Slow season brings down ticket prices

Michigan football may have a losing record this season, but tickets for Saturday's Michigan-Michigan State game are still commanding prices as high as $300 dollars.

Ticket prices have dropped since last year, when some fans paid $900 per ticket to sit at the 50 yard line in Spartan Stadium for an afternoon.

While several factors are involved in the price decrease, many fans said the lower rates are in part due to the poor showing of the Wolverines and Spartans, who are both 1-2.

"You can't compare this year to last year because there are not as many seats in Michigan State's stadium," said a ticket re-seller who did not wish to be identified. "It was a good ticket season last year."

Renovations that added about 5,000 new seats to Michigan Stadium have not affected the resale of tickets because the size of the stadium makes the addition a small fraction of the seating.

The proximity of the two Big Ten rivals has always put the tickets in high demand.

Ticket sellers said factors such as weather also can affect ticket prices.

"The market is going to fluctuate depending on whether it rains or it's sunny," a ticket re-seller said.

The resale of tickets is a misdemeanor, and violators can be ticketed, arrested and have their tickets confiscated as evidence.

Several ticket scalpers said they are cautious when buying tickets because of an incident that occurred two years ago when about 150 counterfeit tickets were sold for the Michigan-Ohio State game.

Of the half-dozen scalpers who do business outside the Michigan Union every day during football season, the most successful ticket sellers are the students, one ticket re-seller said.

"The students sell their tickets for more money than we (sell) them for," he said.

Department of Public Safety spokesperson Beth Hall said fans who purchase tickets illegally are taking a risk.

"We're warning fans that the only way to ensure tickets are real is to buy them through the ticket office," Hall said.

Hall said the amount of activity involving ticket resale has been relatively low this year, and no tickets or arrests have been made involving ticket scalping.

"We are anticipating increased activity for the MSU game," Hall said. "Enforcement teams will be looking out for counterfeit and stolen tickets."

DPS officers will be on the lookout for scalpers across the University campus. They'll concentrate particularly on the stadium area, where illegal activity tends take place, Hall said.

DPS has received fewer complaints about ticket re-sellers this year, Hall said.

"We had a complaint a couple of weeks ago that people were out in front of the Union buying and selling tickets," Hall said.

An individual there was arrested on an outstanding warrant, Hall said.

Several students said tickets for the Saturday game sell for a high price despite each team's season records because of the number of fans who are interested in attending the game.

"I think (the price) is greater when you have two in-state schools ... a lot more people want to hang out," said Brendan Fogarty, an LSA senior.

But some students said they think demand for tickets is down this season.

"This is the first year I've seen everybody selling tickets. Usually there are signs looking to buy tickets," said Rachel Boyce, an LSA senior. "I think there's a very possible chance we might lose to Michigan State."

09-24-98