Acquiring tickets for IU-Michigan
My wife and I are planning to make the trip from South Carolina to Bloomington for the October 2 game. Meanwhile, I need some advice on how it is best to get tickets for the game. My brother-in-law will be moving up in August to work on his PhD at Indiana. He would do his best to get tickets using his Indiana connections (and I'm guessing that might be cheapest) I don't know if that would be best. Neither my wife nor I are Hoosier fans, and while I doubt the Indiana crowd would be ravenous, I'm also guessing the Michigan side of things might be more enjoyable for my first Michigan game since 1996.
Would you suggest that I try to get tickets from the official means through U of M, or should I try to get them through Stub-hub, etc.?
Also, for those of you who have been to Indiana, what stadium sections should I avoid- or would that even be a factor if I should stick with the visiting fan sections?
Any other advice about the visit to Bloomington is appreciated. It's a long way off, but I want it to be a good experience for both of us.
You can check the MGoBlog tickets spreadsheet here. I don't see any tickets for the IU game yet, but there's usually at least a few for each game by the time they roll around.
Have you tried this yet:
http://iuhoosiers.cstv.com/tickets/ind-m-footbl-tickets.html
Intuitively, that's the first place I looked.
Michigan played there. I live in Cincy so it's only a few hours drive. I am planning to go again this year.
It's a small stadium and there was plenty of tickets available. I am not planning on buying them ahead of time, I will just get them there on game day. There was a ton of empty seats around us in the Michigan section last time.
No problem buying them from IU. I was amazed at the number of UM fans there.
It seemed like close to 50/50 split. The best part about going to a game at IU (aside from UM winning) is the re-entry rule.
They allow you to leave the game at halftime and come back for the 2nd half. Most people resume tailgating at halftime. I've only been to games at UM, MSU, and IU. This is the only place that allows re-entry that I've been to.
That just seems like a good business policy on the part of the IU athletic department to keep fans of a consistently bad team on your good side.
Also, love your avatar.
I noticed Kettering in your name. I live just north of Dayton.
You can still get them through the Michigan Athletic Department.
Click on: http://www.mgoblue.com/tickets/home.html and then click on Buy Tickets Online and choose football and the Indiana game will show up.
weeks before, very cheap, got great seats with chair backs. Nice atmosphere. Driving through the sea of students to park was awful, but that was it.
As the other posters have mentioned, you will have no problem getting good seats for this game. They've always had trouble putting butts in the seats. In fact, IU has to take its promotional stadium photos when Ohio State visits, because it's the only time that the stadium is packed with red. For tailgating, the grass lots directly south of the stadium are best.
Here are a few quick recommendations on visiting B-town:
Lodging - I highly recommend the Biddle Hotel at the Student Union. For more room, try Century Suites.
Eating - Little Zagreb's (steaks), Mother Bear's (pizza), Scholar's Inn (breakfast).
Bars - Nick's, Sports (plenty of ourdoor seating).
Enjoy your trip - October is a great time to be in Bloomington!
Really helpful- thank you.
and got my tickets through IU grad in town, but from what I hear tix are pretty available anywhere. I know if you don't want to leave it to chance, the IU website has an application you can fill out and receive your tickets for an individual game. I believe the price for that route though is like $50+parking fees, I'm guessing you might be able to find it cheaper elsewhere. Can't wait to see Michigan well represented.
I also live in Indy and have never had a problem getting tix to any IU-Michigan game. Bloomington is a fabulous setting for fall football, it should be a great time.
Call the IU athletic department and tell them what time you can be there. That is when kickoff will be. Nobody goes to those games. Although there may be more interest this year if IU is actually better and gets off to a good start.
I am an IU student right now :( and am also looking forward to the game. I will tell you getting tickets will not be a problem. The university has to almost hand out tickets these days to try and fill the stadium. The tickets I believe will run around $30. Also you should not have to worry about any IU students being to crazy they don't really care that much about football they will usually just tailgate get drunk and go home.
As far as enjoying bloomington there is a lot of good places to eat. One place I would suggest is Nick's it is a bar/resturant that is located on Kirkwood avenue it is just of the IU campus. The place has served many celebs who have visited Bloomington even President Obama.
Hope that can help you out a little. GO BLUE
I'm guessing you will be rooting for Michigan... but will you be in student section?
I just moved down to bloomington and was wondering this same thing. I was going to buy them for $50 through the UM ticket office but think I'll just wait until gameday.
We should all meet up before the game by holding signs above our heads with our screen names printed on them.
/sarcasm