Appreciate the writeup! My first Rose Bowl was Jan 1, 1998, I was a freshman so I and a buddy had tickets but we had to pick them up physically out in Pasadena back then. I think as soon as we got out of line some brokers were offering us $500 for the pair. Obviously we didn't take it and I still have that paper ticket to this day.

Ticketmaster (and most of the industry) sucks with the way they've become such vampires on the system.

Yes I remember the year the secondary ticket market took over. Trying to buy Tigers opening Day tickets. They went on sale at a specific time. I was hitting refresh on my computer over and over until the Buy Tickers icon appeared. I was fast, man. Like, probably 10 seconds after they went on sale I was in there. Sold out. Sold out 10 seconds in. Never tried again cause the average consumer no longer stands a chance. 

If I recall correctly, we paid near $500 in fees alone to get into the Orange Bowl against Georgia two years ago. And that was sitting in the nosebleeds about ten rows from the top. 

Going to these games is like taking the family to Disney World for a weekend. You're breaking the bank just to get in the freaking door, and that's before food, merch, and whatever other incidentals you incur along the way. Instead of this being your vacation for the year, its your vacation for the next 2-3 years.....

But they know that people are going to still keep paying for it, so why not continue to keep hiking up the prices, I guess. 

There oughta be a law.

Is there a forum where Michigan fans can sell directly to Michigan fans and not have to pay these asinine fees? I've come across a couple Facebook groups but they are locked down

I'll save my money and just watch the highlights on YouTube for free. 

Thanks for this feature Seth!

A couple questions:

1) I got seats in Section 24, since it’s on the “Michigan” side. But per your map I’m in the “wrong” end zone. Am I doomed to be surrounded by obnoxious Saban slappies?

2) I understand you have to shill for the sponsor, but as a buyer I’ve honestly been a little underwhelmed by TicketIQ. While the prices can be a bit lower, your own example shows that the difference is much less than the StubHub fee - i.e. TicketIQ is still charging most of the fee somewhere, you just don’t see it listed as a separate line item at checkout.

Don’t get me wrong, the fees do seem a little cheaper (maybe 10% of the ticket price max, which is not nothing on a $700 ticket) but calling this a “more democratic” seller is laying it on a bit thick.

And on top of all that you can search with fees included on StubHub with just a couple extra clicks.

Bottom line: when I shopped for the Fiesta Bowl last year, I tried to support the blog sponsor but I still was seeing a better “out the door” price on equivalent tickets (not the *exact* seats, but same section and row) to the tune of $50 per seat. I ended up getting a great deal from an MGoBlogger and didn’t use either site, but if I had it would have been StubHub. 

That said I think that was largely driven by  inventory on TicketIQ being lower (not everyone lists on both sites) and this year, at least as of today, TicketIQ has the best prices and inventory numbers closer to StubHub. 

Thanks Seth!   Did it the other way.   Already prepaid the CY Pasadena (very very expensive), and airfare from East Coast (very expensive), so pretty much locked in to buying tickets eventually but have just been watching so far.   Appreciate the advice and another option v StubHub.

Prices on all entertainment is up, up, up since the pandemic.  Concert tickets?  Get ready to drop $500-$1,000 per seat for a good act.   If your city has the Theatre you'll pay hundreds.  Lions are what now, minimum $250 get-in price.  

What was get-in price for the Ohio State game?  $1,000?

We, the people who want to go to these events, are the ones driving up these costs.  We came out of the pandemic so ANGRY to spend all the money we could.

Bottom line these days folks, if you wanna go, you gotta make some dough.

My history:

• 2021: Amateur hour. Bought Orange Bowl tickets at literally peak time, 1:33 pm on Selection Sunday.
• 2022: Was pretty confident about Fiesta, so I bought them Wednesday before Sunday. As a result, these were the best value tickets I bought during this three year run.
• 2023: Was reasonably confident about the Rose, though all the talking heads and Reddit CFB posters had be concerned that Washington would get the top seed. It took a while longer to get the family aligned this year, so I didn't get around to getting tickets until Saturday afternoon. However, I forgot that Washington would be playing on Friday, so prices I paid for the Rose Bowl were higher than earlier in the week. Prices still went up 50% after the selection show.

I am not clear what to do in the future if it is not clear which bowl Michigan will be going to. All these crazy fees make it financially punitive to buy speculatively and resell, but it also is a bit anxiety-producing to plan the trip but not get the game tickets until weeks later.

I love these as they are always super helpful. I know you mentioned the Championship game a bit, but will you do another write-up WHEN we beat Alabama?

If not, do you anticipate ticket prices being cheapest on game day?

It'll be my second Rose Bowl.  Got lucky with tickets and was able to attend Jan 1, 1998.  I remember a TON of Washington State fans traveled that year, and many were not able to get tickets once there.

Looks like I'm in the MIchigan section again, but right on the edge.  Same endzone as 1998.  So hopefully we get the same Rose Bowl result, and same National Champion 

Anyone have a chart like the one in the post that extends out to gameday?  I wish I had jumped on the ~$300 tickets before the official announcement, but now it seems like waiting as long as possible is probably the smart play.  Just wondering how close to the game they bottomed out the past couple of years.

The right time to buy was before the Big Ten championship game.

I've been to two Rose Bowls: the Give It To Wheatley 1993 Rose Bowl, and the 2003 Rose Bowl against USC.

The first one, I flew to Pasadena and stayed with a coworker, and then we picked up tickets the day of the game.  There were plenty floating around, and so while we still shelled out, we didn't pay through the nose.  Then we got to watch Wheatley :<)

The second game we got tickets through an alumni friend who got a good deal by buying early. This one was not as enjoyable, but we did get to see Reggie Bush before he was famous.  My big memories from that game:
- watching this freshman RB and thinking "That guy is really good"; he popped even on a loaded USC team.
- watching USC absolutely shred what was to that point a top-flight OL.  Kenechi Udeze spent seemingly the whole day in M's backfield.  I was sure he was going to be a top DE in the NFL for years, but his leukemia diagnosis derailed that.

Never used TicketIQ so no shade to the sponsor but I've had good experience with TickPick (ironically the site Seth pulled the stadium seating chart from) and it's $613 each for a pair to get in the door.

Three tickets to the Rose Bowl, plus flights/hotel and various other expenses for a three-day stay in Pasadena. I turn 45 this year, this may be the last sporting event I pay to attend until I'm 50. 

I live 90 minutes away from Pasadena and initially had thought about going and have the means to, but I’m not going to.  It’s just not worth it to me.

Instead, my Texas grad friend and I are going to hang out all day and grill some lobsters and drink some beer and if the games suck, then whatever.

I also find this ticket stuff fascinating.  Seth, you are far more knowledgeable about this than most and I appreciate being able to learn more about how we the fans continue to have to grab our ankles to see a game in person.  

As a side note, I think I paid $15 or $20 to see Van Halen back in 1986 on their 5150 tour.  I recently paid $600 for a ticket (so much of that is fees and taxes) for an upcoming show (Hagar, Satriani, Michael Anthony & Jason Bonham) in July in Tampa.  The shit is out of control.

AirBnB is no different.  Whatever the per night price is for a home, you darn need to double it to get the out of door price after tacking on the highly inflated cleaning fee, AirBnB fee, and taxes which are near 20% in most places.   

TicketiQ - I will use them going forward.  I really appreciate transparency and upfront pricing. No one likes the surprise at the end when your $100 ticket costs $190.   

50 yardline Michigan seats for $33,831... my buddy he will pay me at game...sounds legit. 

For anyone following market pricing here, I JUST sold two tickets in second row (Section 14, row B) in the corner of the endzone near the UM bench for $890each + ticketmaster fees.  These were GREAT seats so I really would have liked to use them but I just couldn't make it happen.  Go Blue!