COLUMBUS, Ohio — Thousands of University of Tennessee fans are heading to Columbus to watch the Vols in the first round of the College Football Playoff. Prices are dropping ahead of the Dec. 21 game.
However, fans may need to get them quickly because Joseph Bocanegra, a StubHub spokesperson, said this is a high-demand game. He said it's sold 35% more tickets than the SMU game against Penn State.
"This game in particular has sold the most tickets of any College Football Playoff for this first round across all leagues," said Bocanegra.
On StubHub as of Wednesday evening, ticket prices for the game start in the low hundreds. Bocanegra said buyers from Tennessee account for 37% of ticket sales, compared to 34% from Ohio.
"If you're from Tennessee traveling for the game, you're going to be in a great cohort of people, which I think is super awesome and exciting," said Bocanegra.
He added that the Vols ticket sales have been up 25% on the site this season, compared to last season. Greg Lemay was able to get tickets to see his favorite team -- The Vols --through Ohio State's athletic department.
"Somebody had reached out and said, 'Hey, Greg, do you want to attend this game?' And so anyway, I ended up getting the tickets from them. Pretty excited to go," said Lemay.
He will drive from Windsor, Ontario, Canada over the weekend with his daughter. He said he's loved the Vols since the 1990s and remembers watching Peyton Manning on television as a kid. He said a little more than 15 years ago, he started attending games in person.
"I would say around 2007, 2008, we started heading to Knoxville and going to a lot of games. So this will be the 91st game that I'll see in person," said Lemay.
He also said he plans to see the Detroit Lions just hours later, so he won't be heading back to Canada just yet.
"I haven't talked to my daughter about that yet, whether we're gonna end up staying for a couple of hours in a hotel and then end up leaving," said Lemay.
He said if the Vols keep winning, he'll keep attending games. The next game would be the Rose Bowl game on New Year's Day.
"I've been to almost probably 20 different bowls. I've seen the Vols play in the Music City Bowl. I've seen them play in the Citrus Bowl, the Orange Bowl a couple of years ago against Clemson," said Lemay.
Bocanegra had a few safety tips for those buying tickets online.
- You should buy tickets from a trusted source or site, where you have protections if anything goes wrong.
- You should also download your tickets in case there are any Wi-Fi issues.
- Be wary of any tickets being sold from people you don't know.
Vols fans are able to purchase Rose Bowl tickets in advance. That game will serve as the College Football Playoff quarterfinals. If the Vols don't advance, Bocanegra said fans can sell their tickets.