StubHub's 2024 College Football Season Preview: Conference Moves Spark Demand for Realigned Teams and Create New Hot Ticket Matchups

Season Sales Up 42% Compared to 2023; New Teams to SEC and Big Ten Reap Sizable Growth

NEW YORK, Aug. 13, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Ahead of the 2024 college football season, StubHub, the world's leading marketplace to buy and sell tickets to any live event, has released its annual College Football Season Preview, revealing the top-selling teams, conferences, games and trends of the season. Sales are up 42% compared to last season's start, with the Big Ten recording the biggest growth this year from the acquisition of four new teams, making it the largest conference. As defending champions, Michigan reclaims the #1 position among in-demand teams on StubHub, and, major growth for other teams demonstrates the impact of the conference realignments.

Key highlights include:

• Big Ten Sales Double on StubHub - the biggest sales growth for a conference
  • Wolverines unseat Alabama to claim #1 for the second time in StubHub history
  • The Buckeyes sales on StubHub are up nearly 4x over last year
  • The Michigan-Ohio State matchup is the most in-demand classic rivalry
  • The USC Trojans see the second biggest growth with sales up 7x
  • The Vegas Kickoff Classic featuring the Trojans and LSU Tigers is the best-selling game on StubHub
• SEC Leads Sales with Most Teams On The Top 10 List - the SEC outsells #2, the Big Ten, by nearly 30%
  • The Longhorns boast their highest ranking ever ahead of the season with sales up 5x
  • Alabama, coming in at #4, leads legacy SEC teams
• Conference Shakeups Create New Highly-Anticipated Matchups - Conference realignment creates and reignites historic rivalries
  • Georgia at Texas is the #1 in-demand realignment game, and has sold 41% more tickets than the Texas-Texas A&M rivalry matchup
  • After a 13-year hiatus, the Texas-Texas A&M rivalry is back and is already the fifth most in-demand college football game on StubHub, even though it's late in the season
  • The Ducks hosting the Buckeyes in October is driving the most demand for new conference matchups in the Big Ten, doubling the sales of the next best-selling new Big Ten matchup, when the Trojans visit the Wolverines

"This year marks an exciting new era in college football with conference realignment and an expanded college playoff landscape sure to bring more high-stakes, late-season matchups," said Adam Budelli, spokesperson for StubHub. "Football dynasties like Alabama and Michigan continue to drive big demand, but schools like Texas and USC recorded their highest sales in StubHub history after moving to the SEC and Big Ten."

StubHub's Top In-Demand 2024 College Football Teams

1. Michigan Wolverines
2. Texas Longhorns
3. Texas A&M Aggies
4. Alabama Crimson Tide 
5. Ohio State Buckeyes
6. Georgia Bulldogs 
7. USC Trojans
8. Florida Gators
9. Notre Dame Fighting Irish 
10. Penn State Nittany Lions

Based on cumulative ticket sales on StubHub for the 2024 season, as of August 7, 2024. 

StubHub's Top Trending 2024 College Football Teams

1. SMU Mustangs | ACC - switch from AAC
2. USC Trojans | Big Ten - switch from Pac-12
3. UCLA Bruins | Big Ten - switch from Pac-12
4. Texas Longhorns | SEC - switch from Big 12
5. Oklahoma Sooners | SEC - switch from Big 12
6. Oregon Ducks | Big Ten - switch from Pac-12
7. Washington Huskies | Big Ten - switch from Pac-12
8. Arizona Wildcats | Big 12 - switch from Pac-12
9. Pittsburgh Panthers | ACC
10. Texas A&M Aggies | SEC

*Based on power conference teams with the highest rate of increase in cumulative StubHub ticket sales for the 2024 season, as of August 7, 2024, compared to sales ahead of the 2023 season.

Full data and insights from the College Football season preview can be found at stubhub.com/2024collegefootballpreview.

About StubHub
StubHub is the world's leading marketplace to buy and sell tickets to any live event, anywhere. Through StubHub in North America and viagogo, our international platform, we service customers in 200 countries and territories in 33 languages and 48 available currencies. With more than 100 million tickets available to events around the world annually -- from sports to music, comedy to dance, festivals to theater -- StubHub offers the safest, most convenient way to buy or sell tickets to the most memorable live experiences, with every order backed by our FanProtect guarantee and global customer service support.

SOURCE StubHub