Close to 30,000 Clemson fans heading to Bay Area

SAN JOSE, Calif. — Granted the 2019 College Football Playoff National Championship Game does not seem to be doing too well in terms of ticket sales for Monday’s matchup between No. 1 Alabama vs. No. 2 Clemson at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, Calif., but that has nothing to do with Clemson fans at least.

Thursday, Clemson fans started to flood the airport in Charlotte as they flew out to the San Francisco Bay Area a little early. Those wearing the orange and white are expected to continue to fly out to San Francisco over the next couple of days.

In all, Clemson is estimating around 30,000 fans will come cheer on their Tigers Monday night. It marks Clemson’s third appearance in the championship game in the last four years and Clemson fans are eager to see if their Tigers can bring home the national championship for a second time in three seaons.

Clemson officially sold out its allotted 20,000 tickets to the game this past Monday. Several fans took to StubHub and TicketMaster to buy their tickets. Levi’s Stadium officially sits 68,500 fans.

Reports have surfaced in the last couple of days that secondary tickets can be purchased at $138. Though Alabama sold all of its allotted 20,000 tickets as well, Monday’s championship game is not expected to meet full capacity.

Many believe the Tigers’ and Crimson Tide’s matchup for a fourth straight year in the College Football Playoff and in the title game for the third time in those four years is causing fatigue amongst both fan bases and college football.

They’re also saying the 2,500 miles between Tuscaloosa and Clemson to the Bay Area has also hurt ticket sales. The average ticket price for this year’s game is $1,043, down from $1,262 average from the 2017 Clemson-Alabama game in Tampa, Fla.