College football fans were treated to one of the greatest seasons in recent memory in 2023 – and the 2024 campaign should be even 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.
College Football Gameday Experience: The Average Cost of Attending a CFB Game
- The college football gameday costs of 100 schools compared
- You won't believe how much car parking costs to watch Penn State...
- Where has the cheapest tickets? And most importantly: where has the cheapest beers?
Michigan Wolverines fans may be the CFB National Champions, but where do they rank in our College Gameday Experience study? © Junfu Han / USA TODAY NETWORK
Listen
-15:44
CFB Gameday Costs 2024
College football fans would almost always prefer to be as close to the action as possible – but what does that cost?
As we did in 2023, we’ve broken it all down for you – and this time, we’ve gathered data on 100 of the top college football programs in the U.S. (up from 60). Our goal: to find out the most expensive and cheapest college football gameday experiences – tracking the costs of 2 tickets, 2 beers, 2 sodas and 2 hotdogs, plus parking.
Which stadiums have the cheapest suds? Where will you pay the most exorbitant amounts for hotdogs? And which venues actually offer free parking? (They’re out there!) We answer all of these questions and more.
We’ll also be looking into which colleges gameday costs have increased or decreased the most from year to year.
Key findings
- Average CFB gameday total costs for 2 people: $180.40
- 2024 gameday costs have increased by an average of 10.3% since 2023
- Florida state saw the biggest increase of 98.54% in costs
| Item | College (s) | Costs |
|---|---|---|
| Most Expensive Total Costs | UCLA | $298 |
| Least Expensive Total Costs | Liberty Flames / Northern Illinois Huskies | $84 |
| Most Expensive Tickets | Georgia | $200 |
| Least Expensive Tickets | North Texas | $42 |
| Most Expensive Beers | Stanford | $40 |
| Least Expensive Beers | Louisiana | $4 |
| Most Expensive Sodas | Stanford | $22 |
| Least Expensive Sodas | Missouri | $4 |
| Most Expensive Hotdogs | Florida State | $30 |
| Least Expensive Hotdogs | Clemson | $4 |
| Most Expensive Parking | Penn State | $60 |
| Least Expensive Parking: | Liberty / Northern Illinois /New Mexico State / Wyoming / Duke /Coastal Carolina / Florida / Old Dominion | $0 |
CFB gameday experience – average costs, and most expensive and cheapest
Average college gameday costs by item
| Item | 2024 |
|---|---|
| Cost of 2 tickets | $116.89 |
| Lot parking | $24.08 |
| Cost of 2 beers | $19.29 |
| Cost of 2 sodas | $11.65 |
| Cost of 2 hotdogs | $11.38 |
| Total cost | $180.40 |
Top 10 most expensive college gamedays
It’s unclear where the UCLA Bruins will start the year in the AP Top 25 college football preseason rankings – but they’ll kick off the 2024 campaign as the unchallenged No. 1 when it comes to having the most expensive gameday experience.
The Bruins ($298) vaulted seven spots from a year ago thanks largely to a spike in ticket prices. The newest members of the Big Ten Conference are celebrating their migration from the wreckage of the Pac-12 Conference by charging an additional $20 on average per ticket. That’s a big jump for a team coming off an 8-5 season and listed at +80000 to win the 2024 national championship.
The Florida State Seminoles ($272) assume the No. 2 spot thanks to a massive increase in ticket prices that was predictably met with ire from team supporters. The Seminoles ranked just inside the top-30 in average gameday cost a year ago.
Two West teams with smaller venues – Stanford ($266) and Colorado ($261) – have the third- and fourth-most expensive gameday bills, with the Buffaloes building off their wild popularity of a season ago. The Texas A&M Aggies ($257) rounds out the top five, boasting one of the most expensive tickets in the NCAA despite playing in a 102,733-seat stadium.
Top 10 cheapest college gamedays
The answer to the question “who offers the cheapest college gameday experience?” really comes down to whether you’re a drinker.
For those who prefer a dry college football experience, the Liberty Flames ($84) are here for you. The private Christian university located in Lynchburg, Va., does not serve beer at its games, but makes up for it by offering free parking and some of the most affordable non-alcoholic concessions in the nation.
For the beer-loving crowd, Northern Illinois ($84) wears the crown. Both teams offer identical gameday experiences in terms of cost, but NIU’s includes two beers, cheaper tickets and comparable concession costs while also providing free parking at the 30,998-seat Brigham Field at Huskie Stadium.
Teams playing in similarly intimate venues round out the top five most affordable gameday trips. North Texas ($92) charges $20 for parking but has the cheapest tickets of any team on the list. Jacksonville State ($98) and Ohio ($98) are the only other schools to come in under $100; JSU’s tickets are $4 cheaper, but it charges $4 more than Ohio for two beers.
CFB tickets – most expensive and cheapest tickets
Top 10 most expensive gameday tickets
Big programs carry big ticket prices – and it should come as no surprise to see which team is at the top of the list. Between their back-to-back titles in 2021-22 and being the favorite to win this year’s natty in our latest college football odds, the Georgia Bulldogs are full value for their $200 price tag for a pair of tickets to Sanford Stadium.
Two big-time Sunshine state programs come in second and fourth, with **Florida and Florida State** both boasting ticket prices north of $90 apiece. In between: The Buffaloes ($184), led by bombastic head coach Deion Sanders and guided on the field by his quarterback son Shedeur, who carries +4000 odds to win the Heisman Trophy.
The Bruins ($178) are fifth on the list as they look to fill the 92,542-seat Rose Bowl with regularity following their move to the Big Ten.
You might not have much luck saving money on tickets for these five teams, but if you’re keen on trying to make back some of the cost through some savvy wagering, our list of the top sportsbook promos will get you started.
Top 10 cheapest gameday tickets
Looking to snag two NCAA football tickets for less than $50? There’s only one place you’ll find an average ticket price that low – and it’s at DATCU Stadium (formerly Apogee Stadium) in Denton, Texas, home of the North Texas Mean Green.
You’ll find a host of other modest college football programs following behind, with Northern Illinois and Georgia State next at $50 for a two-ticket combo and Texas State ranked fourth at $56 for two passes to Bobcat Stadium.
The outlier here: Houston, which charges just $58 for a pair of tickets to the 40,000-seat TDECU Stadium. The Cougars play in the Big 12 Conference (making them the only Power 5 Conference participant on this list) and were nationally ranked as recently as 2021.
CFB gameday beers – most expensive and cheapest
Top 10 most expensive gameday beers
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 North Texas 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 USC ($36) and UCLA ($32) rounding out the top three. We keep the coastal trend alive with South Florida, North Carolina and Miami (FL) among a group of schools charging $30 for two beers.
Also in that tier: Colorado, which is looking to take full advantage of the explosion in popularity the team enjoyed in 2023.
Louisiana-Lafayette Ragin' Cajuns fans have a lot to celebrate about. Mainly the price of beer in their stadium © Stephen Lew-USA TODAY Sports
Top 10 cheapest gameday beers
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.
Louisiana came out swinging in a recent social media feud amongst the colleges to declare that they have Natural Light beer at their games costing just $2, making them the cheapest beers in the NCAA. Tulane and Louisville are tied second place, with two costing a combined $8 at both venues. Two esteemed members of the Mid-American Conference are next on the list, with the Ohio Bobcats and Toledo Rockets both selling a two-pack of beer for $10 apiece. Three other schools (Texas State, Central Florida, Coastal Carolina) charge $12 for a pair of beers.
CFB gameday hotdogs – most expensive and cheapest
Top 10 most expensive gameday hotdogs
Cheap eats can be understandably hard to find at some college football stadiums. But even the most ardent Florida State Seminoles supporter is likely to balk at paying a whopping $30 for two hotdogs. By comparison, you could purchase 15 hotdogs at the same cost from the NCAA football venue at the other end of the list.
Stanford ($22 for two hotdogs) is a distant second, in keeping with the tradition of Cardinal football being at the higher end of the overall gameday cost spectrum. Three teams are tied for third on the most expensive hotdog list, with western U.S. fixtures USC, Arizona and Oregon State all charging $20 for a pair of dogs.
Top 10 cheapest gameday hotdogs
As two of the most successful college football franchises of the past decade, both Clemson and Georgia could justify charging high prices for just about everything. That’s what makes their position at the top of the list of cheapest hotdogs such a triumph for hungry fans.
The Tigers have the most affordable hotdogs of any team on the list, coming in at just $4 for a pair. The Bulldogs are next at $5 for two hotdogs, helping mitigate (at least partially) the $200 price tag on a pair of game tickets.
A handful of teams sit tied for third at $6 for a two-pack of hotdogs, including the 2022-23 national runner-up TCU Horned Frogs, the Missouri Tigers, and the Louisville Cardinals (who, you might remember, also have the cheapest beers in the country).
CFB gameday costs inflation – 2023 vs 2024 YoY
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 is only slightly higher in 2024 than it was a year ago. 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.
| Average Costs | 2023 | 2024 | Difference | % Change |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2 tickets | $127.94 | $132.61 | $4.67 | 3.7% |
| Lot parking | $21.75 | $27.81 | $6.06 | 27.9% |
| 2 beers | $16.77 | $20.65 | $3.88 | 23.1% |
| 2 sodas | $10.11 | $12.43 | $2.32 | 23.0% |
| 2 hotdogs | $9.85 | $12.19 | $2.34 | 23.7% |
| Total cost | $183.85 | $202.79 | $18.94 | 10.3% |
Note: Only schools included in the 2023 edition of this feature are included in this breakdown.
Parking has seen the biggest overall jump in cost at 27.9%, with the average fee going from just under $22 to just under $28. Thankfully, the majority of NCAA football teams that offered free parking to fans last year will continue to do so in 2024.
As for concessions, it’s interesting to note that the year-over-year lift is virtually identical for beer, soda and hotdogs.
It all adds up to be an expense increase of 10.3% on average, translating to just under $19 more in expenses per gameday.
Top 10 gameday costs increases by college
Florida State was one of the hottest tickets in college football last season – and fans will literally be paying the price in 2024.
The Seminoles have earned the distinction as the NCAA football team with the highest year-over-year gameday price increase, having jacked up the cost to go to a game by nearly 100%. An two-person experience that cost just $137 all-in last year will now set fans back $272, thanks in large part to the team having gone 13-1 and earning a spot in the prestigious Orange Bowl last season.
The Arizona Wildcats (75%) boast the second-largest cost increase, with fans now having to spend $196 for a two-person trip (up from a considerably more modest $112 in 2023).
Penn State (73.3%) is the only other school to increase gameday costs by more than 70%, going from $131 for two people all the way up to $227. LSU (62.5%) and USC (60.2%) will be instituting cost increases of $80 and $71, respectively, this coming season.
Top 10 gameday cost decreases
Missouri loves company? It sure seems like it – and Faurot Field should see plenty of fan support in 2024 as the Tigers enter the new NCAA football campaign with the biggest percentage drop in gameday expenses from last year.
Mizzou will be treating fans to a 29.1% decline in costs, allowing two people to get the full gameday experience for $171 – a whopping $70 cheaper than in 2023.
The Duke Blue Devils are set to endear themselves to the masses at Wallace Wade Stadium, instituting a 26.7% drop in prices that will see two people go from spending $210 last season to getting the same experience for just $154 in 2024.
Oklahoma (25.2% decrease), West Virginia (22%) and Clemson (18.3%) are also joining the fray – and Oklahoma’s presence here is notable, as the Sooners had the most expensive college football gameday experience of 2023 at $276 for two people.
Full CFB costs ranking of 100 colleges
Methodology
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.
Oddspedia Insights Team
