Wisconsin-Alabama Tickets Aren't Selling Like Hotcakes

Wisconsin and Alabama play at Jerryworld this Saturday. Aside from Jim Harbaugh’s debut for Michigan-Utah, it’s probably the most marquee matchup on the college football calendar this weekend. But, people aren’t clamoring to go see it live:

They're having trouble selling tix to the #ALAvsWIS game on Saturday. Only around 40k sold as of yesterday. Very few bought by Badger fans.
— Gil Brandt (@Gil_Brandt) September 2, 2015

Capacity at the stadium is 80,000. Tickets are down to as low as $54 to get into the building, and will probably drop even lower. As a representative sample of this non-traveling Badger fan demographic, here’s why this is the case:

Wisconsin is an 11-point underdog. This is probably the most salient reason. Badger football fans have had to endure a lot of heartbreak on the road in recent memory. We were savagely beaten across the face with a hammer by Ohio State in the Big Ten Championship game, relinquished a 17-point second half lead LSU in Houston in devastating fashion, and have three Rose Bowl losses since Barry Alvarez retired. Losing on the road: Not fun!
Dallas is a meh city to travel to: It’s not the worst city by any stretch of the imagination, but it’s also not a place where many would choose to go unless it was for business, family, or sports. No one from out of town would clamor to throw his bachelor’s party there. Houston was like that last year. Fool me once, etc. If this game were somewhere like Austin or New Orleans, we’d be more likely to make the trip even with the threat of a resounding loss.
Jerryworld is majestic, but it’s also sterile: I saw the Packers win the Super Bowl there with my Dad and brother, and it’s one of my most cherished memories, but I’d also be okay if I never went in the building again. At least for that game, the tony architecture and upperclass clientele combined for a dearth of energy. It’s also an inconvenient commute from downtown, which would be hell late at night when the game ends. And, when the most compelling aspect of a stadium is its television, why not just watch the game on TV?

There were obviously factors that made my group of friends consider going. The tailgate would be glorious. Camaraderie amongst fellow fans is quadrupled on the road. The mix of two totally different fan base cultures is always a lot of fun. Winning — and I’ve been talking myself into the idea that the Badgers are gonna! — would be the fucking best.

But, the cost outweighed the good this time, and my group is traveling to watch the game together in Miami (not that you especially care, but airfare was cheap and we’re staying with a friend who friend lives there), where winning will still be quite enjoyable, but a loss wouldn’t ruin the weekend.