ACC championship tickets were on sale for $17,000. Now only a limited group can buy them
The ACC championship football game between Clemson and Notre Dame is scheduled for Dec. 19 in Charlotte. If history repeats itself, the game will be a thrilling one; No. 3 ranked Clemson is seeking to avenge itself from a double-overtime loss in November to the No. 2 ranked Fighting Irish for the conference title.
But don’t expect thousands of fans to storm the field after the matchup. Only 5,240 fans (seven percent capacity of Bank of America Stadium’s capacity) will be allowed to attend, in accordance with North Carolina’s state and local regulations. There were 11,000 fans who attended the game at Notre Dame’s stadium earlier this year.
As of Thursday, tickets to the championship are being distributed exclusively through the participating schools, according to the ACC, and their value is steep. Tickets were previously selling for more than $17,000 per seat on StubHub and $9,600 at minimum last Sunday. On Wednesday, the minimum price for a single ticket dropped to roughly $1,900 on the website.
The ACC released an update on its ticketing procedures Wednesday, saying that fans will receive an automatic refund for tickets purchased through a public channel. Tickets for the game went on sale through the ACC’s official ticketing partner, Ticketmaster, in the fall before the conference knew what state regulations would be in place at the time of the championship, or which teams would be in the game.
Sites like StubHub, Vivid Seats and SeatGeek are considered third-party sellers for the event, while Ticketmaster is the conference’s official ticketing partner. As of Thursday, however, all sites posted a similar message: “No tickets available.”
The only tickets available are the 5,240 allotted, split between Clemson and Notre Dame. Additionally, limited suites at Bank of America Stadium will be open for the event, as they have been for Carolina Panthers games this season.
Clemson has been allocated approximately 2,000 tickets for the game, according to a university spokesperson. Clemson student-athletes and staff will have access to tickets for their families first. The university said it plans to have a limited number (likely 50-75) tickets available for Clemson students, and around 1,000 to be sold to IPTAY donors for $55-230, based on location.
The Panthers’ ticketing office has no discretion in ticket sales or distribution for the event, but the protocols at Bank of America Stadium will be the same for NFL games there: Mandatory face coverings required at all times, except while actively eating and drinking in seats, physically distanced and grouped seating and committing to a “Fan Health Promise.”
For the limited fans able to snag tickets who might be considering reselling them for a jaw-dropping price, think carefully. In the fine print of the ACC’s Fan Health Promise lies another contract:
“To help maintain physical distancing guidelines, ticket-holders must also agree that they will not sell, transfer or otherwise provide any of their game tickets to anyone other than family with whom they have been sheltering (or other trusted acquaintances), unless selling, transferring or otherwise providing all such tickets (i.e., the full pod of tickets) to one party.”
This story was originally published December 10, 2020 at 6:30 PM with the headline "ACC championship tickets were on sale for $17,000. Now only a limited group can buy them."
