AUSTIN, Texas — When the Texas Longhorns take on the Texas A&M Aggies on Saturday for the first time in 13 seasons, fans will pay a hefty price to go to the game as it will be the most expensive ticket of this college football season.
According to the ticket website TickPick, the average ticket cost to get into the game in College Station is $1,027, making it the most expensive college football game ever.
The cheapest ticket available on SeatGeek cost about $430, for one seat in the stadium’s upper level.
The record applies to both college football and NFL games. The previous record for ticket prices in the NFL regular season was when the Tampa Bay Buccaneers visited the New England Patriots in 2021 for Tom Brady’s first game back at Gillette Stadium since leaving the Patriots in 2019. Those tickets went for an average of $912.
With demand high and tickets scarce or hard to find, it creates an opportunity for scammers to capitalize.
“They’ll create fake websites, fake resale shops and fake tickets,” Jason Meza, the Senior Director Of Media Relations & Community Engagement for the Better Business Bureau, said. “If you buy a ticket without verifying it or with a reseller that’s unverified or just a nonlegitimate option, then there’s a chance you run the risk of not having that ticket valid.”
As Longhorn and Aggie fans scramble to secure tickets for this weekend’s rivalry matchup, authorities are warning of online scams and fraudsters who pose as legitimate sellers but deliver fake tickets or no tickets at all.
During the season, Texas A&M Police said they have dealt with multiple ticket scams that have cost fans thousands of dollars.
One such scam came just before the team’s game against Notre Dame in August. At the time, Texas A&M Police recommended fans purchase tickets from either the 12th Man Foundation or Seat Geek.
“We see reports of fake tickets for every year for the popular sporting events,” Meza said. “If they’re not buying through a legitimate seller or reseller, their risk increases dramatically going through a nonlegitimate means.”
The Better Business Bureau (BBB) recommends that people buy directly from the university, but when that’s no longer doable, many turn to third-party websites.
However, the BBB says that not all of these websites can be trusted.
Meza said people should be careful when purchasing tickets from third-party sellers.
“They can just create a ticket out of nowhere with a barcode that looks legit, but it’s copied and pasted,” Meza said. “They could be one character, number or letter off and you might not see. It’ll have an actual valid barcode, but it’s a ticket for a future event, so when you scan that, it checks out, but you missed the date.”
Scammers often use fake ads on platforms like Facebook Marketplace or Craigslist. Meza said buyers should be suspicious of deep discounts on tickets that usually command high prices or if there is any sense of immediate urgency to pay up.
“If a profile or an account is saying we can’t go last minute, we’re selling them, do your research, do your homework, and double check that that account is real. That social media profile could be a day old, which should indicate that it might not be a real person,” Meza said. “If they don’t have any pictures, it’s simply trying to create that demand and sense of urgency or panic so you might fall into that trap of offering money.”
The BBB also suggests using payment methods that come with protection, like credit cards. Usually, debit cards, wire transfers and cash transactions are riskier because getting your money back is harder.
“Peer-to-peer payment systems should only be used for family and friends, and when you go outside of that circle, you’re really risking it because it’s also a one-way ticket to your bank account since most of these are tied to a checking or banking account,” Meza said.
Meza said information obtained during the sale, like names, addresses and dates of birth, could lead to more severe consequences than financial loss, including identity theft.
“The ramifications are very severe,” Meza said. “There could be people mimicking you, creating new personas and profiles with your information, simply by needing your credit card details and date of birth. If you provide additional information on top of your payment information, that could lead to ID theft.”
Meza said if you’re using a third-party site, it’s best to use a reputable source like StubHub. But even when searching through a reputable source, watch out for copycats.
The BBB also advises you to look for a lock symbol in the web address. That indicates a secure purchasing system.
Meza also said to trust your gut. Don’t buy anything if you visit a website and something feels off.
If you fall victim to a scam, you should report it to law enforcement. Doing so increases the chances that those responsible will be caught, and it could prevent it from happening to someone else.