Tickets for College Football Final Are Up in the Stratosphere

The Michigan Wolverines and Washington Huskies face off Monday night in the College Football Playoff National Championship, but fans who want to watch the matchup in person will pay a pretty penny to attend. Citing SeatGeek numbers, Axios reports that you'll need at least $1,302 to even get in the door to the game at Houston's NRG Stadium, with the average price of a ticket running $2,845—over $1,000 more than the average price of last year's faceoff between Texas Christian University and Georgia in Los Angeles.

Front Office Sports notes that "excitement for the contest has it trending toward being the most expensive CFP final on record," based on TickPick figures. Ticket prices for the big game haven't been this high since 2017, when the average ticket price came in at $3,035. In that case, SeatGeek tells Axios that the proximity of the two teams competing—Georgia and Alabama—to the game's location in Atlanta likely drove up ticket prices. This time around, the ticket reseller speculates that both schools' thirst for a long-awaited championship may be behind the price spike.

"A win for either school would mark the first since the 1990s," says a SeatGeek rep. Axios notes that Michigan last took home a championship in 1997, while Washington has been waiting since 1991. Joel Schwartz of Big Time Worldwide Concert and Sports Club warns those on the lookout for tickets before Monday night's game to keep safe from scams. He tells CBS News that fans should use a reputable ticket broker, preferably one that's a member of the National Association of Ticket Brokers; talk to the seller on the phone (Schwartz notes that scammers often avoid phone calls); and pay with a credit card. "If it's too good to be true, it probably is," he cautions. (More college football stories.)