Pondering the cost of an ND game

[Guest SirJohn]

I had an interesting chat with Coach Dan. Raises some thoughts.

 

As a way of hyping the popularity of the USC vs ND game I was talking ticket prices. Check our DD ads here under tickets.

 

Last I checked premium parking spot $450. (Warning South Bend Police raised illegal parking tickets a "whole bunch") A end zone single seat was running $650.00, I saw two 20th row? 50 yard tickets at $2,025 each. I told him I could take my daughter Belinda to the game and counting gas, food lodging get to the game for over $6,000.

 

That does take it out of the area for a normal ND fan. Coach Dan and I joshed about "But are they real ND fans or Bandwagon jumpers?

 

Thinking about it I do know Notre Dame returned several hundred tickets to Washington that ND had to sell with no takers. That was a dull meeting despite hype. One has to figure cost of airflight to Washington, certainly out of line for most people then renting a car. with above food lodging.

 

Tickets at DD ads are those perhaps won in a lottery or alumni. Many factors can get in the way. A student selling a lottery ticket that cost say $54.00 has a chance to make almost $600. Not beans if your a student.

 

Alumni are scattered across country and of course may not be as wealthy as other alumni or unavailable that week to fly to South Bend.

 

All this drives up demand. Plus of course #1 team facing ND at home. Big things on the line.

 

All in all a unwealthy fan has to face he can not get a ticket for a popular game. TV time.

 

Past Regis who we all know wears ND on his heart there are the "celebrity bandjumping people." Flick on your World Series or NDA or Super Bowl game and the cameras love to zero in on good ole movie star normal Red Sox, Patriots, Chicago Bear Hollywood stars." A place to see and most certainly be seen.

 

Not complaining it's the animal that drives the wagon.

[Guest SirJohn]

From Rutland Herald-Vermont

*********************************************************

 

South Bend braces for weekend

 

October 11, 2005

 

By TEDDY GREENSTEIN Chicago Tribune

 

Tickets are being hawked for more than $2,500, some hotels are charging $1,000 for the weekend, requests for media credentials have come from overseas and ESPN is sending its "College GameDay" crew in a day early.

 

Oh, and a Friday night pep rally could draw as many as 50,000 fans.

 

Other than that, it will be a normal football weekend at Notre Dame, where anticipation for Saturday's game against No. 1 Southern California is already somewhere between through the roof and off the charts.

 

"I said to somebody: 'We have to pace ourselves. We can't get worn out early in the week,' " said Greg Ayers, executive director of the South Bend/Mishawaka Convention and Visitors Bureau. "The eyes of college football will be on South Bend this weekend and it will be a terrific atmosphere."

 

An atmosphere that will gain intensity as the 2:30 p.m. kickoff approaches. At stake is USC's 27-game winning streak, which includes three victories over Notre Dame.

 

FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS

 

Notre Dame normally holds its Friday night pep rally at the Joyce Center, which seats about 11,500. It's also where a team from California saw its monumental winning streak come to an end.

 

That was UCLA basketball, the year was 1974 and the streak was 88 games.

 

Friday's pep rally will take place at Notre Dame Stadium, weather permitting.

 

After hearing that some 5,000 fans were turned away from Notre Dame's pep rally before the Sept. 17 Michigan State game, coach Charlie Weis suggested they take the show outside.

 

"We felt the best thing for the fans was to give them an opportunity to be a part of the experience," he said.

 

This would mark the fourth pep rally held at the stadium and the first since 2000, on the eve of the Nebraska game.

 

WHO'S SELLING TWO?

 

USC sports information director Tim Tessalone has no access to tickets for road games. And that's probably the good news. It means he doesn't have to sort through the numerous requests.

 

"The Notre Dame game is a tough ticket every year," he said. "This is a pilgrimage game."

 

Major university donors get first crack at USC's ticket allotment of 7,000. If tickets get returned, Notre Dame would sell them.

 

"But that's pretty unlikely," said Josh Berlo, Notre Dame's top ticket officer.

 

Scalping tickets in Indiana is legal as long as the transaction takes place off campus grounds, according to Ayers.

 

On StubHub.com, $450 will get you an upper level end-zone seat and $2,775 will land you a prime seat in Section 9. (The range for tickets to Tuesday's White Sox game is $210 to $2,332.)

 

But Berlo said his office has revoked "thousands of tickets from hundreds of people" who have resold their tickets for a profit.

 

"Be careful who you give them to," he warned.

 

MEDIA DARLINGS

 

The last time Notre Dame hosted a game of this magnitude, NBC Sports spent $60,000 to bring in temporary lighting and ESPN, for the first time, sent its "College GameDay" crew on location to South Bend.

 

That was Nov. 13, 1993, and the event was the "Game of the Century," pitting No. 1 Florida State against the second-ranked Irish.

 

Permanent lights were installed in 1996, but NBC will beef up its coverage this time by adding to its normal array of 12 cameras. NBC is anticipating an aerial show, so the extra cameras will isolate battles between receivers and defensive backs.

 

ESPN, meanwhile, will dispatch "GameDay" commentators Chris Fowler and Lee Corso to South Bend on Thursday for a "SportsCenter" segment. ESPN2's "Cold Pizza" will originate from an area between the stadium and the Hesburgh Library on Friday.

 

"It's always our goal to be right in the center of the activity," ESPN spokesman Josh Krulewitz said. "Getting there Thursday gives us a chance to rev it up a little early."

 

As for media requests, Notre Dame has received one from a British publication.

 

That might seem fishy considering the sport will be the American version of football, but senior associate athletic director John Heisler was not taken aback.

 

"When you play a Big Ten team, there's a Japanese publication that routinely makes a request," Heisler said. "I've checked out their Web site. I can't read it, but they're definitely covering these games."

 

Heisler expects all 330 seats in the main press box to be claimed. Additional work stations might be created by bringing in bar stools.

 

"These are nice problems to have; that's how we look at it," Heisler said.

 

THEY'LL LEAVE THE LIGHTS ON FOR YOU

 

St. Joseph County has added 1,500 hotel rooms since Notre Dame Stadium expanded before the 1997 season, bringing the total to 4,000. But, of course, this isn't nearly enough to accommodate everyone.

 

Ayers said the rooms sold out about a month ago. And every one requires a two-night stay, including the South Bend Marriott, which is fetching $499 per night.

 

"It's similar to a Super Bowl or an Olympics, where the rates go much higher," Ayers said.

 

According to a 2002 study conducted by Notre Dame, an average football weekend generates $6.3 million for South Bend-area businesses.

 

And this weekend will be anything but average.