8timechamps
7/13/2014, 09:34 PM
This afternoon, I discovered the "new" College Football Playoff website and wanted to get an idea about how much tickets to the playoffs would cost. I figure it would be incredibly hard/expensive to get tickets for the ordinary fan, but thought it would be worth investigating. As I suspected, you can buy package deals through the site. Of course the prices were about where I suspected (anywhere from $2800 to $6000 per person). That's what they call the "Playoff Premium package" and is basically a ticket to the game, some access to food/drinks, parking and various merchandise (depending on which package you pay for). There is also a second option to buy tickets...
The website calls it "Team Tix". You basically bid for the right to buy tickets if your team qualifies. So, every team has a bidding area. What seems odd is that you're bidding on the right to buy tickets with the general public (I know that's not something new, but the way they've set this up seems new/odd). In order to buy the rights, the person that currently holds them (the previous highest bidder) must agree to sell them. The website says you will be charged for the rights, and then have to pay for the tickets (I assume at face value) if your team qualifies. I find that odd for a couple of reasons:
1. How many tickets are going to be made available to the qualified team's fanbase? Surely there's more than one set (2 tickets), so I don't understand why they would set things up like this.
2. It almost seems like an artificial bidding war between two random people. What's in it for the CFP (or NCAA, or BCS or whomever is behind the whole thing)? If nothing is in it for them, why set it up this way?
I don't know if this is an attempt to keep the ticket brokers out of it, or if they're trying to create some "fun" way to get tickets or if there is money to be made for whomever is running this (which is what I suspect).
Here's the team bidding area (like a mini stock market, except I don't think the prices ever go down): Here (http://collegefootballplayoff.teamtix.com/markets/sports/college-fb/event/2015-national-championship-game?host=cfp) (click the "Get Started" button to see the teams if they don't automatically show up)
Here's the "how it works" section (it does a better job of explaining the whole thing than I did): Here (https://collegefootballplayoffsecure.teamtix.com/content/howDoesThisWork?host=cfp)
Maybe this is normal, and I've just never seen it. Thoughts?
EDIT: I see that the TeamTix sales are non-refundable, so if you buy the rights and your team doesn't make it, you're out whatever you paid. Wonder where than money goes?
The website calls it "Team Tix". You basically bid for the right to buy tickets if your team qualifies. So, every team has a bidding area. What seems odd is that you're bidding on the right to buy tickets with the general public (I know that's not something new, but the way they've set this up seems new/odd). In order to buy the rights, the person that currently holds them (the previous highest bidder) must agree to sell them. The website says you will be charged for the rights, and then have to pay for the tickets (I assume at face value) if your team qualifies. I find that odd for a couple of reasons:
1. How many tickets are going to be made available to the qualified team's fanbase? Surely there's more than one set (2 tickets), so I don't understand why they would set things up like this.
2. It almost seems like an artificial bidding war between two random people. What's in it for the CFP (or NCAA, or BCS or whomever is behind the whole thing)? If nothing is in it for them, why set it up this way?
I don't know if this is an attempt to keep the ticket brokers out of it, or if they're trying to create some "fun" way to get tickets or if there is money to be made for whomever is running this (which is what I suspect).
Here's the team bidding area (like a mini stock market, except I don't think the prices ever go down): Here (http://collegefootballplayoff.teamtix.com/markets/sports/college-fb/event/2015-national-championship-game?host=cfp) (click the "Get Started" button to see the teams if they don't automatically show up)
Here's the "how it works" section (it does a better job of explaining the whole thing than I did): Here (https://collegefootballplayoffsecure.teamtix.com/content/howDoesThisWork?host=cfp)
Maybe this is normal, and I've just never seen it. Thoughts?
EDIT: I see that the TeamTix sales are non-refundable, so if you buy the rights and your team doesn't make it, you're out whatever you paid. Wonder where than money goes?