Michigan/Michigan State ticket & parking advice
I hate to do this, but need some local expertise from the MGoCommunity
My family will be travelling up to Michigan the weekend of the state game. We have a hotel for Friday night and plan to take my oldest kiddos around the campus and to their first Michigan game the next day. I’ve been looking online for tickets and 4 are generally running around $250-400 a-piece with some end zone seats going for $200. I’ve never had a problem finding tickets outside of the stadium before the game, but I certainly don’t want to run into a situation where we get there and can’t find anything. For the regular attenders, would you recommend waiting until game day to purchase tickets or in the wake of the success are the tickets that day in short supply? Is it any cheaper to wait?
Also, we traditionally parked by the radio broadcast booth next to Crisler Arena and with that space now closed for construction, would the next best place to go be the golf course or Pioneer High school?
Many thanks for the advice!!
September 29th, 2010 at 11:24 AM ^
I always just park on a side street. Probaly a couple miles away but traffic is never a problem so thats a big plus. If your gonna tailgate though thats not really an option. As for tickets, you can sometimes get a good deal at the game but it can be tuff to get 4 together for a good price.
September 29th, 2010 at 3:22 PM ^
Park up by Zingerman's. It's a decent walk, but once the game ends you can just walk back and stop by the MDen and then to Zingerman's and get an excellant sandwich before getting in your car and heading home.
September 29th, 2010 at 11:31 AM ^
I can't help you with strategery on buying the tickets but it would be hilarious if you got a toy police badge and showed it to the guy selling the tickets after you bought them and then said "naw just jokin' with ya."
September 29th, 2010 at 11:37 AM ^
+1 for the funny idea. -1 for me being shot after doing so.
September 29th, 2010 at 11:44 AM ^
Michigan gets ND and OSU on the road the same years, meaning those years Michigan State is the only rival coming to play in our stadium. Spartans also drive up the price, since it's a really easy away game for them to get to.
Getting four tickets together for Bowling Green is easy (I was holding up four myself right before kickoff). However, if you're bringing your kids and want to make sure you're in good seats, I suggest getting them beforehand and paying the extra $$$ for the security.
Parking: I think when I have kids, I will most likely park downtown, or off a side street far from the stadium, because I will want to a.) be able to get out after, and b.) show them Ann Arbor as well as the stadium area. If you don't want to walk so much, I recommend lawn parking on Hoover or around there -- after the game you can escape through campus rather than get stuck on State Street or Packard.
September 29th, 2010 at 11:45 AM ^
A friend of mine had 4 tickets for sale, I sent him a link to this thread, hopefully he still has them and will get a hold of you.
Good luck and I hope your family has a great time at the game!
September 29th, 2010 at 11:56 AM ^
muchas gracias!! Really appreciate you doing so.
September 29th, 2010 at 12:01 PM ^
Are you talking about the gravel lot next to Crisler? If you are that lot is still available for I think $60. The construction has nothing to do with the gravel lot because it is actually owned by AAGO and no UofM.
September 29th, 2010 at 12:30 PM ^
Pay those ridiculous prices for seats. First off the tickets aren't going to go up even if by some miracle state beats whisky this weekend because its a week before game time so you have a few more days to make that decision if you ultimately want to take that route and buy on ebay / stub hub etc. I have been doing this tickets BS for years and I have learned some very valuable lessons. Just wait until 2 or 3 days before game time and post on craiglist and you can just about name your price as people will be dumping just to get something. Example, last year I got 4 tickets face value to the OSU game in the very 1st row endzone. I already had 4 tickets that I had paid $85 per the week before but some friends wanted to go so we went looking for tickets for them and found the others & just gave them ours. Jake Long & Chad Henne were standing right in front of us. All you have to do is hold out & do a little leg work & it will save you literally hundreds of dollars on tickets to a game like this one.
September 29th, 2010 at 2:07 PM ^
@jcgary thanks for the insight. On the map, it looks like that whole area is gone.
@ezmikep - thanks for talking me off the ledge. I was perilously close to paying way too much for tickets. You get a little paranoid watching all of these people spending $$$$ like nothing. I’ll take your advice and wait!
September 29th, 2010 at 2:25 PM ^
@tdeshetler - check out the link below about the AAGO parking. If you go to the web page at the bottom there is something about exclusive premium parking and if you click on "more information" it will give you a number you could probably call and ask if you really wanted to park there.
September 29th, 2010 at 2:49 PM ^
I'm coming up too for MSU, as of now, but geez the hotels are just INSANE. Usually a buddy of mine gets a free night with his points and then 4 of us split the $280- $300/night cost for that other night, but geez, this is ridiculous.
I can stay in Ypsilanti or Belleville, but not sure how convenient that will be for taxis after going out one of the nights (we usually pick friday or saturday to live it up in town and the other night we're more chill, simply cuz we're getting older and can't take the long drive home after 2 crazy drinking nights anymore)
Does anyone have any good ideas for lodging for a night or two that isn't too far and isn't so crazy expensive?
September 29th, 2010 at 4:46 PM ^
At this point you don't have any real good options. Hotels near Ann Arbor are sold out. Most that do have space are in towns where you probably don't have cab options. If you want to drive 45 minutes in the morning you can stay in downtown Detroit and enjoy the casinos or Greek Town. Otherwise what I have done in the past is rent an RV and stay at Pioneer or another spot which allows RV. Nothing like the tailgate atmosphere the night before a big game in the RV lot.