Non-Season Ticket Holders, Share Your Experiences
So I eschewed season tickets this year and am looking into making a weekly feature out of my exploits to get into each game (except AF since I was on a different continent). Parameters will be written up later but basically 2 tickets next to each other no worse than the season tix would have been.
In order to gather the maximum data I would like anyone who isn't season ticketed to share how they got their tix, what price, what section, and what row-ish (closest 10). Break no laws.
September 14th, 2012 at 7:15 PM ^
September 14th, 2012 at 7:16 PM ^
Iowa 2006: My buddy and I used a friends and friend of a friends student tickets. Free.
Iowa 2012: GF purchased two tickets from evil StubHub. Endzone-10 yardline/corner endzone-type seats, row 45. I think ~$125 per ticket.
Is this info. at all what this thread is about?!
September 14th, 2012 at 7:25 PM ^
September 14th, 2012 at 9:48 PM ^
September 14th, 2012 at 7:34 PM ^
September 14th, 2012 at 7:42 PM ^
September 14th, 2012 at 7:49 PM ^
Bought a ticket an hour before the game last week for $20 from a person on Craiglist (met downtown). Got another ticket (for my brother) from David Legwand's dad for $20 at a tailgate before the game.
September 14th, 2012 at 7:54 PM ^
vs. Air Force
Walked down Hoover 20 minutes before the game, second scalper I talked to offered me a student ticket (Row 32) for $30, I talked him down to $25 and strutted into the stadium.
September 14th, 2012 at 8:01 PM ^
September 14th, 2012 at 8:07 PM ^
Like a boss.
September 14th, 2012 at 8:15 PM ^
September 14th, 2012 at 8:03 PM ^
I did pretty well.
September 14th, 2012 at 8:24 PM ^
UMass, the last time they came to the BIg House. Row B. Section 22, $15 a piece for two tickets.
September 14th, 2012 at 8:33 PM ^
September 14th, 2012 at 9:14 PM ^
Section 1, Row 62, $60 off of stubhub 2 days before the game. It was a single seat, but the view was the same level as what you see on tv (other side of the field, of course).
September 14th, 2012 at 9:39 PM ^
$20 for two tickets North Endzone in row 80 bought on the way into the game about an hour before kickoff....my how times have changed
September 14th, 2012 at 9:50 PM ^
Back in the day, 1999, I bought a ticket for Notre Dame from a band member (before validating and at face value of something like $17) and my wife asked a band member's mom if she knew where she could find tickets and she gave her one saying she wasn't going to the game.
Paid face value or less for Minnesota (50 yard line), Indiana ($15,$0!! guy said here, you look like you need a ticket....58-0 win!!!), Rice ($5), TOSU ($45,50,$35) MSU ($40,$35,$15). ect....
Purdue with Drew Brees in the rain is the most I ever paid. It was $75, only time in 30 games living 3hrs away I paid over face value. Most big games I stay home, but against tomato cans, always pay under $30. Never have I gone to Ann Arbor with tickets in hand. It is not scalping if you pay face value or less. Single tickets are where it is at.
Imagine taking your wife on a 3 hr drive, and not having to sit next to her during the game and she is fine with that! We have dinner afterwards and talk about the game,people, ect. Great fun.
September 15th, 2012 at 11:36 PM ^
The only games I ever paid more than face for were OSU, ND, and MSU. Plus some games I travelled to that Michigan wasn't involved in.
I often bought singles; getting a single at the gate is an automatic bargain. People don't realize how easy it is to get a seat at games like today's.
I learned to do this because my Dad took me I a game every year and almost never had a ticket in hand. He was good at it, too.
September 16th, 2012 at 11:13 AM ^
The worst ticket situation I ever saw was at a Notre Dame game at Michigan Stadium in the 90's, I don't remember which year. Instead of scalpers holding up tickets, fans were holding up money. I saw a guy hold up 4 $100 bills. He did not get in.
September 14th, 2012 at 9:59 PM ^
all your data points are belong to us.
I have been a season ticket holder for a few years but did just fine "scavenging" for about 6 years following undergrad. I went to every home game one way or another. Contemplating giving them up and just scavenging again. The only problem is no guarantee for the big games. But for the money I would save off the top for not having to donate to priority seating plus the savings for games like this, I think I should probably pull the trigger by not pulling the trigger next year. I will be really interested to see how all this data shakes out.
September 14th, 2012 at 10:13 PM ^
I've always been a sucker for tickets in hand :(
About of as small a Victors Club member as you can get and usually purchase a ticket pack or in the case of this year, just tickets to the Alabama game.
Back in the long time ago, before I had my own disposable income my Dad would sometimes come across tickets at work that vendors had access too and we would purchase them for face value.
Like I said I'm a sucker for tickets in hand and could simply not stomach the 3 hour drive south without having sometime tangible in place.
September 14th, 2012 at 10:27 PM ^
September 15th, 2012 at 9:51 AM ^
September 15th, 2012 at 11:44 AM ^
September 14th, 2012 at 10:31 PM ^
September 14th, 2012 at 11:08 PM ^
Bought 2 tickets for SDSU game off of Umich Ticket site. $70/each. Bought them less than a month before the game and flew in with my 4 year old so he could see his first game.
Level Section Row Seat(s)
----- ------- ----- ----------
1 3 25 18-17
this was our view
....he fell asleep in the 3rd.
September 14th, 2012 at 11:24 PM ^
September 15th, 2012 at 12:08 AM ^
2008 vs NW. It felt like a cold bath outside and DOOM lingered in the air. $5 for two tickets.5mins before kick off. Section didn't matter since it was a half full stadium and everyone was depressed. It was a magical game I will always try to forget but never will.
September 15th, 2012 at 3:34 AM ^
September 15th, 2012 at 1:06 PM ^
Section 24, Row 40, right on the 40 yard line. Two seats at $65 apiece on stubhub purchased the night before and printed at home. Great deal for the seats, and stubhubwas very easy. I'm sure I could've had seats for $25 each if I bought them outside the stadium, but these seats were worth the price.
September 18th, 2012 at 4:02 PM ^
Seth
I haven't read through all the comments, so I don't know if someone else has pointed this out, but up until ticket sales for a game conclude you can check the actual sales prices on stubhub. Just log in to stubhub and act like you want to sell some tickets to the particular game. Before you set your ticket price, you can observe all actual sales on Stubhub for that game, including the section, row, date of sale, and purchase price.
This won't tell you whether you are better off buying on Stubhub versus Craigslist or Hoover Street, but it will give you an excellent basis for comparison with a season ticket purchase.
September 24th, 2012 at 8:29 PM ^
Good call.
Mostly I want this to be kind of a "you can do this too" thing so that's very helpful.
September 18th, 2012 at 8:35 PM ^
I just bought 4 tickets for Illinois next to each other in sect. 15, row 30 directly from MGoBlue for $75 each (face value) plus $6 in fees for each ticket. I opted to receive the tickets by mail, which was the same price as will-call.
September 24th, 2012 at 8:31 PM ^
Just to update-- for AF I didn't get to go because I was in Israel; for UMass I found free tickets just outside the stadium. The guy offered me one, and I had nobody else with me but asked for usefulness what I could pay him for both, and he was like "I'd give 'em both away." So I gave him $20 for the second one and we had a little bit more bench space to share.
September 24th, 2012 at 9:07 PM ^
took the chance outside the stadium.
September 10th, 2013 at 4:50 PM ^
Seth,
What became of the StubHub analysis? Are you continuing to track this year against dynamic pricing?
September 22nd, 2013 at 5:37 PM ^
I just got too busy. Also I wasn't the right person to do it ultimately because I run into free tickets too often, and the story wasn't worth the cost of saying no to free stuff.