Parity?

[18IsTheMan]

Largely hailed as great for the sport. However, following losses by Bama and Texas, ticket prices for the title game have plummeted, dropping by nearly 50%.

It'll be interesting to see what the ratings are. Bama/Texas would have been a blockbuster.

CFP National Championship Ticket Prices Suffered A Mind-Blowing Drop After Alabama & Texas Lost

The No. 1 Michigan Wolverines and No. 2 Washington Huskies will play for the title but ticket prices have plummeted as a result.

www.totalprosports.com

 

[Blues man]

Gotta have that southern connection or no one will care.

 

[KingWard]

Gotta have that southern connection or no one will care.

If the game were in Vegas or Indianapolis, the market would be better.

 

[18IsTheMan]

Gotta have that southern connection or no one will care.

Funny that all the pundits tell us it's terrible that a west coast team hasn't played for the title in x number of years and it has to change.

A west coast team makes the title game and ticket prices plummet.

 

[Debo77]

nobody wants to see Washington...just like nobody wanted to see TCU last year

 

[18IsTheMan]

nobody wants to see Washington...just like nobody wanted to see TCU last year

Obviously not. Whoever makes the title makes the title game, can't help that, but this kind of destroys the notion that parity has to be contrived. They want to make changes to force parity, but it seems the fans don't actually want parity. In the name of parity, they put TCU in the CFP last year and what we got was the most humiliating and embarrassing title game in college football history...obliterating the previous margin of victory by 27 points.

Again, I don't care who makes the game, if they earn it. But the talking heads tell us we have to do something to get the west coast teams more involved in the CFP and title games. Herbstreit said it was a travesty that a west coast team had not won the title since 2004. The irony is, even though a west coast team has not won since then, the game has thrived. It seems the fans simply don't care.

Parity is the dumbest idea ever.

 

[Harvard Gamecock]

Even with the drop in price, it's still an outrageous sum.
I'm guessing Game Time Ticketing randomly set a high price, then when the Bama/Texas buyers backed out they dropped their prices, to create a 2nd window for demand.
Seriously doubt anyone is going to be hurting financially.

Quote from article:
"with top-priced seats selling for $10,698 per seat (top seats were $12,055 per ticket after Michigan won and before Texas lost to Washington).”

 

[18IsTheMan]

Tickets can now be had for under $1,000. Still an absurd amount to pay for a football ticket, but a bargain compared to what it would have been if you had Michigan/Texas or Bama/Texas in the title game. Prices would have been bonkers.

National Title Ticket Prices Plummet

Ticket prices for the Michigan/Washington national title game are falling. How much do tickets cost? Why are prices plummeting?

www.outkick.com

 

[ToddFlanders]

I don't think the secondary market for tickets is really a great barometer for how popular college football is at the moment. It's more telling as to how passionate (or insane depending how you look at it) an individual fanbase is and where the game is. $10,000 for a ticket was banking on Texas playing for a championship in Texas. If they didn't make the playoffs (and I still think they shouldn't have) - the secondary market would have been much more reasonable to start with. And Washington won't travel as much as Bama or Texas any day of the week, but the same can be said of 90% of all teams out there. Michigan will pack that place though.

But I think parity has done wonders for the game. We just had two of the best post-season college games back-to-back and now we have a championship game between the only two undefeated teams in the country. This is what it should be like.

 

[18IsTheMan]

I don't think the secondary market for tickets is really a great barometer for how popular college football is at the moment. It's more telling as to how passionate (or insane depending how you look at it) an individual fanbase is and where the game is. $10,000 for a ticket was banking on Texas playing for a championship in Texas. If they didn't make the playoffs (and I still think they shouldn't have) - the secondary market would have been much more reasonable to start with. And Washington won't travel as much as Bama or Texas any day of the week, but the same can be said of 90% of all teams out there. Michigan will pack that place though.

But I think parity has done wonders for the game. We just had two of the best post-season college games back-to-back and now we have a championship game between the only two undefeated teams in the country. This is what it should be like.

The UGA/TCU game was the least-viewed title game since the BCS era began. TCU was the parity poster child...and nobody wanted to see them play. Whatever the ratings are for the UM/UW game are, they will pale in comparison to what they would have been had it been Bama/Texas or Michigan/Texas.

I'm just not sure what it means when folks say parity is good. In what way is it good? There was arguably little parity for much of the BCS and first part of the CFP, but the game exploded anyway.

 

[ToddFlanders]

The UGA/TCU game was the least-viewed title game since the BCS era began. TCU was the parity poster child...and nobody wanted to see them play. Whatever the ratings are for the UM/UW game are, they will pale in comparison to what they would have been had it been Bama/Texas or Michigan/Texas.

I'm just not sure what it means when folks say parity is good. In what way is it good? There was arguably little parity for much of the BCS and first part of the CFP, but the game exploded anyway.

But again, you're using one game as the barometer of an entire sport. By all accounts this was one of the most watched college football seasons in history - and I think that is because of parity. You don't always get a championship game with the most rabid fans - but this season was a rousing success because of so many teams in all parts of the country having a chance. And we finished with a #1 vs #2 matchup of undefeated teams.

I expect next year to be the most watched season ever.

 

[Deleted11512]

The UGA/TCU game was the least-viewed title game since the BCS era began. TCU was the parity poster child...and nobody wanted to see them play. Whatever the ratings are for the UM/UW game are, they will pale in comparison to what they would have been had it been Bama/Texas or Michigan/Texas.

I'm just not sure what it means when folks say parity is good. In what way is it good? There was arguably little parity for much of the BCS and first part of the CFP, but the game exploded anyway.

I don't think it's that nobody wanted to see it. But is was a snooze fest. If TCU made that a game, it probably would have broken records.

Viewership is up this year. I saw a stat that 94 of the 130 D1 teams saw an increase in attendance.

 

[Big JC]

But again, you're using one game as the barometer of an entire sport. By all accounts this was one of the most watched college football seasons in history - and I think that is because of parity. You don't always get a championship game with the most rabid fans - but this season was a rousing success because of so many teams in all parts of the country having a chance. And we finished with a #1 vs #2 matchup of undefeated teams.

I expect next year to be the most watched season ever.

I think the "...next year to be the most watched season ever" thing is sort of a self fulfilling prophecy based on access to college games and not as much on increased fan interest because of parity. With streaming services, every single game in the season can generally be accessed somehow so fans of Alcorn State can find a way to tune in and see the big game against McNeese State. In the past, those fans watching ANY of their team's games on tv or some device would have been impossible. If only 50,000 or so people tune in to see those type games on a weekly basis but there are several hundred of those type games every week, the overall viewer numbers look pretty good.

Realistically, how many teams do you think "had a chance"? I'd say no more than in any previous season before NIL or the portal. Every fan base thinks their team has a chance until the second or third loss depending on the conference and national situation. After about week 8 or so, there are really only about 8 teams that still "have a chance" and for the most part, those are the same 8 or so that are at the top every season.

 

[will110]

I just checked Stubhub and the cheapest ticket available is $890. I wouldn't call that cheap by any means. It's not surprising at all though that ticket prices drop once Texas isn't playing in a game in Texas. Seattle and Ann Arbor are a long way from Houston.

 

[FootballLVR]

I'll be watching it either way. It is the LAST college football game until the Fall. If we were in the championship I probably still stay home and watch on TV. I can't see spending that kind of money on tickets, travel, food, and lodging.

 

[Big JC]

I just checked Stubhub and the cheapest ticket available is $890. I wouldn't call that cheap by any means. It's not surprising at all though that ticket prices drop once Texas isn't playing in a game in Texas. Seattle and Ann Arbor are a long way from Houston.

If you've ever been to Houston, it isn't exactly a top vacation destination either unless you are really into chemical plants.

 

[18IsTheMan]

I suppose the main beef I have with parity is that is flies in the face of what sports is all about. Just let the best man win. If teams can create parity on their own, great! It's when you have manipulate and contrive to create parity that turns me off.

And, really, in college football, we never heard a lot about parity until the title game became Alabama's annual vacation spot. That also annoys me.