Clemson discounts Orange Bowl tickets in sellout bid

If a team thought getting to a bowl game was the hurdle of the college football season, they certainly never talked to their ticketing office. For January’s upcoming Discover Orange Bowl at Miami’s Sun Life Stadium, the Ohio State Buckeyes and Clemson Tigers will be battling it out for more than a trophy full of citrus.

Each has 17,500 tickets to sell by kickoff at 8 p.m. Jan. 3. The game can be viewed at home on ESPN.

The Dec. 8 announcement of the two teams gave the Orange Bowl Committee a little less than a month to get ready for a wave of scarlet and orange. For Clemson, the hope is that they do better this year selling tickets than for the 2012 game, when the school did not sell its ticket allotment, said Joe Galbraith, Clemson’s assistant athletic director for communications.

“Since teams were announced, we’re well above the pace we were two years ago,” Mr. Galbraith said. Part of that is due to the different ticket deals, same-day air deals and partnerships with travel partners Clemson is offering. Students heading from the South Carolina campus to Miami can enjoy discounted tickets and a bus ride.

Clemson is offering a $50 ticket through its ticket office on tickets that would normally cost $75 to $90, Mr. Galbraith said. To sweeten the deal, any package of four or more tickets purchased through Clemson’s ticket office will include two complimentary passes to the tailgate party and a parking pass. Additionally, all ticket orders processed through Clemson’s athletic ticket office will be free of taxes.

Ohio State is offering three-day ticket and accommodation packages, ranging from $2,319 to $729 depending on air or land travel and occupancy. The Buckeyes are also kicking off the festivities on Thursday, with a free Buckeye Bash starting at 2 p.m. in Bayfront Park.

After the game, Buckeyes can head to the Hard Rock Cafe Miami for wings, beer and shot deals.

The two schools have additional competition when it comes to tickets sales: third-party ticket vendors.

“We’re trying to compete with the third-party marketplace and brainstorm ideas on how we can do that. The factors we had a hard time competing with were price, so the two things we can offer that the third party couldn’t are [even lower prices] and amenities,” Mr. Galbraith said.

Because Clemson is about an 11-hour drive from Miami, Floridians can expect to see a lot of orange driving down south in the beginning of January.

“We have a significant amount of alumni within a 200 mile radius of Miami,” Mr. Galbraith said.

“We want the stadium to be full of orange,” he said. “We want the Orange Bowl to see how passionate and supportive the Clemson fan base is, and have everyone at home see that as well.”