As of Saturday night’s kickoff between Alabama and Oklahoma in Norman, I did not have tickets for the back half of my Around the World in 80 Sporting Events‘ tenth event: An SEC Football Rivalry Doubledip (the Egg Bowl on Friday in Oxford, MS, and the Iron Bowl on Saturday in Tuscaloosa, AL).
I’d been checking ticket reselling site, SeatGeek, daily for much of the past two weeks hoping (against hope, seemingly) that prices would dip for the Iron Bowl. My traveling partner deftly secured Egg Bowl tickets several weeks ago following an Ole Miss loss when the market for them briefly cratered. The Crimson Tide were not affording us any such favor. The best chance of a market shift, we figured, would occur in Louisiana State’s Death Valley under the lights on November 9, but ‘Bama rolled to a 42-13 victory.
So, my daily Iron Bowl ticket watch last week saw both the supply dwindle (from nearly 800 pair to just over 600) and the price increase (from $260 per ticket to nearly $300).
And, having seen the trainwreck that is the Oklahoma Sooners’ inaugural SEC football season in person as part of Event No. 8 in the Red River Rivalry, I was pretty much resigned to the fact that a premium was going to be paid to see Saturday’s game in Bryant-Denny Stadium.
Then … Boomer Sooner!
As I monitored SeatGeek throughout Oklahoma’s surprising 24-3 victory over Alabama – which ended SEC Championship and, quite likely, College Football Playoff hopes for the Tide – I noticed two things: The supply began to increase (back over 700 pair available as the game wore on) and the prices began to drop (around the $250 per ticket range).
Then, sometime around 11 p.m., my eyes nearly popped out of their sockets when I saw a price on SeatGeek that read: $122 per ticket.
Was my vision shot? Was it a typo? Were there really two tickets at that price?
Having been aced out on lower-cost tickets for the Red River Rivalry due to dawdling, I immedately began the purchase process.
No, my vision was not shot. No, it was not a typo. Yes, there really were two tickets at that price and I’d just successfully nabbed a pair to the Iron Bowl for less-than-the-cost of a single ticket when Saturday’s action began.
The scene that plays out in my head is some frustrated Alabama season-ticket holder was watching their team’s tepid performance in Norman and, in a fit of righteous rage, put their tickets up for sale in hopes of getting their money back because they had better things to do on a Thanksgiving weekend than watch what they’d just witnessed.
I’ve no idea if that’s accurate, of course, but that’s my story and I’m sticking to it.
By the way, current prices per ticket as of Tuesday at 5:15 p.m. are $197.
Like winning the lottery!!