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I enjoy the game atmosphere, but I can see going to the campus and then to a bar to watch the game.

Thinking back to my college days, I think we paid something like $15 for student tickets.  It was easy to find a seat at the game, the students were in the upper deck and there wasn't much enthusiasm back then  I didn't attend very many of them.  The teams were 7-4, 7-4-1, and 6-6 in my three years there, so I guess I am a fair weather fan.

For those in the know, do the prices of tickets bought directly from the athletic department ever fluctuate? Save for alumni perks through buying Arizona tickets through their Athletic Department, the rest of my 4 to 5 purchases every year are done on the secondary market - stubhub, seatgeek, etc.

I’m guessing that if the prices through school fluctuate it’s not with the wider variance you see on the secondary market. For example if Minnesota tanks maybe the home tickets Vs Iowa or Nebraska remain about the same because their Athletic Department can better market what’s unsold to visiting Iowa and Nebraska fans, unlike the secondary market?

I think I know what you are talking about here. When I buy MLB tickets for the White Sox, the prices seem to vary based on the game and ticket demand for that game. Speaking only for what I have seen at Iowa, I have never seen Iowa change ticket prices for a game like Ohio State. When they set it at $95 and even though they are not selling out, they don't lower prices to sell the last few.

On the other hand, there has been a tradition of selling "knothole tickets" at Iowa. In the 1960s and 70s the south end zone stands had wood plank walkways. If the stadium was not nearly a sellout they would announce that knothole tickets would be sold at a greatly reduced price, which may have been only for kids, I don't recall.

I think knothole tickets may have been sold 10 or 20 years ago when there were low expectations, season ticket sales were poor, and when the opponent was a lesser team. But, I don't recall for sure. I perceive much more greed in the athletic department now than in the past; it is hard to develop a fanbase if you do not do something occasionally to market to kids. Iowa used to sell out most years in the 1980s and 90s.

I'm hopeful that AD's will start to realize they aren't going to be able to sell out games charging $100 per ticket in the near future.  They need to understand that, as little as only 20 years ago, people HAD to attend the games to watch every one of their school's games.  If you didn't buy tickets, you weren't sure until the week of the game whether it would be on TV or not.

College football has transitioned from an event that most people experienced in the stands to an event most people experience on TV.  I hate watching empty stadiums for the sake of squeezing profit out of the fan base.  Each one of those empty seats represents a future fan the AD has chosen to price out in many cases.

I'm speaking specifically to Iowa at this point, but I remember two years ago when Iowa played PSU in a night game in Kinnick, that game didn't sell out.  10 years ago, the idea that a home night game against a top 5 opponent wouldn't sell out was laughable.   The demand was there to be at the game, but charging $100 for nose bleed seats in the end zone (especially for families of 4+) makes staying at home and watching on TV look more attractive.

I know Iowa sold out pretty much every home game from 2003-2012 (ish, going from memory).  Then in recent years single game ticket prices have continued to go up and sell outs have continued to go down.

Supply and demand will exert its effect over time, but with so much money coming in from TV contracts, perhaps the gate isn't as important as once it was either.

Penn State as well for night games.

I have not tried to drive from Athens to the ATL after a night game, but I'm guessing the traffic is really really bad.  I drove back with my daughter after the Tech game last year and traffic was difficult, and we stopped for lunch after the game to kill some time.  It was cold and misting rain, colder than the same day in Columbus, OH where she lives now.  We were dressed for it, but the tailgating was way way down.

As TV contracts go up, tickets should go down to make sure the stadiums stay full.  That's in the best long term interest of cultivating fans.