Texas Football Is Becoming the Most Expensive Show in College Football

Want to attend the Red River Rivalry game this fall? The cheapest seat in the house may still cost you north of $500.

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If there’s one certainty fans can count on about the 2026 Texas football team, it’s that watching them in person will come at a hefty price.

When viewing a team’s schedule on ESPN, the site also provides a direct link to ticket prices for each game, including the “get-in” price for every matchup.

For Texas fans, that get-in price is rarely low.

According to ESPN, #Texas plays in five games with a get-in price of over $200.

The only game under $100 is vs UTSA.

8/12 are north of $150

Texas is the most expensive game at all four opposing venues they'll travel to, even beating out Alabama @ Tennessee. pic.twitter.com/D1L34HEF4M

— Evan Vieth (@EvanVieth) May 14, 2026

Vivid Seats, which partners with ESPN, lists the cheapest tickets for eight of Texas’ 12 games at more than $150.

The four games below that mark — two non-P4 opponents and two SEC teams with a combined 1-15 conference record in 2025 — are still priced between $85 and $142, with the Week 3 matchup against UTSA serving as the only game below triple digits.

That trend holds no matter where you look. Take the Florida game, for example: a significant SEC matchup at Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium, but likely only a middle-tier game in terms of fan interest on Texas’ schedule.

On Vivid Seats, the cheapest ticket is actually $158 when visiting the company’s website directly. On SeatGeek, that number climbs above $200. On Gametime, even seats in the top row cost north of $160.

Texas is also the biggest draw in every road venue it visits. For all four road games, the Longhorns represent the most expensive home game on the opposing team’s schedule.

Texas’ trip to Neyland Stadium is even more expensive than Tennessee’s rivalry matchup against Alabama. Think $160 is steep? Try $360 to get in.

The Longhorns also headline the priciest game at Death Valley against LSU, at Missouri, and, unsurprisingly, at Texas A&M.

Perhaps the most startling figure comes from the annual Red River Rivalry at the Cotton Bowl during the Texas State Fair in mid-October. Sitting in the upper bowl for this year’s game against Oklahoma costs a staggering $508 after fees.

Just 10 years ago, according to the Austin American-Statesman, that same ticket cost less than $200. Even accounting for inflation, prices should only have risen roughly 35-40%. Instead, they’ve jumped by more than 150%.

Texas’ brand clearly carries enormous value within the Austin and general collegiate sports economies, but attending games is becoming increasingly unrealistic for the average family — even for lower-profile conference matchups.

For a family of four to watch Texas host Mississippi State, a projected bottom-five SEC team with no rivalry connection, the total cost for tickets alone comes out to $435.80. That does not include transportation, parking, food, or drinks. And that price is for four seats in the highest row above the north end zone.

That also fails to account for the large number of seats accessible only through Longhorn Foundation donations, many of which are among the most desirable locations in the stadium, including shaded lower-level sections.

Browsing through online discussions from Longhorn fans over the past few seasons reveals mounting frustration. Some fans claim donations exceeding $1,000 still leave them on the season-ticket waitlist, as the cutoff continually shifts. Others report finding cheaper options, but only for less desirable seating locations. Much of the advice eventually circles back to the secondary market, where prices are often no better.

To purchase single-game tickets directly from the university, fans must complete a form on the Texas Longhorns athletics website, providing their name, email address, sport of interest, and preferred ticket types. As of publication, Inside Texas has not received a response from the university regarding official single-game pricing for the 2026 season.

When talking to a representative from the University’s ticket office, IT learned that prices will not be set for individual games until late July, but the approximate price to get in for the Longhorns home opener against Texas State was ‘around $200-250’.

There are plenty of factors driving the surge in ticket prices.

For some fans, the cost is worth it for the opportunity to watch quarterback Arch Manning in what could be his final college season. Manning’s name recognition alone has made Texas one of the biggest television draws in the sport, even during a 9-3 season that ended outside the College Football Playoff.

Beyond Manning, Texas enters 2026 with one of the most talented rosters in college football and legitimate national championship expectations. That combination of star power, SEC competition and heightened national relevance has turned the Longhorns into one of the toughest tickets in the country.

Even so, Texas’ secondary-market prices continue to outpace many of college football’s traditional heavyweights, including programs like Georgia, Alabama, LSU and Ohio State.