Thousands of Ohio State fans excited for their chance to attend the first College Football Playoff game at Ohio Stadium experienced frustration on Thursday.
After season ticket holders claimed seats earlier in the week, tickets on sale to the general public Thursday sold out in minutes, leaving those thousands of fans to purchase seats on the resale market at much higher prices.
An Ohio State football spokesperson said Sunday that tickets for Ohio State-Tennessee would start at $100. Hours after the general public sale, however, resale tickets started at $245 in C deck and ran well over $1,000 in AA deck and Club Level. The most expensive ticket available on Ticketmaster is $3,600.
There are several reasons for the price hike, including, but not limited to: Ohio State-Tennessee being a historic event as the first CFP game at the Horseshoe, Tennessee fans traditionally traveling to road games in droves and – while unconfirmed by the Ohio State athletic department – the presale code to purchase tickets for the contest leaking online.
The battle between the Buckeyes and Volunteers will be the first CFP game at the Horseshoe and the first December game in the stadium's 102-year history. Ohio State head coach Ryan Day said Sunday that his team and Buckeye Nation should be excited to take part in that.
"We're excited about playing the first-ever playoff game in Ohio Stadium," he said. "Ohio Stadium's been around a long time, over 100 years. There's been a lot of great games, but never a playoff game like this. A night game, 8 o'clock, it's gonna be electric. Our guys are going to be excited about this."
Ohio State athletic director Ross Bjork also leaned on that excitement in an interview with 97.1 The Fan's Morning Juice on Thursday. Understanding that Tennessee's fans travel well to road games, he implored Ohio State fans not to sell their tickets to Volunteer supporters, no matter how much money they could receive as part of the transaction.
"Don't sell your tickets," Bjork said. "Tennessee fans, they're rabid fans. They are going to invade the Shoe. Let's make sure we don't have as much orange in there as people think."
Tennessee was allotted 3,500 tickets in Ohio Stadium, which has a capacity of 102,780. On Wednesday, Volunteer fans hatched plans to purchase more tickets, as some tracked down an Ohio State presale code sent out to OSU season ticket holders. It's unclear how the presale code landed in the hands of Tennessee fans, but regardless, it wasn't uncrackable: OSUFB.
1. Good morning Vol Twitter. Last night an Ohio State season ticket holder decided to give us his season ticket code for the presale. Had to prove I was an Ohio state fan, so I photoshopped an OSU jersey on myself and it worked. Were officially invading their section. pic.twitter.com/OJLuYbbnLW
— Levi (@volfan4life21) December 11, 2024
Just got tickets as well. Was a rather easy code to guess. OSUFB
— DannyBTalks (Daniel Baldwin) (@DannyBTalks) December 11, 2024
Watching Ohio State fans online meltdown over the ticket situation has been pretty funny to see.
— Jon Reed (@Jon__Reed) December 12, 2024
OSUFB
In a post on X, Tennessee president Randy Boyd posed for a picture with Ohio State president Ted Carter. Boyd revealed that Carter believes Ohio Stadium will be 30 percent Volunteer fans and commemorated those fans for that accomplishment.
Great to run into .@OhioStatePres Ted Carter at the New Era Forum held at @Deloitte University! He thinks the stadium may be 30% orange - way to go Vol fans! First game ever played at Ohio Stadium in the month of December, and likely the first below freezing game the Vols have pic.twitter.com/2OJgDteo4H
— UT System President Randy Boyd (@UT_President) December 12, 2024
As Tennessee's president and fans celebrated on social media, Buckeye fans dealt with disappointment regarding the Ohio State athletic department's oversight:
Probably something that shouldve been considered when making the presale code OSUFB https://t.co/tsAC715p3I
— Woody (@woodyVSworld) December 12, 2024
Well the presale code certainly didnt help the situation.
— Matt Finkes (@MattFinkes) December 12, 2024
Tennessee fans dont have to buy from OSU fans, they bought directly from the university ticket office yesterday with the secret OSUFB code https://t.co/aa6OtdFivm
Not tryna hate on bjork but making the season ticket code OSUFB is a good way to not let that happen https://t.co/MrISnktORT
— buckeyefanatic4 (@JemekaSmibuka) December 12, 2024
Where do those three factors leave Ohio State fans? At the mercy of professional ticket resellers, according to Ben Koo of Awful Announcing.
Nudging those who cover OSU and CFB in general-
— Ben Koo (@bkoo) December 12, 2024
The leaking of the promo code for pre public sale playoff tickets is definitely worth covering. 90% of these pink dots are professional ticket resellers.
They are going to cleanup with fans having to foot the bill. pic.twitter.com/aTmP4ehJR1
Eleven Warriors has contacted Ohio State for clarification about the presale process, but the school's athletic department had not provided any additional information as of Friday morning.
