COLUMBUS (WCMH) — A limited number of fans will be allowed to attend the College Football Playoff National Championship game next Monday.
According to Jerry Emig, an associate athletics director at The Ohio State University, the university will receive 3,750 tickets to the game, with those tickets distributed to coaches, players, students, and donors.
Emig added that it is his understanding that 16,000 fans will be allowed to attend the game, but a represented from the College Football Playoff clarified on Tuesday morning that attendance will be about 14,000.
As of this writing, the cheapest tickets available for resale through Ticketmaster were being sold for more than $1,700 apiece, including fees.
Fans, meanwhile, have begun taking advantage of travel packages offered by agencies.
Travel Partners in Dublin is offering a package for $3,599 per person, based on double occupancy. The package includes a round trip, non-stop charter flight from Columbus, two nights in a hotel, and a ticket to the game for a seat located in a suite, among other amenities.
“Last night was a good kick off,” said Derrick Lauth, from Travel Partners. “I don’t think a lot of people knew that we were in the office on a Sunday night. They weren’t expecting it, but as soon as the clock hit 9 a.m. this morning, the phones were ringing and the response has just been great so far, honestly.”
Lauth said the airplane which will be used for the charter flight will contain 175 seats, approximately 105 of which will be filled, as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“With our flight, since we chartered the whole plane — we bought the whole plane — we will leave the middle seats open,” he said.
Gerri Spitzer was one of the first Buckeye fans to purchase the package.
“I’m super excited,” Spitzer said. “I could go home and pack tonight and go to the airport and wait for the plane.”
Spitzer said she will follow all COVID-19 safety protocols while in Florida, which the travel agency is urging of all fans.
“We’re telling people, you’ve got to use common sense and, you know, wear your mask and just the kind of things that have been in place all along for all of us,” Lauth said.
The game between the Ohio State Buckeyes and the Alabama Crimson Tide is scheduled to begin at 8 p.m. next Monday.