StubHub says next month’s clash between Alabama and Florida State University (FSU) is the most popular college football opener in recent history.
The resale site said the game, to be played at the brand new 71,000-capacity Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, Georgia, has seen record-breaking sales numbers as the two teams meet for the first time in 10 years.
The season opener, labelled the Chick-fil-A Kickoff Classic, is the top-selling college game on StubHub, with sales jumping 266 per cent above last year’s opener between North Carolina and Georgia.
With the fixture having sold out weeks ago, the average ticket on StubHub now costs fans upwards of $845 (£653/€719).
Alabama’s 101,821-seat Bryant-Denny Stadium – the eighth largest stadium in the world – was full to capacity for every single game of the 2016 season. Meanwhile, FSU’s 79,560-capacity Doak Campbell Stadium was filled to 93-per-cent capacity throughout 2016 with an average of 76,800 fans per home game.
For the match-up in Atlanta, 28 per cent of the tickets have gone to FSU fans, while only 19 per cent of fans will be travelling from Alabama.
The Advocare Classic match-up between Michigan and Florida is the second most in-demand game over the opening weekend of college football with a 34 per cent difference in sales compared with Alabama v FSU.
Meanwhile, StubHub also reports that the top-selling conference for the new season at present is the Big Ten, with its three top-selling teams being from the East Conference. Those teams include Penn State, Michigan and Ohio State.
The Big Ten beat the second place SEC by 11 per cent, as well as third, fourth and fifth ACC, Pac-12 and Big 12, with the top-selling teams in the SEC being Alabama, Florida, and Auburn.
In addition, Michigan has been pegged as the most in-demand team on StubHub rankings for the fourth year in a row, despite being ranked ninth in pre-season. Sales have increased 21 per cent for Michigan tickets compared with last year’s numbers.
Image: MB Stadium
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