Just the Facts: Previewing and predicting FSU at No. 14 Miami

Wayne McGahee III | Tallahassee Democrat

Sean Rossman/Democrat

Trying to attend a Florida State football game but don't want to pay an arm and a leg?

You're in the same boat as many FSU fans, who have been vocal about the price of attending games due to the hotel crunch in Tallahassee during football season for many years.

Tallahassee's hotel price debate reached a boiling point earlier this month when Leon County Commissioner Bill Proctor submitted a formal complaint to Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody and Florida Department of Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried about hotel prices during FSU and FAMU events.

"What is it about FAMU and FSU that when they have an event, everybody goes crazy and the prices go through the roof?" Proctor said.

Alicia Devine/Tallahassee Democrat

Proctor called for a seven-year review of hotel pricing associated with university events, such as graduations, sporting events and special occasions, and prosecute "all cases that are warranted."

With homecoming against Syracuse Saturday at 3:30 p.m. and the annual in-state rivalry match-up with Miami the week after, Tallahassee's hotels are ready to take advantage of the increased number of people flocking to the capital city.

While the equation will always focus on supply and demand, how much of a difference is there really between hotel prices during a game weekend and a weekend where there isn't a game?

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The Democrat took a deep dive into the hotel prices in college towns in the south during football season to see how Tallahassee stacks up.

The methodology

The Democrat picked five hotels that each city was likely to have and looked up prices for hotels for every weekend from Oct. 18 through Dec. 1. Data was obtained between Oct. 14-15.

The other college towns outside of Tallahassee that are included are Gainesville, Fla., Athens, Ga., Auburn, Ala., Knoxville, Tenn., Clemson, S.C., Columbia, S.C., and Baton Rouge, La.

Melina Myers, Melina Myers-USA TODAY Sports

Tuscaloosa, Ala. was originally included, but hotels with rooms available were almost non-existent during Alabama home-game weekends.

The hotels included in the breakdown are Hampton Inn, Courtyard Marriott, Holiday Inn, Hilton Doubletree, and Comfort Inn. In the event that a hotel was not in one of the towns or it was completely booked on multiple weeks, a replacement hotel was found.

This happened in Athens, Clemson, Knoxville, and Baton Rouge and a comparable hotel was substituted.

Tallahassee breakdown

As expected, hotel prices in Tallahassee went up significantly during a game weekend from the normal rates of non-game weekends.

The average hotel price for the five hotels listed came out to $335 a night for game weekends. The average hotel price for non-game weekends came out to $152 a night. That's a difference of $183 and a 120% increase.

Three of the five hotels have dropped their rates for this Saturday's game against Syracuse. One hotel had the same rate and another had a slight increase. This could be in response to cancellations or the effects of the Seminoles losing to Wake Forest last Saturday.

That comes despite a remaining lackluster home slate that consists of Syracuse (3-4), Miami (3-4) and FCS Alabama State (3-3). Fans are already attending games at the lowest rate in over 30 years.

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Fancam: Seminole fans cheer team against NC State | Photos

FSU's average attendance through the first four home games puts FSU on pace for the worst attended season since 1983 (50,671), when Doak Campbell Stadium's capacity was listed at 55,246. The Seminoles have averaged 52,692 fans per game this season, and a crowd around that mark is expected for Saturday's homecoming game,

It's also no surprise that the highest average for any weekend over the stretch comes when UM comes to town. The average hotel price for the hotels that weekend comes out to $439 a night.

The weekend of the ASU game is significantly lower than the game-week average, but still more than a non-game week. The average nightly rate for the hotels that weekend was $223.

How does Tallahassee compare?

Of the eight college towns that were compared, FSU's hotel prices for game weekends, non-game weekends, and the difference between game weekend and non-game weekends were fourth.

Tallahassee finished behind Knoxville, Columbia, and Baton Rouge in all three categories.

Knoxville had the smallest difference between game weekends and non-game weekends at just $64. That could be due to the remaining home slate, which consists of South Carolina (3-4), UAB (6-1), and Vanderbilt (2-5). The average nightly rate for a game weekend was $208.

Columbia is second, and is more of a direct comparison than any other city on the list because it is the capital city of South Carolina. The difference was $115 with a home slate of No. 8 UF (6-1), Vanderbilt, and No. 2 Clemson (7-0). The average nightly rate for a game weekend was $230.

Mitchell Martin/FSView

Baton Rouge's hotel prices for game weekends are surprising. The average hotel for a game weekend at No. 3 LSU costs fans $240 with a difference of $137.

UT (2-5), FSU (3-4), and USC (3-4) all have losing records, but FSU's numbers are closer to the teams that are winning than other two teams with losing records.

Tallahassee's average nightly rate for home games come in more than $90 higher than all three of the cities ahead of it.

The other four teams remaining on the list are all ranked inside the top 10 of the Amway Coaches Poll. All four cities have a difference of more than $200 between game weekends and non-game weekends.

Gainesville comes in at the third highest average cost for game weekends ($372), but has the fourth highest difference ($212).

No. 8 UF's numbers are somewhat skewed due to only having two home games remaining against Vanderbilt and FSU. But the average cost of both weekends were similar enough to assume there wouldn't be much difference for another game.

Joe Rondone/Democrat

The average nightly rate for a Clemson home game comes out to $346. The average nightly rate for a non-game weekend is $118, which is the fourth lowest of all of the cities behind Athens, Baton Rouge, and Columbia.

Auburn has the highest average nightly rate of any of the cities listed at $392. Home games against Ole Miss, No. 9 UGA and No. 1 Alabama are pushing that number up. No. 9 Auburn has the toughest home slate remaining of any team in the comparison.

Athens is the only city on the list that averages under $100 for non-game weekends. Couple that with a $387 game-weekend nightly rate and it makes for the largest difference between game weekends and non-game weekends ($289) by a significant margin.