The NCAA football season is only a week away, and here at SeatGeek we want to help you get back in a football state of mind. So get the sand out of your flip-flops, put on your trusty jersey, (paint your face perhaps?) and root your alma-mater on to victory, just like you did back in '72. College football tickets have gotten a bit more expensive since your days in school however, and if you're getting a little old to be sneaking into the student section of the stadium, your best place to find the cheapest, sold-out NCAA football tickets is SeatGeek.

With that in mind, we crunched the numbers to give you the latest in college football ticketing trends for the upcoming season.

As always there are plenty of games between bitter rivals that never cease to get their fans' spines' tingling. These games combine stellar play on the field, with a unique history of past battles won and last. Therefore it comes as no surprise that the top two most expensive games of the season are Ohio State vs. Michigan on Nov. 27th, and Oklahoma hosting the Texas Longhorns on October 2nd.

Interestingly enough the Texas Longhorns, despite being the visiting team in two of the top four most expensive games this season, do not have a single home game in the top 25, with their most expensive home games failing to match those of lower profile teams like the Colorado Buffaloes, and their in-state rivals, the Texas A&M Aggies.

Both the defending national champion Alabama Crimson Tide, and the Ohio State Buckeyes have three games each in the top 10, together comprising 60% of the top ten list. However, surprisingly, the team with the most home games in the top 25, is the Iowa Hawkeyes with four. That means that more than half of their home games, are among the top twenty-five most expensive games, across all teams, all season long.

Additionally, we also broke down the average price for all home games by conference.

The highest conference, as ranked by average secondary market ticket price, is....no conference at all! Rather, it is the average of all Division I teams that are not a member of any conference, namely the Notre Dame Fighting Irish, as well as Army and Navy. Behind those three however, come the SEC with an average price of $157.85, the Big 10 - average price $145.13, and the Big 12, with an average price of $139.86.

Amongst the AP preseason top 25, the cheapest tickets can be found for the #15 Pittsburgh Panthers, with an average price of  only $65.43. Tickets for #3 Boise State can be had for the reasonable price of $110.38.

So if you want to see high-quality football at affordable prices, be sure to check back at SeatGeek's NCAA football page throughout the season, and as always you can email me at jonathan@seatgeek.com with any questions or comments, and remember to like us on facebook, and follow us on twitter @SeatGeek

Here at SeatGeek we are as excited as you are about the release of the 2010-2011 NBA schedule. In fact, it's got us itching for basketball already. So to appease our appetite for hoops we've taken a good hard look at the day when pro basketball returns to our lives, and begins another season full of high-flying Wade-to-Lebron alley-ooping goodness.

The 2010-2011 NBA season officially begins on October 26th, with three games that should peak the interest of even the most casual of basketball fans. The most hyped of the three is clearly the matchup between Miami and the Celtics, as the new (and improved?) Heat take their traveling roadshow up to Boston to face off against Pierce, Rondo, and the Celtics newest big man, Shaq. The other two matchups are nothing to scoff at either however, as the defending champion Lakers host Yao and the Houston Rockets, and Steve Nash and the Suns travel to Portland to battle the Trail Blazers.

At SeatGeek we're all about saving you money on sports and concert tickets. With that in mind, we've compiled a list of average listing prices of every NBA team's first home game of the season. Keep reading to see how your home team stacks up.

Note: The New Orleans Hornets, and the San Antonio Spurs have been omitted from this list. This is due to the fact that the number of tickets listed was too limited to give an accurate depiction the ticket market for those games. As the season draws nearer, and more tickets are placed on the market, we will gain a more concrete idea of what the true average listing price for those teams are.

It most likely comes as no surprise that three of the four most expensive home openers are for the Celtics and Lakers, both of whom made the NBA finals last season, and the Miami Heat, who acquired Chris Bosh and Lebron James this offseason. Here is another look at the top ten most expensive opening games.

Although the majority of ticket sellers list their tickets at reasonable prices, with the hopes of selling the tickets for an appropriate sum, certain games have tickets listed at exorbitant prices that pull the average price for the game well out of proportion. Here are the top ten most expensive ticket listings.

Unsurprisingly, the Heat have by far the highest single listing price, with one seller trying to sell his/her tickets at $12,650 a piece. Most likely those tickets will not sell at that much of a premium, however, it only takes one buyer desperate enough to see Wade, Bosh and King James together for those tickets to move. Other teams with extreme ticket listings include the Knicks and Bulls, who each have tickets listed at $5,500 each.

If you are interested in attending the Heat's opening game extravaganza, or the home opener of any other team, you can find the great NBA tickets, and even sold out tickets, on SeatGeek.

Feel free to email me at Jonathan@seatgeek.com with any questions, and remember to like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter @SeatGeek and @SeatGeekNBA.

Green Day vs. American Idiot

There's something magical about a rock concert. As an audience member you never know what's going to happen. Heck, even the band probably doesn't know what's going to happen half the time. From the time that band steps onto the stage, until the moment they take their final bows, anything is possible. This limitless potential is part of what makes rock concerts so enthralling. At any given concert the crowd's excitement is almost palpable as it anxiously waits to see what remarkable performance is in store for them on that particular night. The anticipation of the unknown is what whips crowds into a frenzy, and for good reason. Most of the greatest moments in live music history have been spontaneous explosions of musical tenacity, like Jimi Hendrix lighting his guitar on fire at the Montery Pop Festival, or Bob Dylan "going electric" at the Newport Folk Festival in 1965. Similar to sports tickets, whenever someone purchases a ticket to a live concert, he or she is purchasing a chance to witness history.

Broadway musicals on the other hand, offer a different type of experience. They can be equally, if not more entertaining than a concert, depending on the tastes of the ticket buyer. Involving a plot, and actors, rather than just a band, musicals are usually more intricate productions than straight up concerts. Traditionally, musicals have utilized show-tunes, melody and harmony driven musical numbers that are known more for memorable melodies than energizing instrumentation. However, in recent years more and more musicals have transitioned into using rock music, with electric guitars and pounding drums, rather than orchestras with piccolos and trombones. Beginning with Hair, and continuing with shows such as Rent, these rock musicals have promoted their high-octane shows, attempting to cater to a younger audience. However, having actors headbanging and playing guitar on stage does not necessarily make these musicals a more electrifying experience than a real rock-n'-roll concert. In order to shed a little more light on the concert vs. musical debate, we here at SeatGeek decided to focus in on Green Day's new Broadway Musical American Idiot, and compare ticket prices for the show, to prices of Green Day concerts over the past 2 years.

*Green Day concert ticket data is blue, American Idiot Ticket data is gray.

The data paints an interesting picture for us. One thing that is evident from these statistics is that American Idiot is not a flop. In fact tickets to the Tony-nominated musical are transacting at a higher average price ($140) than tickets to a live Green Day concert in 2010, ($127.31) and the show has already grossed over $11.5 million since its debut on April 20th. American Idiot is also outselling other top shows such as The Lion King and Billy Elliot on the secondary market.

Before we anoint American Idiot, "bigger than the band" however, we must first take a look at any other variables that could contribute to these results. The comparative ticket data may be slightly misleading due to the discrepancy in ticket supply. The St. James Theatre, in which American Idiot plays, has a capacity of only 1623 patrons, whereas Green Day's tours have taken them through arenas with capacities over ten times the St. James'. As tickets for American Idiot are more scarce, the prices are correspondingly higher.

Changes in Green Day Tickets

While analyzing the data, we were also struck by interesting trends in Green Day concert tickets themselves. When looking at ticket purchases year over year, we noticed a significant increase in transacted ticket prices; prices jumped from an average of $62.41 in 2009 to over $127 in 2010, an increase of almost 104%! This increase is even more remarkable considering that Green Day's 2009 summer tour was in support of a brand new album, 21st Century Breakdown, released on May 15th 2009, the long-awaited follow up to 2004's Grammy winning American Idiot. Nevertheless, prices for concerts over a year later are more than twice what they were for the 21st Century Breakdown tour.

Green Day tickets have also increased relative to other high grossing tours of the past two years. As seen in the graph below, in 2009 tickets for Green Day were significantly cheaper than other big name acts, despite their new album.

Conversely in 2010, although still not comparable to the absolute highest grossing concerts of the year, Green Day concerts are clearly in the upper echelon of secondary market ticket prices.

We then decided to compare Green Day's year by year prices to other bands. Out of five bands that toured in both 2009 and 2010, surprisingly all five of their average transacted ticket prices increased from 2009 to 2010. However, Green Day's ticket prices increased year over year far more than any of the other artists.

Conclusion: It's Good For the Show & Good for the Band

While it is unwise to assume causation from correlation, it appears that the successful production of American Idiot on the stage, has reinvigorated Green Day fans, and driven up demand for their concerts. There are very few alternate variables that could have affected ticket prices this dramatically. During the time between their 2009 and 2010 tours, they have released no new albums, won no new musical awards, and have been generally un-newsworthy in every way, except for the press surrounding American Idiot the musical. It appears that far from hurting Green Day's punk image, or drawing fans away from the band's performances themselves, the theatrical appearance of American Idiot has thrived, and helped Green Day enter the new decade as popular as ever.

For a comparison of the two experiences, here are three videos of American Idiot (the song): an excerpt from the Broadway presentation, the original music video, and a video of Green Day performing the song live in concert. Enjoy.

As always, if you have any questions or comments please feel free to email me at jonathan@seatgeek.com, like us on facebook at facebook.com/seatgeek and follow us on twitter @SeatGeek & @SeatGeekMusic

Ahhh, the fourth of July, a time for food, friends and fireworks; the day off work that every American has been anxiously awaiting since Memorial day. It's a day for us to release our most American instincts and behaviors. Stuffing our faces with barbecued meat, watching others stuff their faces with even more barbecued meat, blowing stuff up in our backyards, then lounging around exhausted from all the face-stuffing and stuff-exploding, are all nationwide traditions on this most celebratory of days. However, these aren't the only possible forms of entertainment on Independence day. Many Americans enjoy taking a trip to the beach, to the ballpark, or to the local concert venue to catch one of their favorite artists live. There's nothing more American than sitting on your butt and watching professionals entertain you, whether it be through complex song and dance routines, or superhuman feats of athleticism. With that in mind, we here at SeatGeek decided to take a look at the top selling concerts of this 4th of July.

To absolutely no one's surprise Lady Gaga takes the top slot yet again, in terms of average ticket prices. As we discovered last month, her "Monster Ball" tour is the most in-demand concert series of the summer, with average ticket prices now over $175. We were curious to know whether prices for her show in Atlantic City on Sunday were influenced by it being on July 4th, so we took a look at the top rated concerts of her tour, and this past Sunday's concert, while still selling at prices above Gaga's average, was not even in the top ten Lady Gaga concerts of the tour, ranking 12th out of 34 solo shows between 5/30/10 and 8/31/10.

Clearly, although it probably didn't hurt sales, ticket prices for Gaga's show at Boardwalk Hall were not radically affected by its concurrence with a national holiday. Let us now take a look at the other four superstars who topped our 4th of July concert list.

Second to Lady Gaga is Canadian crooner Michael Buble, with average ticket prices of $146.85. That's right, over 9,500 red blooded American paid close to $150 on average to watch a Canadian perform on our Independence day! Now I not one to tell others how to spend their money, but really patrons of Mohegan Sun? You went to see Michael Buble? I can only hope that he sang this, since it's as close to American patriotism as will ever emerge from out of his maple syrup encrusted mouth-hole. Connecticut, you better watch your step, or else I'll be petitioning for your removal from the Union faster than you can say "Eh."

In any event, tickets for Buble's July 4th Canadapalooza, were trading at almost exactly the same price as the average for his concerts this summer: Sunday's average was $146.85, and the overall average is $146.80. This stat alone seems to suggest that the 4th of July had no effect on Buble ticket sales. However, it is interesting to note that Buble performed at the Mohegan Sun arena on July 2nd & 3rd in addition to his show there on the 4th. Tickets for those two shows, a Friday and a Saturday, also popular days ticket sales wise, traded on average for $139.89, and $135.93 respectively, both less than the fourth's $146.85.

Number 3 on the July 4th rundown is Phish. Always a top draw amongst jam band audiences, Phish is well-known for its legendary holiday concerts, rocking many a New Year's Eve and Halloween. This 4th of July was no exception. Kicking off their Alpharetta GA concert with a rendition of the Star Spangled Banner, (take note Buble) Phish proceeded to rock the red, white, and blue socks off their audience with highlights including a cover of Rage Against the Machine's "Killing in the Name." Unlike Lady Gaga and Michael Buble's concerts, there is a significant jump in ticket prices for Phish's Phestival on the Phourth. Tickets for this concert sold for $131.89 on average, significantly higher than their tour average of $84.22, and much higher than their preceding show at the very same venue which traded for $110.00 on average. In fact, Phish's July 4th concert is their most expensive show this summer besides their 3 shows at the Greek Theatre in Berkeley. Many Phans have a tradition of spending holidays with Phish, and perhaps this ritual can account for the discrepancy in prices.

Clocking in at number 4 on our countdown is the indomitable Dave Matthews Band. Dave and his buddies have been a summer tour staple for what seems like forever. However they recently announced that they will be breaking tradition and not touring in the summer of 2011. Additionally it has been made public that their 2010 tour will be concluding on the hallowed ground of Wrigley Field on the north side of Chicago, with Jason Mraz opening. (Tickets for the show go on sale July 17th, be sure to check SeatGeek for the best and cheapest tickets for what is sure to be a sold out event.)

In terms of Dave's July 4th concert at the Alpine Valley Music Theatre in Wisconsin, prices were lackluster at best. Out of the 41 concerts DMB is playing between May 28th and August 31st, (excluding large festivals such as Bonnaroo) the 4th of July show ranked a measly 26th in terms of ticket prices, trading at $122.34 on average. When compared to Dave's tour average of $142.85, and the previous day's average of $137.56 at the same venue, it is clear that the fourth of July did not have a positive influence on ticket sales in this circumstance.

Rounding out the top 5 is Carrie Underwood, who is out touring the world, now through the end of the year.  Her July 4th concert in Milwaukee Wisconsin drew an average ticket price of $84.36, good enough for the top 5 concerts of the day, but well below her tour average of $104.89. In fact, out of the 100 shows she is performing in the U.S. and Canada this year, her July 4th performance ranks close to the bottom third in average ticket price, placing 66th. Carrie's next appearance will be on the Today Show on July 30th. Her next full show will take place on August 29th at Ravinia Pavilion in Highland Park Illinois.

As we further analyze this data we can come to the reasonable conclusion that despite its celebratory and relaxing atmosphere, as well as the three day weekend in the middle of which it resided, this national holiday does not appear to have radically affected concert ticket prices.

So the next time a national holiday rolls around, (Labor day I'm looking at you) instead of lounging around the yard, or heading down to the JC Penny for their 300th 50% off sale of the year, why not head out to the local amphitheater and celebrate the end of summer by catching a concert? A great time is sure to be had by all, and best of all, prices shouldn't be that different than normal.

For all your ticket needs, for a holiday, or any other day, be sure to check out SeatGeek and for more updates, news, and analysis be sure to follow us on twitter @SeatGeek & @SeatGeekMusic, like us on facebook at facebook.com/SeatGeek and feel free to email me at jonathan@seatgeek.com with any questions or comments.