I’m not going to beat around the bush, every Spartan fan out there right now is bitter about the outcomes of the BCS selections and rankings. So-no need to rehash. Instead of complaining about playing in the Outback Bowl, I’ll focus on a bigger issue MSU could potentially face; getting fans to the game.
The Outback Bowl is played in Tampa, Florida, which could be attractive to students and fans during the cold December month we have in Michigan, but my fear is the bitterness of the Outback Bowl selection will steer ticket buyers away.
Quick recap-MSU lost to Wisconsin in the Inaugural Big Ten Championship Game, giving us our third loss. This is proof that the new championship game is truly a blessing and a curse. If we would have won, we would likely be playing in the Rose Bowl, one of the most sought after BCS bowl games.
But we’re not. And people are upset. Especially since many thought we should have received the bid for the Rose Bowl last year, a second year of missing out was a low blow to most Spartans.
Anyway-because of the bitterness regarding the BCS selections, I have my doubts about MSU’s ability to sell tickets to the Outback Bowl, especially for students with limited funds.
The Outback bowl tickets are selling for $75 in the upper level on the end zone. That’s a lot of cash for a team that everyone thinks should have a different bowl game.
Talk from students who attended the Big Ten Championship Game said if MSU was winning substantially by half time, Rose Bowl tickets would have sold out that night. Now we are four days past that game, the bowl game tickets have been on sale, and they have not yet sold out.
The Spartans are allotted 11, 500 tickets in the MSU block according to http://www.msuspartans.com, selling between $75 and $160.
It is unclear how many tickets have been sold so far, but in my opinion it’s not looking good. It seems it will be hard for MSU to sell out over 11,000 seats if they haven’t had an enthusiastic student response so far.
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