Calling All College Football Fans: Apply to be the first CheapTickets Tailgate Tourist

CHICAGO, Aug. 15, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- It's August, which means football fans everywhere are stocking their coolers, firing up the grill and dusting off their favorite team tees and memorabilia. It's officially football season again in America, and this year CheapTickets is sending one fan on the ultimate trip as the first Tailgate Tourist.

The CheapTickets Tailgate Tourist will travel to five NCAA Division I matchups this season to experience game day traditions and festivities first-hand in some of the greatest college football towns across the country. And because no tailgater should travel alone, they'll get to bring along a BFF for the trip. The only requirements? Enjoy the local tailgate cuisine, play some competitive rounds of corn hole and cheer for the home team.

"Tailgating culture is steeped in team pride and tradition, and there's no better way to experience it than traveling to some of the best college campuses and stadiums across the nation," said Justine McDonald, Senior Brand Manager at CheapTickets. "Our Tailgate Tourist will join 35% of fans who said they plan to travel for a college football game this year¹. The biggest question will be who they bring with them. Most fans in our Tailgate Travel survey said they plan to travel with their significant other (44%) or a friend (37%)."

Football and tailgate fanatics have from August 15 – August 30, 2019 to enter at CheapTickets.com/tailgate-tourist by answering two very important questions: "Which college football city do you most want to tailgate in this season?" And "What is your favorite tailgate dish?" The chosen tourist will win travel for two to five college football cities, plus a $1500 ticket stipend to attend the following games²:

Tailgate Travel Index
CheapTickets is also releasing its first ever Tailgate Travel Index to help fans experience the best of college football season on a budget. The travel site analyzed airfare, hotel and car rental prices for travel August – December 2019 to pinpoint the cheapest games to travel to by conference. During regular season play, fans can save the most when they book travel to the following games³: ACC - Duke at North Carolina on October 26; PAC12 – UCLA at Utah on November 16; BIG12 - Kansas State at Kansas on November 2; BIG10 - Michigan at Maryland on November 2; SEC - Auburn at LSU on October 26.

"Fans in the ACC are seeing some of the lowest travel prices with average airfare and hotel rates tracking at $200 or less," said McDonald. "SEC fans on the other hand will pay the most to see their teams play away games this season. If you do travel, look at Georgia home games as flights to Atlanta are tracking the cheapest so far."

The travel and event tickets site also identified games where fans will pay the most to see their teams face off. Flights to see Texas A&M at LSU in New Orleans on November 30, USC at Notre Dame in South Bend on October 12 and Iowa at Nebraska in Lincoln on November 29 are tracking anywhere from $700 to $1,000 or more on average⁴. Tickets to some of the top matchups are also running high. The average listed ticket price on CheapTickets to see Notre Dame at Georgia is more than $1,000. Tickets to Georgia at Florida and LSU at Texas are $600 or more on average⁵.

CheapTickets Tailgate Travel Survey
CheapTickets surveyed 2,000 college football fans across the nation to understand their tailgate and game day travel preferences. The games fans are most excited to tailgate for this year are Notre Dame at Georgia on August 31 (32%) and Michigan State at Ohio State on October 5 (29%). When asked which college coach they'd most like to tailgate with, respondents were split between Clemson's Dabo Swinney and Alabama's Nick Saban (24%). However, fans across the nation agreed on one thing: corn hole is the top tailgate game of choice (57%).

Most football fans are traveling on a budget this season. More than two-thirds (69%) said they'll spend between $100-$300 to see their teams face off and nearly half (48%) plan to drive to save on travel costs.

Save on Tailgate Travel this Season
CheapTickets is offering fans two ways to save on football tickets and travel this season. Use promo code TICKETS10⁶ to save 10% off tickets throughout football season and TAILGATE16 to save 16% off hotels from August 13 – November 30, 2019⁷.

For tickets to all the big games and discounts on travel to college towns everywhere, like hotels under $49 and flights for less than $199, visit CheapTickets.com/tailgate-tourist. For updates on the Tailgate Tourist contest, follow @CheapTickets on Twitter and Instagram.

¹ Report based on a Google Consumer online survey conducted July 31-August 5, 2019 among 2,000 U.S. adults.
² See https://cheaptickets-tailgate-tourist.appsrvr.io/cCQb1L for complete list of terms and conditions for Tailgate Tourist contest.
³ Travel cost based on average roundtrip ticket price and average hotel daily rate on CheapTickets.com for a 3-day / 2-night trip taken between August 23 – Dec 15, 2019.
⁴ Travel cost based on average roundtrip ticket price on CheapTickets.com arriving one day before game day and departing one day after.
⁵ Ticket costs are based on the average price listed on CheapTickets.com as of August 8, 2019.  As a resale marketplace prices may be above or below face value.
⁶ Visit CheapTickets.com/tailgate-tourist for complete list of terms and conditions.
⁷ Visit CheapTickets.com/tailgate-tourist for complete list of terms and conditions

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SOURCE CheapTickets