StubHub Releases Second Annual NCAA Football Season Preview: Alabama Unseats Michigan as the Most In-Demand Team

SAN FRANCISCO, Aug. 14, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- StubHub, the world's largest event marketplace, today released its second annual NCAA College Football Preview, which includes the top-trending teams, hottest-selling games and most popular conferences heading into the 2018 season.

For the first time in five seasons, Alabama tops Michigan as StubHub's most in-demand team, driven by eagerly anticipated Southeastern Conference rivalry matchups against Auburn and Texas A&M returning to Bryant Denny Stadium in Tuscaloosa.

"With key rivalry games at home this season, Alabama is seeing extraordinary demand on StubHub," said Jill Krimmel, StubHub general manager of NCAA Sports and MLB. "Coming off another national championship victory and given the additional excitement of these matchups, it's understandable that we're seeing Alabama dethrone Michigan from a five-year reign."

Other major insights unpacked in the season preview include:

Trends on the Top Ten

• TCU is StubHub's top-trending team year over year as demand for the Horned Frogs is up 298 percent based on StubHub sales, making the largest jump in demand among StubHub's Top 10 selling teams.
• Only half of the teams on this list return from last year.
• Four of the teams on the list have not been in the top 15 in the last four years.
• Georgia makes their return to StubHub's list of top-10-in-demand teams for the first time in five years, riding the demand spurred by last season's College Football Playoff championship appearance.

College Football Fans Will Travel
Approximately 58 percent of regular season ticket sales on StubHub come from buyers located more than 120 miles away from the venue.

"College football fans are a different breed," said Krimmel. "There is a passion that is hard to find anywhere else, as we've seen fans are willing to travel greater distances to see their team play than any other sport."

Michigan and Ohio State Remain Strong
StubHub continues to see strong demand from across the country for these two storied Big Ten programs, each featured in three of StubHub's top 10 games. This historic rivalry matchup is already one of StubHub's top 10 selling games at #9.

A Decade-Long Wait Is Over
The AdvoCare Classic between LSU and Miami on September 2 at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, is the season's best-selling game. This game marks the first time the two football programs will face off since 2005.

State Allegiances Can Be Surprising
A new feature of this year's college football preview, a visual of the best-selling teams in each state, demonstrates that Alabama is the most beloved program across the most states. Texas A&M and Florida State lead sales in Texas and Florida, respectively.

More in-depth highlights can be found in StubHub's Press Box, which includes visuals to support the best-selling teams, games, conferences, state-by-state sales and more.

2018 NCAA college football tickets are available to purchase on StubHub now. As always, StubHub backs all listings with its market-leading FanProtect™ Guarantee and college football fans can use StubHub's 360-degree Virtual View feature and price alerts technology to find the perfect seats for any game.

ABOUT STUBHUB
At StubHub, our mission is simple: bring the joy of live to fans globally. We connect fans with their favorite teams, shows and artists and introduce them to the ones they'll love next. As the largest ticket marketplace in the world, we enable fans to buy and sell tickets to tens of thousands of events, whenever they want, through our desktop and mobile experiences, including our StubHub app for iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch and Android. Offering a superior fan experience at its core, StubHub reinvented the ticket resale market in 2000 and continues to lead through innovation. Our industry firsts include the introduction of the first ticketing application, the first interactive seat mapping tool, and the first live entertainment rewards program. Our business partners include more than 130 properties in MLB, NFL, NBA, NHL, MLS and NCAA, plus AEG, AXS and Paciolan, and now the Tessitura Network. StubHub provides the total end-to-end event going experience throughout the world. StubHub is an eBay company (NASDAQ: EBAY). For more information on StubHub, visit StubHub.com or follow @StubHub on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram or YouTube.com/StubHub.

SOURCE StubHub

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