We’ve seen some noteworthy trends in terms of ticket prices surrounding this weekend’s big-ticket game featuring UCLA and Nebraska. Although the Bruins aren’t generally known for selling out the Rose Bowl, this game is expected to draw a huge crowd. It stands as the the team’s most expensive season opener in recent years and the most in-demand game featuring a non-USC opponent, which is evidenced by Saturday’s $126 average ticket price.
Take a look at the numbers:
Unquestionably, this weekend’s game is the most sought after ticket in Los Angeles with the average seat selling for $125.94 on the secondary market (21% more than UCLA’s $104.34 home ticket price average). It is also far and away the most expensive UCLA season opener played at The Rose Bowl, trumping 2010’s matchup against Stanford for which tickets averaged $57.10.
The matchup is additionally poised to be the 4th most expensive UCLA home game since 2009—rivaling only last year’s game against Texas ($146.76 average) and the 2010 ($133.71 average) and 2012 ($179.21 average) matchups against USC for the top honor. It is the only non-USC game that is expected to sell out this season and continues to see momentous ticket prices on the secondary market. Only one other UCLA home game against a non-USC opponent since 2009 has averaged ticket prices over $100; historically these types of games fetch around $69.27.
Currently, the two most expensive ticket listings on SeatGeek include a $562 general admission seat in Section 125 and a $556 seat in Section 4, Row 24. This represents a 739% markup above the attributed $67 face value–unprecedented for a UCLA home game.
Finally, we looked at our shopping traffic for the game over the past 4 weeks and found the majority (59%) of all ticket shoppers coming from California, but also a fair amount from Nebraska (16%). Nebraska fans tend to travel well, and it’s likely they’ll be represented well in the Rose Bowl this weekend.
