Opening line favors Alabama, opening ticket prices favor rich fans

Jay Busbee
· Senior writer

When you’ve got two teams from the South battling for the national championship in the South, you’ve got to figure ticket prices will be skyscraper-high. And you’d be right.

Mercedes-Benz Stadium is about 75 miles from the University of Georgia and 200 miles from the University of Alabama, which means that the two schools meeting next Monday will send hordes of fans streaming into Atlanta in search of tickets. And they’d better bring their cash.

Prices on StubHub as of 9 a.m. Eastern Monday morning were $2,000 just to get in the door and sit in the rafters. That’s high, but not quite as high as halftime of the Alabama-Clemson Sugar Bowl. At that point, with the outcome of the game still in doubt and only one fanbase able to commit to tickets, Georgia fans rocketed the price up to a minimum of $2,600 per ticket. But with two fanbases so close to the stadium, and most Georgia fans able to sleep in their own beds, expect demand to remain strong as fans decide whether they want to see their Dawgs and Tide play, or take that vacation to the Gulf Coast next summer.

Meanwhile, Alabama is opening as a four-point favorite, per Las Vegas Superbook, with an over-under of 48. This is going to be a defensive struggle, but that’ll just make touchdowns that much more valuable to the fans who attend.

Celebrate, Nick Saban. You’re going to another big game. (Getty)
Celebrate, Nick Saban. You’re going to another big game. (Getty)

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Jay Busbee is a writer for Yahoo Sports. Contact him at jay.busbee@yahoo.com or find him on Twitter or on Facebook.