Michigan State fans took advantage of Stanford promo for Rose Bowl tickets

Michigan State will be playing in the “Grandaddy of them all” for the first time since 1988, so their fans are understandably pretty stoked. The Spartans athletic department received more than 31,000 requests for Rose Bowl tickets and were unable to fulfill them all. Because of the high demand and low supply, Michigan State fans had to look elsewhere to get tickets to the big Jan. 1 game against Stanford. And they pulled a fast one on the Cardinal.

Last week, Stanford gave non-season ticket holders the opportunity to purchase up to four tickets to the Rose Bowl at face value if they put down a $100 deposit for 2014 season tickets. Spartans fans found out about the promo and took advantage of it, figuring the $100 deposit was chump change for the opportunity to buy the tickets at face value for $185 apiece, compared to around $1,000 through brokers. Stanford quickly upped the deposit amount to $200.

These types of tickets available to the public sold out in four minutes last week and accounted for 1,600 tickets sold of Stanford’s allotment. The majority of Stanford’s allotment of tickets were purchased by Stanford season-ticket holders and students, but a small portion was purchased by savvy Spartans fans.

Forbes reported last week that the average ticket price for the upcoming Rose Bowl game is $901. That’s just absurd.

H/T LA Times via LBS tipster Sam