College football fans were treated to one of the greatest seasons in recent memory in 2024 – and those campaigns just keep getting better.
Between major programs switching conferences, new Heisman Trophy candidates emerging and several high-profile teams listed as early challengers for the national championship, there has never been a better time to be a college football supporter.
"...even SEC football powerhouses like Alabama have seen live attendance drop in recent years."
The following calculations are based on 2025 prices.
| Item | College (s) | Costs |
|---|---|---|
| Most Expensive Total Costs |
 Colorado |
$302 |
| Least Expensive Total Costs |
 Western Kentucky |
$84 |
| Most Expensive Tickets |
Colorado |
$228 |
| Least Expensive Tickets |
 Marshall South Florida Western Kentucky |
$42 |
| Most Expensive Beers |  Stanford |
$40 |
| Least Expensive Beers |  Tulane |
$6 |
| Most Expensive Sodas | Stanford |
$22 |
| Least Expensive Sodas |  Coastal Carolina |
$0 |
| Most Expensive Hotdogs |
 Florida State |
$30 |
| Least Expensive Hotdogs |
Coastal Carolina |
$0 |
| Most Expensive Parking |
Coastal Carolina |
$52 |
| Least Expensive Parking |
 New Mexico State Old Dominion Wyoming |
$0 |
Despite significant increases from a handful of teams at the top end of the price spectrum, the average ticket price for an NCAA football game actually drops compared to the average price in 2024. And that’s about the only good news when it comes to how much money you’ll spend to attend at a college football gameday this year.
| Cost | 2025 | 2024 | % Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2 tickets | $113.63 | $116.89 | -2.7% |
| 2 beers* | $20.70 | $19.43 | +3.5% |
| 2 sodas | $12.43 | $11.65 | +5.6% |
| 2 hotdogs | $12.24 | $11.38 | +6.6% |
| Parking | $28.68 | $24.15 | +18.7% |
| Total cost** | $184.67 | $179.87 | +2.5% |
* & **: several schools do not have the sale of alcohol at their stadium, therefore, hence why the average total costs is not sum of all the averages you read above.
The average cost of two college football game tickets dropped for the first time since we started our annual survey – dropping just over $3 for the pair across the 100 schools we reviewed.
For the second year in a row, parking has seen the biggest overall jump in cost at 18.7%, with the average fee going from just under $24.15 to $29.48. Thankfully, the majority of NCAA football teams that offered free parking to fans last year will continue to do so in 2025.
As for concessions, it’s interesting to note that the year-over-year lift is within one percentage of each other for soda and hotdogs.
It all adds up to be an expense increase of 2.5% on average, translating to just almost four and half bucks more in expenses per gameday.
We asked Robert Boland, a Shumaker Law Firm Partner in Sports Law a former NFL agent and has represented both students and universities in NIL cases to give us his insights into why the college gameday experience is changing.
“…the big change for 2025 is that schools can share up to 20.5 million dollars of revenue with their so-called student-athletes.” Robert continued, “This is big change bypassing or eliminating third party collectives, but it puts extraordinary pressure on all but the top earning programs to find this $20.5 million dollars which to share.”
When asked about how increasing expenses are affecting fan behavior, Boland explained how rising costs may be leading to a reduction in die-hard fans who follow a single school at every game:
“Fans today are increasingly less the very dedicated fans of a single team or school, although there remain enough of these kinds fans to fill most stadiums and keep viewership for the biggest games near the 10 million viewers mark- the benchmark for a big game.
“But even SEC football powerhouses like Alabama have seen live attendance drop in recent years.”
Despite finishing outside the College Football playoffs and losing the Alamo Bowl in 2024, Colorado’s pricing increased year-on-year to become the most expensive Saturday afternoon in College Football at $302 by 2025.
Shedeur Sanders and Travis Hunter made them must-watch TV in 2024, and fans have been hoping for more drama ever since.
The SEC is unenviably represented well in the most expensive college gamedays list: five of the top ten play in the South Eastern Conference (Alabama, Texas, Georgia, South Carolina and Texas A&M) – understandable considering 17 of the last 20 CFB National Championships were won by teams from the highest profile conference in the sport.
UCLA were the most expensive team in 2024, but large increases in costs from other teams combined with a nominal 4.9% price drop for Bruins fans sees them drop from 1 to 6 in our list of the most expensive college football gamedays.
The answer to the question “who offers the cheapest college gameday experience?” really comes down to whether you’re a drinker.
Western Kentucky saw a huge drop in the cost of their college gameday experience – a -69% decrease year on year. The Hilltoppers dropped from 75 to 100 of 100 in our rankings, making their gameday the cheapest of every one surveyed.
Other candidates for the cheapest college football game day experience are repeat heroes from years past: 99th ranked Arkansas State were 95th in 2024, Ohio moved from 97 to 98, and North Texas switched places with them.
Coach Prime and the Colorado Buffaloes top the list of the most expensive gameday tickets in college football at $228 for two tickets, over twice the average of the colleges surveyed.
Again, the SEC features heavily, though it could be argued fans are paying for the quality of the product on-field over anything else.
Fans of Utah, Kansas and North Carolina should be particularly frustrated with the cost of their college football tickets: none of their teams were in the College Football rankings at the end of the 2024 season, with a combined record of 16-21.
Last year the North Texas Mean Green were the only team offering two college football tickets for less than $50.
Now they’re fifth on the list of the cheapest college football gameday tickets, with three teams offering two seats for a very reasonable $42 a pair – Western Kentucky, Marshall, and South Florida.
There are some real surprises in this list compared to 2024 when only one Power-Five conference team appeared in the list of cheapest gameday tickets: Wake Forest, Illinois, Oregon State and Syracuse all show up in 2025, offering the opportunity to see some good quality football at reasonable prices.
Here’s a little perspective on the chasm between the higher-tier NCAA football teams and those lower down the pecking order: Two beers at a Stanford Cardinal home game ($40 total) cost just $2 less than two tickets to a Western Kentucky, Marshall or South Florida home game.
That’s not the only interesting wrinkle to come out of our research. There’s a definite geographical theme to the top of this list, with three California-based teams in the top five: Stanford, UCLA and USC.
The average price of beer at the 100 schools surveyed was $20.70 – just over half the cost at the most expensive school.
Whether you’re hoping to celebrate with suds or looking to drown your sorrows, access to affordable beer at any sporting event is critical. And the schools on this list do it right.
In 2025, Tulane Green Wave take the title of the cheapest beer in college football at an incredible $6 for two beers.
Wow.
Tulane is the only school offering to fill both your hands with suds for less than a ten-spot: Louisville ($10), Fresno State ($12), Western Kentucky and North Texas (both $14) round out the top five in what may be the greatest accolade in college football.
You can usually define how much the American population loves something by the number of nicknames it has.
Franks, weenies, links, footlongs, bangers, glizzies…
We love hotdogs, and they’re one of the items with the widest variation in cost across the college football landscape.
Appalachian State fans have more than a 5-6 record in 2024 to be upset about: their premium ‘Loaded Hot Dogs’ are the most expensive in CFB at $24 for two. In their defense: this includes a quarter-pound hot dog with chili, cheese, onions + chips, which sounds incredible. App State do also offer two regular ‘Stadium Dogs’ for $10.
Stanford fall second at $22 for a pair, ahead of Oregon State and Texas A&M who both want an Andrew Jackson for two hotdogs.
Coastal Carolina just broke the college football internet. The Chanticleers are offering free hotdogs for the 2025 season.
That turquoise field, that amazing mascot, and now this?! Did we just get a new favorite football team?
The rest of the top five is dominated by teams offering two dogs for a still-very reasonable $6 – Georgia, UNLV, Nebraska and Clemson all matched this great deal.
The average college football hotdogs are available for $12.24 for two.
Last year saw Florida State jack up the cost to go to a game by nearly 100%. An two-person experience that cost just $137 all-in in 2023 and moved to an incredible $272.
Conference USA school, Liberty hasn’t repeated the Seminoles’ increase, but they’ve come close. Moving from $84 in 2024 to $154 in 2025 for a year-on-year increase of 83.3%.
Power Five conference team, Northwestern came a close second, increasing their combined prices by 80.5%.
Former NFL agent and NIL expert, Robert Boland predicts the current trend for rising prices will continue: “The press for topline revenue for both NFL and colleges demands more and more revenue annually. It will continue to get more expensive for the foreseeable future without a reset.”
Overall the average prices for the 100 schools surveyed was up +2.5%, just over the Consumer Price Index (CPI) of 2.4%.
Go Hilltoppers!
Western Kentucky fans will see their Saturdays cost 40.8% less in 2025 as college gameday experiences drops from $142 to $84.
Syracuse Orange fans at the Carrier Dome will also see big drops in costs, with -34.7% reduction in costs, down to $147 for 2025.
Fans of the ACC may be the big winners in the College Gameday Cost Index: five of the 18 Atlantic Coast Conference teams are among the top 10 college gameday cost decreases – Pitt, Miami (FL), Stanford, Syracuse and Wake Forest lowered their prices by an average of 29.8%.
The cost of attending a college football game has spiked 12.4% over the last two years. The average game-day experience across the same 64 teams has jumped from $183.90 to $206.70. While the pace of growth slowed slightly in 2025 and ticket prices steadied, the main budget killer is increasingly the stadium extras, particularly parking and beverages.
The Oddspedia team of researchers checked over 500 sources for information on the prices of tickets, parking, beers, sodas and hotdogs for 100 of the top NCAA Division 1 football programs across the United States. This data was compiled and colleges were compared in each category.
Get an edge with our platform. Compare Canada’s best betting sites instantly and discover the most valuable betting offers on the market. Understand every promotion with our in-depth reviews before you commit. Then, grab a verified bet365 bonus code, or the newest BC Game bonus code to supercharge your start. We combine transparent analysis with live odds comparison, equipping you to pick the right bookmaker and maximize your potential returns.
Maryland's Mike Locksley was let go on October 21. Dave Aranda, Dave Doeren, and now Mike Norvell have also been let go. The next college football coach to be fired odds have a new favorite.
Explore the latest Doak Walker Award odds for the 2026 college football season, featuring the top favorites, sleeper picks, betting trends, past winners, and expert predictions for the nation's best running back.
We’ve analyzed the top receivers in college football and assessed their likelihood to win the Fred Biletnikoff award - given annually to the best wide receiver in CFB. Why is Jeremiah Smith the favorite? Can anybody overtake Smith?
Davey O'Brien Award odds for 2026 feature CJ Carr, Arch Manning and Dante Moore among the favorites. See the latest NCAA QB award odds, sleepers and predictions.
Breaking down Heisman Trophy odds for the 2026 college football season, including leading quarterbacks, breakout candidates, and shifting betting markets as performances and narratives evolve now.
2026 CFP projections feature Notre Dame, Miami and Texas as locks, with Alabama, Ole Miss and Boise State on the bubble. See our College Football Playoff bracket, CFP odds and longshot pick.
Ohio State, Georgia, Notre Dame, and Miami headline the latest NCAAF championship odds for the 2026 season. We break down the top contenders, sleeper picks, value bets, and where the best College Football Playoff futures stand right now.
College football is a sport rooted in tradition and owns a complex structure that can be daunting for even the most seasoned fan.
For the NFL's greatest-ever head coach, things looked blue early in the season. Tar Heel Blue. But Belichick might have started to turn things around.
As the college football season heats up, fans and bettors are closely watching college football win totals and analyzing college football total odds. These projections offer valuable insights into team performance and potential outcomes for the year. Let's look at some top-ranked teams and their college football projected win totals.
Where is the winningest place in America? Just how many winning athletes come from your hometown? Which US state is the birthplace of champions?
The short answer is yes! If you're fine with that, no need to continue. But for those of you who may disagree, we'll explain.
