Alabama-LSU Ticket Prices Are Very, Very High

Published November 1, 2011 - 3:31pm

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With the entire sports world focused on Alabama-LSU this week, the rising ticket prices are making quite a stir. CNBC’s sports business reporter Darren Rovell has reported on the ticket prices:

StubHub, which is an official partner of the Crimson Tide, says its average customer has paid $499 for a ticket.

Thirty percent of the buyers are come from Alabama, while 21 percent come from LSU. TicketsNow, a division of Ticketmaster, say fans who have purchased tickets on its site are paying around $450. About 26 percent of those who have bought tickets are from Alabama and they’re paying an average of $444, while Louisiana residents, which make up 13.5% of the buyers on its site for this game, are spending $461.

Fans are listing tickets even higher, but it appears like those prices aren’t rational. TiqIQ, a ticketing search marketplace, says that the average listing price of LSU-Alabama tickets dropped by 10.1 percent from $699.10 to $627.91 over the last 48 hours. Before the season, TiqIQ had the game being listed at an average price of $420.93, so the two teams being undefeated heading into the game was still worth a $200 boost per ticket in the listing price.

After taxes, the median household in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, is approximately $31,000. Let’s say that someone who doesn’t have ticket and lives in Tuscaloosa buys two at $500 apiece. That’s 3.2 percent of their net household income.

After taxes, the median income in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, is $28,213. Let’s say someone travels to Tuscaloosa and buys two tickets at $500 apiece. That’s 3.5 percent of their net household income.

This is the SEC!