This fall, tens of thousands of Auburn fans and alumni will pack Jordan-Hare Stadium to see their team compete, and they'll gladly pay exorbitant ticket prices to do so.
Auburn has charged its football fans some of the most expensive admission fees in the SEC since winning the 2010 BCS National Championship, and ticket prices only appear to be on the rise.
Last year, Auburn put $80 price tags on tickets to home football games against Florida and Alabama and charged $70 at face value to see contests against Mississippi State and Ole Miss.
Just for the sake of comparison, LSU charged its fans $50 at face value last fall to see its No. 1-ranked Bengal Tigers take on then No. 3 Arkansas. Auburn also charged $50 for a game the week before against FCS opponent Samford on homecoming.
This year, Auburn students are feeling the effects of raised prices as well, as the cost of student season tickets reaches $140.
It hardly even feels like a discount when you do the math, especially in 2012. This year, the Alabama game is off the home schedule and will be played away, and a neutral-site game against Clemson in the Georgia Dome leaves Auburn with seven home games instead of the usual eight. Of those seven home games, three are against cupcakes, and those tickets will be scalped for next to nothing outside of the stadium on game day.
Meanwhile, football is the only sport at Auburn that the athletic department charges its students for tickets. Three others designate separate student sections--men's basketball, women's basketball and gymnastics-- but, like every other sport except football, admission is free with an Auburn Ignited card.
Still, there's a huge desire out there for student football tickets-- so much so that the University can't match it. Season tickets are a big deal for every student that has the opportunity to order them each summer, and they're an even bigger deal to the underclassmen that miss out on them in their limited quantity.
That's because student tickets are still a good deal, even if the schedule is skin-and-bones and the outlook for this year's team is bleak.
The system may not be perfect, and the raised price may not offer the same value as before, but when it comes to SEC football at its finest, you're still going to get the biggest bang for your buck.
Student tickets may not be as cheap as they used to be, but it's better than having to fork over for tickets at face value.
At Auburn, student tickets are still the best deal around. You just have to pay a lot in tuition to get them.
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