Buckeyes fan given wrong tickets to championship game

COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) - Thousands of Ohio State Buckeyes fans will attend the national championship game at Mercedes Benz Stadium Monday night. Some of them, however, will not be sitting in seats they thought they were buying.  

Alex Lorton is a lifelong Buckeyes fan who will be attending his fourth national championship game. 

"Born and raised in Ohio; it's in the blood," he said Sunday afternoon.

Lorton made plans to attend the game before even knowing if the Buckeyes would be playing.  

"Before, even before the Texas game, I had put our request in," he said.  

Ohio State football season ticket holders had to make requests for tickets ahead of time.  

"The tickets that, that I selected, sort of selected with, with my family and a couple of friends, were labeled as level 100 sideline,” Lorton said. “So put in the ticket request, like $835 a ticket. So, you know, not inexpensive. You didn't know exactly where you're going to sit, but it would say level 300, sideline, level 200 endzone, level 100 sideline.” 

That submission was placed on Jan. 9; he received the tickets on Jan. 15, but something wasn't right. 

"When we were ultimately allocated our specific seats, which was just this past Wednesday, we were in section 101, which is squarely in the middle of the end zone, so I was a little confused," Lorton said.  

Since he purchased the tickets through the Ohio State Football ticket office, he contacted them first with the issue. 

"They said there really wasn't anything they could do, try to reach out to the College Football Playoff," Lorton said. 

After initially getting nowhere, he eventually had an email exchange with a CFP representative.  

"Essentially they said, ‘Hey, go back to Ohio State,’” Lorton said. “It was just frustrating that no one was taking responsibility for it. The only resolution they offered was, ‘hey, you can go and sell your tickets on the secondary market and buy tickets on the sideline if you want,’ which is not really a realistic option.” 

It's an unrealistic option because he paid face value for the ticket, around $835 per ticket. On the secondary market, that same ticket is selling for between $4,000-$5,000. The seats in Section 101 where Lorton, his family and friends will sit, tickets are selling for $2,500-$3,000. So, if he were to sell his tickets and buy the seats he is supposed to have, it would cost another $1,500-$2,000 at the very least. 

"I'm still excited to go to the game, we'll still have a good time,” Lorton said. “You know, it was, just felt like it was false advertising. This is not a decision made lightly. And it's, you know, along with the flights and hotel, everything, it's an expensive trip.” 

When NBC4 spoke with Lorton Sunday, we asked if College Football Playoff (CFP) acknowledged that this was a mistake at all.  

"They did, they acknowledged that it was a typo, which I understand, mistakes will happen,” he said. “It's just, I would just want and expect that they would take responsibility for that. I suggested, hey, maybe a partial refund. Just to make up for the fact that I thought I was buying those tickets on the sideline. 

When asked what the response from CFP was, he said, "They said can't do it."

"I've seen other others that have had the same issue," Lorton said. "This is meaningful and for a lot of people, it's not, you know, it's not an easy price to stomach. So, I just think there should have been some, some attempt to, to make right on it.” 

NBC4 reached out to the College Football Playoff media contact but has not yet received a statement about the issue.