somewhere around $450. Finding tickets the day of will be hit and miss—you’ll have to hope there are some still close to kickoff, because the scalpers know how to find the Michigan fans who show up hoping to get lucky.

QUICK SHOE GUIDE

This will come in handy if you’re trying to scalp or buy off someone on Craigslist or something:

  • Any Section 1 is the middle of the North endzone and section 38 is the South endzone. Section 20 is 50 yard line.
  • “A” means lower deck and “AA” means the first few rows. “B” is the middle deck, and “C” is upper deck
  • Even sections are on the East side, odd sections are on the West side.
  • Seat numbers go up. The upper and lower decks get up to Row 41-ish. The veranda gets to 18. If you get a letter it’s a specialty (wheelchair, etc.) unless you’re in the AA section, which is numbered A-F.
  • BEST DEAL ON THE SPONSOR’S SITE RIGHT NOW

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The corner sections are quite nice if you sit high enough up, though too high is still too high. These are priced to move at $10 under the seats two rows up. I’d prefer these seats to Row 12.

Comments

stephenrjking

November 15th, 2016 at 4:17 PM ^

In the Shoe, "B" level is covered by the upper deck and (unless you're in the front row or two) partially obstructed.* In my three trips to OSU I never even looked at those seats. You don't see much of the rest of the stadium, your view of the game itself is claustrophobic, being in the shade is a negative in November, etc. If you've never seen the stadium in person before you may not realize how big the "B" sections are, since they're shaded and don't show well on television; it goes quite deep.

*Except in the endzone grandstand. I couldn't tell you the exact section numbers but they are in the high 30s. These seats are just fine.

 

Gr1mlock

November 15th, 2016 at 6:52 PM ^

FWIW, the "best deal on our sponsor's site" seats are three rows in front of my family's season tickets that I sat in for 25 years (before I moved away from Ann Arbor and they were transferred to my cousin).  They're good, you can see everything.  

Esterhaus

November 15th, 2016 at 7:20 PM ^

 

Bought a rubber.

Let's not delve into George Carlin's 7 dirty words shall we? Soaked, frozen or otherwise, odds are, grandpa had more fun in college than you did. And he can buy those tickets.

Just show the Maize and Blue off if you attend. Please.