Primetime.JPG

High Point Solutions Stadium is nearly sold-out for three of Rutgers' home games this season.

(John O'Boyle/The Star-Ledger)

PISCATAWAY — Rutgers released single-game tickets to the public on Monday, and three games are nearly sold-out.

Not surprisingly, the highest demand has been for the Big Ten home opener against Penn State on Sept. 13. There are approximately 500 tickets remaining for that game, according to Janine Purcaro, Rutgers' athletic department chief financial officer.

There are approximately 1,300 tickets remaining for the Oct. 4 primetime matchup with Michigan and just over 2,000 tickets remaining for the Nov. 1 homecoming game against Wisconsin. Purcaro said those figures include a small quantity held back for season ticket purchases. The capacity of High Point Solutions Stadium is 52,454.

"The benefit of being a season ticket holder continues to increase and it really was key for fans wanting to get extra single-game tickets this year," Purcaro said. "There were only a limited amount of single-game tickets available for the general public when sales began Monday."

Tickets have been released in stages, with season-ticket packages and three-game mini-plans offered first. Single-game tickets went on sale to season ticket holders on July 28 before they became available to the general public on Monday.

The single-game tickets for the general public are subject to a dynamic pricing model based on demand. Tickets for the Penn State game range from $185-300. Michigan ($165-300) and Wisconsin ($115-225) opened at similarly high prices.

"The interest level has been very high," Purcaro said. "Since sales opened to the public, the phones have been ringing steadily, online sales have been strong and people were even lined up at the RAC when the ticket office opened Monday morning. Rutgers fans really want to see Big Ten Football."

For perspective, tickets for Michigan's most expensive home game (against Penn State) range from $100-200. It's the same range for Penn State's most expensive home game (against Ohio State). Tickets for Wisconsin's most expensive home game (against Minnesota) cost $70.

Obviously, the major difference between those school's home stadiums and High Point Solutions Stadium is the capacity. Wisconsin's Camp Randall Stadium holds 80,000 fans, while the home stadiums at Michigan and Penn State have capacities over 100,000.

Rutgers officials hope the dynamic pricing for the most attractive games will drive fans toward season tickets and mini-plans. Season tickets for the entire six-game home schedule range from $240-330. The mini-plans offered fans the option of choosing one game each from three different pairings: Penn State or Michigan, Wisconsin or Indiana, Tulane or Howard. The plans cost $210 for an upper sideline seat and $177 for an end zone seat.

"We sold over 100 season tickets on the first day of dynamic pricing as it further demonstrates the value of being a season ticket holder," Purcaro said. "We expect that trend to continue as we sell through the rest of our tickets."

Purcaro said a final breakdown for the total of season tickets, mini-plans and single-game ticket sales isn't yet available.

Rutgers announced in mid-July that season-ticket sales had topped 27,000, an increase from 22,040 last season. Rutgers chief marketing officer Geoff Brown told NJ.com in June that 1,181 mini-plans had sold.

Purcaro didn't share ticket sales information for the Indiana, Tulane and Howard games. Tickets for the Indiana game range from $45-100, while Tulane and Howard range from $45-75.

The secondary market has reflected the interest generated by Rutgers' marquee Big Ten opponents. Rutgers has the sixth-most expensive average ticket price ($191) in college football for its home games on the secondary market, according to vividseats.com. Tickets for the Penn State and Michigan games are listed for as much as $1,100 on StubHub.com.

While Rutgers' first priority is selling out High Point Solutions Stadium, there's some concern that opposing fans could invade Piscataway. But Brown said 85 percent of the mini-plans were purchased by people with New Jersey addresses.

It's impossible to determine who will wind up with the tickets on game day. But here's a rough breakdown of the allotment as of now: 27,000 season tickets, 1,200 mini-plans, 10,000 student tickets, 1,000 tickets for hospitality/player-guests, 3,000 tickets for the visiting team. That left approximately 10,000 tickets for the general public, and most of those have been purchased for the three most attractive home games.