It's time we do another of these.

That Sponsor: TicketIQ of course. We like them because they’re the ticket site that doesn’t hide the fees. The online sites with official connections to the schools all have about the same inventory and prices, so if you go that route go with the one who gives us money and isn’t trying to hide the fact that they make some until you’re about to buy.

The Board: Remember I calculate AFTER fees so this is what the real buy price is. Subtract about 25% for the real sell price. 

Game	Get-In	2FISTDS	Good seats	Group (6+)	Outlook
Maryland	$35	$35	$56	$50	Bottoming out
Wisconsin	$112	$130	$174	$149	About market
MSU	$133	$196	$303	$174	Bearish
PSU	$130	$162	$224	$224	About market
Rutgers	$73	$75	$109	$79	Very Bearish
Indiana	$5	$46	$79	$74	About market
OSU	$284	$378	$435	$505	Lack Integrity

2FISTDS = 2 friends in seats that don't suck, i.e. what I would normally target.

One thing to keep an eye on when trying to peg the final ticket price in a ticket market not yet trading very much is how close the good seats and group seats are to the face value of normal seats. The scarcity of group tickets for OSU already shows that's going to be a hard to get seat. Conversely the group price for MSU being so close to the get-in price suggests the market for people purchasing the cheapest seats out there is working but there aren't a lot of buyers out there yet.

Going Group:

No spouses were consulted during the sharing of this photo

If you and your friends have been looking for a game that it's reasonable to attend together, your options for home games are this weekend and IU. Of course if you've ever tried this you know it's a massive hassle. I once rustled up 20 tickets in the same section to a Michigan-Bowling Green game for out-of-towners coming to a Sunday wedding. We ended up paying an average of $60 per ticket, had to eat some cancellations, and watched everybody else file into the stadium for $10 to free. It sucked.

If you're doing it for your flag football team and their parents, contact the university (of that venue). Otherwise here's my tips if "Let's get together and all go to a Michigan game again" is the other* subject of your group text thread:

• Don't get more than 8 together for any reason. Split up the group. It's okay.
• Don't just look for "4 together" on the ticket sites. A few ticket sites now will consider two consecutive rows a group but even there when an individual puts tickets for sale they have to be in the same row. Last time I had to get 4 seats I bought two in my section that were 4 rows up from the seats I already had. Finding someone willing to trade was way easier than selling two and paying the premium for four.
• For a bigger group, don't put it all on one person**. It becomes a huge job and a communication nightmare. Make everyone responsible for their tickets, and everybody keep an eye out for deals.
• For smaller groups, look for two pairs or singles in the same section. The less interesting the game the better this works—people will trade around with you if you give them the better seats, or you can just squeeze in. Don't try this at Ohio State though. Maryland game should be fine.
• If it's important to be together, agree to all pay the same price, start with a pair (either a pair you've got or around where you want to sit) and build off from there.
• Don't be afraid for games like MD, Rutgers, IU to just get single tickets and all meet in an empty part of a section.
• Don't settle for the cheapest seats. You are paying a premium for seats together but it might be just a few bucks more to sit in really good seats (e.g. for Wisconsin it's $175/ticket for 6 good seats together or $150 for crappy seats).

These all work way better for a home game—if you're traveling, especially for a ticket that's hard to get—try to use official channels as much as possible and try to keep your group closer together. MSU is a good candidate right now: at $175 a ticket for 8 tickets right now you're paying about market value (less than a typical M @ MSU game), and gaining protection from the other fanbases' classier contingents.

* [The first being what was up with that 1st quarter]
** [Yes, even and especially if he literally writes a regular column about buying tickets in this exact secondary market.]

[After THE JUMP we'll go over lessons from Northwestern, and strategies for each game remaining]

Northwestern: What was learned

"There is no Ryan Field, only ass of Zul," –Matt Demorest

I really wanted to get a TW out last week before this game because a stadium takeover is a unique ticket market. The get-in for two people was about $80/ticket on the ground and $100/seat to get an e-ticket last minute. All week Northwestern fans were putting their tickets on sale and Michigan fans were buying them up immediately. The best buying time was about midday Thursday, as a little rain crept into the forecast and Northwestern fans gave up on waiting for the market to rise and it took a little time for the market to catch back up. That was at $78, still well above face. Every single ticket was sold too.

Demorest and I ended up getting seats for $60 each but in a terrible location. That led to an important lesson: Never sit low in the endzone of Ryan Field. There's a huge wildcat statue that probably looked awesome in mock-ups that completely blocks your view of a third of the field, and the field is sunk on a soft slope so the crossbar is also in between you and the game. Finally their scoreboard is small by modern standards and offset, so from that far away it's just useless. We did get to be the Michigan fans Higdon saw as he scored the game-winning TD but I didn't get to watch big chunks of the game until the following morning.

Maryland: The Dog

I'm a bit surprised that Maryland tickets are still hanging where they are. I think that market is soft.

Warm, gray, and wet versus an opponent that isn't very interesting = there will be free tickets everywhere. If you can sell a seat for $30 right now I suggest you go ahead and do it. If you're looking to go, I suggest showing up and asking around.

Wisconsin: The Night Game

Unseasonable warmth, the mist from the rainstorm, and the Higdon/Evans fest made this a surreally enjoyable, though not well attended game [Barron]

With the exception of Under the Lights, which was planned way out beforehand, night games at Michigan Stadium tend to depress prices but spark a larger trading market. Some people do like going to night games more, but remember most of the fans who already hold tickets are season ticket holders and bought on the presumption of an afternoon game. Older fans, fans with family obligations, and those who gambled on an earlier start time have to sell their seats, and that produces a robust supply that at Michigan usually outpaces the demand from (usually younger) fans who desire the experience.

In general with night games the later in the season the greater the effect, and the larger market tends to amplify trends. MSU tickets stayed around $125-$150; Minnesota in November tickets were almost down to the price of two Cokes. And as rain approached both had steep drops on Friday and Saturday (to those who didn't want a night game it was all the more galling that the weather was fine both days).

We're in that phase right now where the prices for Wisconsin tickets have dropped $20-$30 as the people who found out they can't (or don't wish to) go are putting their tickets for sale, and the people who buy highlighter yellow sweatshirts from Dunhams are waiting to jump. Given neither team is supposed to lose in the next week, the prices are something of a bargain, not too far off face. I also don't think they're going to go up or down very much from here. For reference in 2016 Wisconsin tickets (for a 3:30 game) started at $115, peaked at $175 on 9/16, and were at $99 a day before the game. I would guess that's a good baseline.

Michigan State

Well, what do you think of Northwestern? If the Wildcats beat MSU the wheels start falling off on this season in East Lansing, and the last holdouts of those high ticket prices start releasing. Here's what happened to MSU tickets in 2016 as their season went belly up while Michigan's continued with playoff hopes:

The get-in price right now is $133 (down $12 just since I started writing this) but more interesting by far are all the seats going for about $175 in big groups. Even more interesting is there are a lot of seats you can find on just one service or another, meaning these are Spartan season ticket holders dumping their tickets to see if they can score a bit of profit.

We are not into takeover realm yet but I would expect $125 or $100 to be the landing point after this week. From there it's up to Michigan versus Wisconsin—a victory over the Badgers would put us exactly into 2016 realm. A loss will depress the M-MSU game. Also an MSU upset over Penn State in conjunction with an M loss to Wisconsin could pop Sparties back into their seats. That's a lot of volatility for a game three weeks away, but it's not hard to see a big bell curve for a $100-$125 ticket.

Penn State

The loss to Ohio State and the fact that we play every year has shooed away the nibbles we were getting from Penn State fans to travel en masse. This game does rely on them a bit because PSU fans really thought they and OSU were the two contenders this season. Now that they're mostly out of it, a possible night game at Michigan Stadium suddenly doesn't sound as appetizing. Tickets have more or less stopped at around $165, and there are few single seats. Penn State isn't going to create a scarcity market so I think this will stay around that $140 face value.

Rutgers

They put their lowest face value seats at $80 and there are a ton of them left from the official ticket office. They're already half that online.

Indiana

I would target this one if you want to do group because singles are starting at…

Ohio State

Jump if it hits $250, or if Ohio State loses.