Poll: What would you pay to see top-ranked Black Bears in Orono?

The year 2025 in local sports begins with a bang tonight as all eyes in the college hockey world turn to Alfond Arena, where the No. 7 Black Bears play host to the defending National Champions and the 6th-ranked team in the land, the Denver Pioneers.

It's a game that has been building for months. It will be broadcast nationally on ESPNU with John Buccigross in the house for the best atmosphere that #cawlidgehawkey has to offer.

- Let me also take this opportunity to promote our coverage beginning on The Ticket at 5:30pm, with Jon Shields and Larry Mahoney on the call at 6pm -

Now back to the game...it's been basically sold out for weeks at this point. With the only seats be found on the secondary market and at astronomical prices.

Over the holidays, I was talking to some relatives about this game and happened to look up ticket prices on the secondary market when one of them said, "oh that would be fun, we should go." I was shocked at what I found.

For reference, the average face value of a seat when purchasing from the school's website ranges from $22 to $27 dollars for the limited amount that is available for the remainder of this season.

On the secondary market, specifically Stubhub, when I checked last week tickets for tonight's game were listed anywhere from $140 to $220. Today, things have cooled slightly with people trying to offload last-minute tickets for any price, and you can find seats (as of 11:54 a.m.) for anywhere from $26 to $47 to $55 before soaring into the triple digits based on your location within the Alfond.

One thing is for sure - there's people out there paying $150 to $200+ to see Maine hockey tonight. Would you be willing to go that high for the hottest ticket in town?