TicketCity Reveals the Top 25 Hottest College Football Games for Week 3

AUSTIN, Texas-(Business Wire)-September 1, 2009 - A shift in market demand for entry into the hottest college football games leads to a change among the top most in-demand games. As the season begins, so does the last minute rush for tickets by fans. While the overall average price per ticket among the top 25 games remains around $362 per ticket, ticket prices among resellers continue to fluctuate. A shuffle in pricing among the top 10 hottest games opens the door for a debate surrounding the hottest matchup. According to secondary market demand and ticket pricing, which matchup has the biggest draw for the season?

In looking at ticket demand, Florida ranks high playing in 3 of the top 10 hottest college football matchups of the season. LSU, Oklahoma, USC and Notre Dame all follow close behind playing in 2 of the top 10. “While USC is always a strong team, Ohio State and Oklahoma bring huge crowds,” states Zach Anderson, COO of TicketCity, “however Florida tops the list due to the combination of a large fan base and highly anticipated SEC matchups against marquee opponents such as fellow BCS champion LSU.”

This is the first time that Florida at LSU surpasses USC at Ohio State this season. While the Florida at LSU game increased in average ticket price by $155 since TicketCity’s first top 25 release this season, the USC at Ohio State has declined by $310. “Though USC at Ohio State is a huge non-conference matchup, the secondary market is flooded with tickets to that game,” declares Rafael Rivas, VP of Sales for TicketCity. “There are more tickets to that game listed on the secondary market than any other game. Prices will continue to decrease as a result of market saturation.” The price decline also comes after USC’s announcement of starting Matt Barkley, the first true freshman starter in Trojan history.

The BYU versus Oklahoma opener this weekend is the big single game surprise among all college football fans. Holding steady at an average price of around $400 per ticket, the game remains among the top 10 of season. “An estimated 75,000 Sooner fans will attend the game almost filling the 100,000 stadium capacity of the new Cowboys stadium,” Rivas adds.

In Austin, TX - TicketCity’s backyard - demand for the Texas Longhorns season opener is stagnating. “While the average price per ticket price is down by $20 this year, the number of tickets we’ve sold this year compared to last is down by 15%,” states Anderson. “Last year demand was up due to the opening opponent and the new endzone addition to the stadium.” Despite a slow opener, the Longhorns maintain their place among the top 25 hottest games with matchups against OU and A&M. “So long as both teams remain undefeated, tickets to the Red River Shootout will remain high. After the BCS debates last year, fans from both teams are looking forward to this game establishing the winning team,” concludes Anderson.

TicketCity releases this week's list of the top 25 hottest games of the 2009 regular college football season based on average ticket price. The list was accumulated by compiling a majority of the available tickets on the secondary market throughout the entire country. The secondary market is comprised of over 800 established ticket brokers, and every fan who is listing extra tickets to sell.

Prices will continue to fluctuate throughout the 2009 season and TicketCity will continue to update the hottest games list from week to week. View the top 25 games list below or visit the TicketCity.com web site and search for Top 25.

About TicketCity

TicketCity sells tickets for all sports, concerts and theatre event but specializes in tickets for all college sports and championship events, including the college football and college bowl games. Founded in 1990, TicketCity is a trusted source for secondary market tickets to events around the world. TicketCity partners include NBC Sports, Scout and RootZoo. TicketCity has been named to Inc Magazine's prestigious Inc 5000 list in 2007, 2008 and 2009.


Week 3 Rank	Previous Week's Rank	Game	Date	Location	Average Price	TicketCity Starting Price
1	3	Florida at LSU	10/10/2009	Baton Rouge, LA	$ 574.13	$ 295.00
2	2	USC at Notre Dame	10/17/2009	South Bend, IN	$ 541.75	$ 265.00
3	1	USC at Ohio State	9/12/2009	Columbus, OH	$ 533.53	$ 310.00
4	4	Georgia at Florida	10/31/2009	Jacksonville, FL	$ 468.97	$ 250.00
5	5	Oklahoma at Texas	10/17/2009	Dallas, TX	$ 456.44	$ 250.00
6	6	Arkansas at Texas A&M	10/3/2009	Arlington, TX	$ 450.90	$ 145.00
7	7	BYU at Oklahoma	9/5/2009	Arlington, TX	$ 415.20	$ 400.00
8	8	Florida State at Florida	11/28/2009	Gainesville, FL	$ 399.16	$ 165.00
9	10	LSU at Alabama	11/7/2009	Tuscaloosa, AL	$ 375.25	$ 275.00
10	14	Michigan State at Notre Dame	9/19/2009	South Bend, IN	$ 340.93	$ 310.00
11	11	Nebraska at Virginia Tech	9/19/2009	Blacksburg, VA	$ 340.64	$ 280.00
12	15	Arkansas at Florida	10/17/2009	Gainesville, FL	$ 333.76	$ 205.00
13	16	LSU at Georgia	10/3/2009	Athens, GA	$ 326.42	$ 195.00
14	13	Tennessee at Florida	9/19/2009	Gainesville, FL	$ 324.95	$ 325.00
15	12	Oklahoma at Nebraska	11/7/2009	Lincoln, NE	$ 323.78	$ 225.00
16	9	Virginia Tech vs Alabama	9/5/2009	Atlanta, GA	$ 304.01	$ 145.00
17	18	Ohio State at Penn State	11/7/2009	University Park, PA	$ 301.51	$ 275.00
18	17	Alabama at Auburn	11/27/2009	Auburn, AL	$ 299.72	$ 200.00
19	19	Ohio State at Michigan	11/21/2009	Ann Arbor, MI	$ 298.05	$ 195.00
20	20	Iowa at Penn State	9/26/2009	University Park, PA	$ 280.71	$ 150.00
21	22	North Carolina at North Carolina State	11/28/2009	Raleigh, NC	$ 276.31	$ 125.00
22	24	Auburn at LSU	10/24/2009	Baton Rouge, LA	$ 275.81	$ 195.00
23	23	Texas at Texas A&M	11/26/2009	College Station, TX	$ 272.98	$ 150.00
24	—	Ohio State vs Toledo	9/19/2009	Cleveland, OH	$ 270.00	$ 250.00
25	21	Clemson at South Carolina	11/28/2009	Columbia, SC	$ 268.36	$ 295.00

> Data is from Week of August 31st, 2009
> Average Price is generated from all Secondary Market tickets listed on TicketCity.com (approx. 800 ticket brokers)
> All prices are per ticket.
> Prices are subject to change.