By Daily Mail (U.S.) | Created at 2024-11-28 18:31:54 | Updated at 2024-11-28 20:28:50
2 hours ago
After a 13-year hiatus, the biggest rivalry game in Texas is back - bringing with it the most expensive tickets in college football history.
Tickets for the Texas vs. Texas A&M game set for Saturday peaked at $20,000, according to local reports, but even at an average of $1,072 each, they're still the costliest prices for a college game ever.
Admissions to the highly-anticipated show-down are also more expensive than the average price of any regular-season NFL game in history.
The cheapest tickets started at $562, according to StubHub.
The game and rivalry runs deep in the Lone Star State, with the first face-off between the universities dating back to 1894 and eventually becoming a Thanksgiving tradition.
In 2011, the foes played their last game when A&M left the Big 12 Conference both teams were a part of at the time.
The Aggies joined the Southeastern Conference, (SEC) which prevented the match up.
However, the Longhorns are now also part of the SEC, making the game possible again, although it has moved to Saturday instead of it usually slot on the turkey holiday.
Texas Longhorns cornerback Jelani McDonald (25) celebrates an interception against the Kentucky Wildcats during the second quarter at Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium Nov. 23
Adding to the hype, the winner of the game could position themselves to play in the SEC championship in Atlanta.
'Now that it's game day, prime time, for a shot in Atlanta, the ticket prices probably match the demand to get in the building,' A&M coach Mike Elko told reporters earlier this week.
'I expect our guys, I know our 12th Man will show up. I know they'll hold on to those tickets regardless of what anybody asks for, that we'll protect and that we'll fill this place with Aggies.'
Students at A&M, where kickoff is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. at Kyle Field, get free tickets.
School officials and fans have begged the co-eds not to sell their tickets to Longhorns fans-- a nightmare scenario in this bitter feud.
'Ticket prices are absolutely insane,' Brendan Brimage, a Texas A&M student the Austin Fox station.
Ambulances were called out to the football stadium nine times on Nov. 20 as tickets were released to undergrads and people were crushed in the mayhem, the Houston Chronicle reported.
'I couldn't move my arms,' senior Aubrey Hollas told the paper.
Texas A&M's Shemar Stewart (4) celebrates a missed field goal during the second half of an NCAA college football game against Auburn, Saturday, Nov. 23
'At some point, I was able to get it [my phone] out. I was texting my mom, and I was telling her how bad it was. She asked me if she should call the police, and I said "Yes."'
'I was fine at the time. I could breathe. But I was thinking of the people around me who could've had panic attacks or who couldn't breathe: they would have no way of being able to get out of that crowd.'
With tragedy averted, the demand for entry to the game means many wanting to witness state history will be priced out and forced to watch on TV.
'My friend, a close friend of mine that went to A&M, we were going to go together, and we were like, It is not worth it; that's a lot of money to spend on one game,' Longhorns fan Juan Meraz told Fox 7.
