SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--College football's rivalry season kicks off this week with the featured annual grudge match of Michigan and Ohio State. The most famous of all college football rivalry games, the #10 Buckeyes and Wolverines remain in steep demand despite one of Michigan’s worst season’s ever. Saturday’s game in Columbus is currently commanding the highest average selling price of the entire college football season, coming in at $461 per ticket via sales on StubHub.
StubHub has been tracking this year’s hottest rivalry games since the season began, and the Texas-Oklahoma Red River Rivalry, which produced an instant classic in early October, ranks as the highest grossing game on StubHub’s Top 25 College Football Rivalry Rankings. Currently occupying the number two spot is the World’s Largest Outdoor Cocktail party played between Florida and Georgia on Nov. 1, which vaulted up seven spots from 2007.
As the traditional rivalry season unfolds over the next few weekends, more games will challenge for the top spots. The upcoming “Iron Bowl” pitting Auburn versus Alabama will not only have intrastate bragging rights but national championship and bowl implications for both teams. These factors have already bumped the game three spots higher from last season with dollar volume sales increasing 68 percent over 2007 and average prices surpassing $400 per ticket.
The rankings also see significant movement with Saturday’s #7 Utah vs. #14 BYU match-up vaulting into the list at number 21 for the first time ever. Ticket sales have already grossed over 70 percent more than that of last year resulting in an average ticket price of $197, over $90 more than the 2007 price.
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STUBHUB TOP 25 RIVALRY RANKINGS (11/18/08) |
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Rivalry Game |
Date |
Current Week
Avg. Price |
2007
Avg. Price |
2007
Ranking |
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| 1 | Oklahoma vs. Texas | 11-Oct | $ | 345 | $ | 400 | 5 | |||||
| 2 | Florida vs. Georgia | 1-Nov | $ | 349 | $ | 263 | 9 | |||||
| 3 | 29-Nov | $ | 418 | $ | 337 | 6 | ||||||
| 4 | Michigan at Ohio State | 22-Nov | $ | 461 | $ | 374 | 1 | |||||
| 5 | Notre Dame at USC | 29-Nov | $ | 227 | $ | 407 | 3 | |||||
| 6 | Texas A&M at Texas | 27-Nov | $ | 201 | $ | 244 | 4 | |||||
| 7 | Michigan State at Michigan | 25-Oct | $ | 175 | $ | 200 | 13 | |||||
| 8 | Alabama at Tennessee | 25-Oct | $ | 186 | $ | 238 | 7 | |||||
| 9 | Florida at Tennessee | 20-Sep | $ | 207 | $ | 248 | 18 | |||||
| 10 | Kansas vs. Missouri | 29-Nov | $ | 115 | $ | 227 | 8 | |||||
| 11 | USC at UCLA | 6-Dec | $ | 181 | $ | 246 | 2 | |||||
| 12 | Purdue at Notre Dame | 27-Sep | $ | 178 | $ | 105 | 19 | |||||
| 13 | Georgia at Auburn | 15-Nov | $ | 180 | $ | 263 | 16 | |||||
| 14 | Army/Navy Game | 6-Dec | $ | 225 | $ | 231 | 11 | |||||
| 15 | Florida at Florida State | 29-Nov | $ | 158 | $ | 305 | 14 | |||||
| 16 | Florida State at Miami | 4-Oct | $ | 122 | $ | 114 | 22 | |||||
| 17 | Georgia Tech at Georgia | 29-Nov | $ | 200 | $ | 163 | 15 | |||||
| 18 | Oregon at Oregon State | 29-Nov | $ | 161 | $ | 176 | 21 | |||||
| 19 | Oklahoma at Oklahoma State | 29-Nov | $ | 316 | $ | 169 | 24 | |||||
| 20 | Iowa State at Iowa | 13-Sep | $ | 170 | $ | 122 | NR | |||||
| 21 | BYU at Utah | 22-Nov | $ | 197 | $ | 105 | NR | |||||
| 22 | Stanford at California | 22-Nov | $ | 95 | $ | 99 | 12 | |||||
| 23 | West Virginia at Pittsburgh | 28-Nov | $ | 101 | $ | 138 | 17 | |||||
| 24 | Virginia at Virginia Tech | 29-Nov | $ | 143 | $ | 230 | 20 | |||||
| 25 | N. Carolina State at N. Carolina | 22-Nov | $ | 94 | $ | 149 | NR | |||||
Best of the Rest: South Carolina at Clemson, LSU at Arkansas, Indiana at Purdue
The StubHub Top 25 Rivalry Rankings display the traditional college rivalry game tickets that are in highest demand by gross dollar volume of tickets sold through the StubHub ticket marketplace. A new Top 25 list is released weekly during rivalry season until the conclusion of the regular season as sales fluctuate due to pre-game hype and team performance. An important component of the rankings, average ticket price, can also reflect the difference in year over year demand for each game, an interesting statistic with some traditional powers having sub-par seasons.
Rankings can change weekly based on the buying activity on StubHub.com due to the importance of each game and the overall performance of one or both teams. Once a game has been played it still may rank on the list based on the total sales activity for that game. For example, Oklahoma vs. Texas has outsold all other games this season and therefore still ranks number one many weeks after it has been played.
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StubHub FanStats present timely statistics, rankings and/or data about sports and entertainment that is of interest to the everyday fan. Information reflects ticket resale market data gathered from StubHub transactions. If there is specific data that is of interest to you, or if you would like to interview the leading authority in the secondary ticketing industry, please send us an e-mail at fanstats@stubhub.com.
About StubHub
StubHub is the world's largest ticket marketplace, enabling fans to buy and sell tickets to tens of thousands of sports, concert, theater and other live entertainment events. StubHub reinvented the ticket resale market in 2000 and continues to lead it through innovation. The company's unique online marketplace, dedicated solely to tickets, provides all fans the choice to buy or sell their tickets in a safe, convenient, and highly reliable environment. All transactions are processed and delivered by StubHub and backed by the company’s FanProtect Guarantee™. Company partners include the New York Yankees, Chicago Bears and the University of Southern California along with nearly 60 teams in the NFL, MLB, NBA, NHL and NCAA complemented with music artists like Madonna and companies such as ESPN and American Express.
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