Prior to kickoff of tonight’s National Championship Game between Alabama and Clemson at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, Calif., there seemed to be plenty of empty seats as ticket prices plummeted in the days prior to the big game.
Reports and fan shared photos which showed empty seats in pretty much every section of the stadium, including the student section:
Plenty of empty seats 20 or so minutes before kickoff. pic.twitter.com/i5QXQ5YNtr
— Michael Casagrande (@ByCasagrande) January 8, 2019
Empty seats most jarring in this section pic.twitter.com/EL8ThBm8PU
— Bryan Fischer (@BryanDFischer) January 8, 2019
Ten minutes until kick. Thousands of empty seats. pic.twitter.com/E87yGqRsGr
— Matt Hayes (@MattHayesCFB) January 8, 2019
Band still not back in their seats halfway through the 3rd? Also see several rows empty upstairs around midfield. CC @OSUDefender @Shark_Four #CFBNationalChampionship #CFBPlayoffs pic.twitter.com/Rt1xiNSYdz
— Tom Smith (@stars_at_night) January 8, 2019
@YahooForde Lots of empty seats 12 minutes till 8 EST. pic.twitter.com/ch5iKzL4km
— Andy Makielski (@andymak17) January 8, 2019
According to a report in the afternoon in the Mercury News, 4,000 tickets remained available on StubHub. The ticket reseller’s average price for the tickets it sold was $448, which the Mercury News noted was nearly $150 off the previous low mark for a CFP National Championship Game.
That happened the last time Clemson and Alabama met for the championship in 2016 in Glendale, Arizona.