Deseret News found that a family planning a college football game in Utah can face sharply different ticket bills depending on the opponent. The cheapest option in the comparison starts at $38 for The University of Utah’s Sept. 3 home opener against the Idaho Vandals, while BYU’s October game against Notre Dame starts around $600.
Those prices come from SeatGeek listings and from a new Deseret News/Hinckley Institute of Politics poll that asked 789 Utah registered voters about college football. Among the 56% who said they are avid or casual fans, nearly one-third said it is not affordable to take their family to a game.
Utah and BYU prices
The pricing spread is widest at the top of the market. BYU’s cheapest seat for its November game against Utah in Salt Lake City starts at $331, and its season opener against the Utah Tech Trailblazers starts at $88 per ticket. Utah State has the lowest ticket prices among the three Football Bowl Subdivision schools in Utah, and a family of four can attend a Utah State game for roughly half the cost of a Utah game and one-third the cost of a BYU game against a quality opponent.
Utah and BYU use variable pricing based on expected demand, the opponent, day of week and time of year. That helps explain why the same state can produce a $38 opener and a $600 matchup, with Utah in Salt Lake City in one range and BYU in Provo in October in another.
Poll results on affordability
The poll separated how fans felt about cost. Nearly another third of fans said game costs are slightly affordable, about one-fifth said a college football game is moderately affordable, and 1 in 10 said it is very affordable.
Age also changed the answer. About 4 in 10 people over age 45 said tickets are not at all affordable, while only 10% of people aged 45-64 and 5% of people aged 65 and older said tickets are very affordable. Nearly 20% of football fans aged 18-34 said prices are very affordable.
What fans face next
The first test of those price gaps comes Sept. 3, when The University of Utah opens at home against the Idaho Vandals. After that, Notre Dame comes to BYU in Provo in October, and BYU plays Utah in Salt Lake City in November, giving fans three very different price points before the season turns to its biggest games.
The numbers leave a simple choice for families: the lowest-priced games stay within reach for some, but the demand-driven matchups can push a night out into a far costlier range.
