You can still get tickets to Saturday night's Alabama-LSU game -- the latest "game of the century." But you might have to take out a second mortgage to buy them.
SeatGeek.com -- a website that tracks ticket prices from a variety of sources -- says the average ticket price for the game -- matching No. 1 LSU vs. No. 2 Alabama -- is $839.
A review of SeatGeek Friday morning found a low price of $382 per ticket for two tickets from Southeastern Tickets. The combined price of $738 will get you two seats in section u3C at Bryant-Denny Stadium; that's in the upper level on the goal line.
The highest price was $1,560 for a ticket in section HH -- lower level, 40 yard line -- from StubHub.
"Average ticket prices to the LSU-Alabama game are the most expensive we've seen for a regular season game in our over two years of monitoring college football ticket prices on secondary markets," said Will Flaherty, director of communications for SeatGeek. "Only last year's matchup of Oregon and Auburn in the BCS national title game registered higher average ticket prices, with the average seat in that game going for $1,339.07.
"These prices outstrip what we've seen for SEC Championship games, major non-title BCS bowl games and other fierce rivalry games like Texas-OU or Michigan-Ohio State," Flaherty said. "It's truly remarkable, and I think it really speaks to how intense the excitement and buildup has been for this game over the past few months, as these two teams clearly emerged as tops in the nation."
If you plan to go to Tuscaloosa and haggle with a scalper, beware of crooks selling counterfeit tickets.
The University of Alabama has issued a press release warning fans to be careful who they buy tickets from.
"... the UA Athletic Ticket Office wishes to remind fans of the potential danger of being sold counterfeit tickets at Tide home games," the statement said.
"If fans have any doubt about the validity of their tickets, they can visit the UA Athletic Ticket Office at Coleman Coliseum to verify their tickets during regular business hours, between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m., Monday through Friday. On game day those tickets can be verified beginning at 3 p.m. by University officials on Saturday at the stadium by reporting to Gate 3 or Gate 32. Officials will be available at those gates to examine any tickets."
The cheapest option, of course, is to watch the game on CBS at 8 p.m. Saturday.
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