LSU-Alabama Ticket Prices Skyrocketing

Empty stadium seats
Empty stadium seats

On Saturday, No. 1 LSU will play at No. 2 Alabama and the secondary ticket prices for this SEC bragging rights battle are sky high.

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.

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